Why, theres not a newspaper in England today that represents what I call solid Bridgenorth opinion and tradition. Half of them read as if they were published at the nearest mother"s meeting, and the other half at the nearest motor garage. Do you call these chaps gentlemen? Do you call them Englishmen? I dont.[He throws himself disgustedly into the nearest chair].
THE GENERAL [excited by Reginald"s eloquence] Do you see my uniform? What did Collins say? It strikes the eye. It was meant to. I put it on expressly to give the modern army bounder a smack in the eye. Somebody has to set a right example by beginning.
Well, let it be a Bridgenorth. I believe in family blood and tradition, by George.
THE BISHOP [musing] I wonder who will begin the stand against marriage. It must come some day. I was married myself before I"d thought about it; and even if I had thought about it I was too much in love with Alice to let anything stand in the way. But, you know, Ive seen one of our daughters after another--Ethel, Jane, f.a.n.n.y, and Christina and Florence--go out at that door in their veils and orange blossoms; and Ive always wondered whether theyd have gone quietly if theyd known what they were doing. Ive a horrible misgiving about that pamphlet. All progress means war with Society. Heaven forbid that Edith should be one of the combatants!
St John Hotchkiss comes into the tower ushered by Collins. He is a very smart young gentleman of twenty-nine or thereabouts, correct in dress to the last thread of his collar, but too much preoccupied with his ideas to be embarra.s.sed by any concern as to his appearance. He talks about himself with energetic gaiety. He talks to other people with a sweet forbearance (implying a kindly consideration for their stupidity) which infuriates those whom he does not succeed in amusing. They either lose their tempers with him or try in vain to snub him.
COLLINS [announcing] Mr Hotchkiss. [He withdraws].
HOTCHKISS [clapping Reginald gaily on the shoulder as he pa.s.ses him] Tootle loo, Rejjy.
REGINALD [curtly, without rising or turning his head] Morning.
HOTCHKISS. Good morning, Bishop.
THE BISHOP [coming off the table]. What on earth are you doing here, Sinjon? You belong to the bridegroom"s party: youve no business here until after the ceremony.
HOTCHKISS. Yes, I know: thats just it. May I have a word with you in private? Rejjy or any of the family wont matter; but--[he glances at the General, who has risen rather stiffly, as he strongly disapproves of the part played by Hotchkiss in Reginald"s domestic affairs].
THE BISHOP. All right, Sinjon. This is our brother, General Bridgenorth. [He goes to the hearth and posts himself there, with his hands clasped behind him].
HOTCHKISS. Oh, good! [He turns to the General, and takes out a card-case]. As you are in the service, allow me to introduce myself. Read my card, please. [He presents his card to the astonished General].
THE GENERAL [reading] "Mr St John Hotchkiss, the Celebrated Coward, late Lieutenant in the 165th Fusiliers."
REGINALD [with a chuckle] He was sent back from South Africa because he funked an order to attack, and spoiled his commanding officer"s plan.
THE GENERAL [very gravely] I remember the case now. I had forgotten the name. I"ll not refuse your acquaintance, Mr Hotchkiss; partly because youre my brother"s guest, and partly because Ive seen too much active service not to know that every man"s nerve plays him false at one time or another, and that some very honorable men should never go into action at all, because theyre not built that way. But if I were you I should not use that visiting card. No doubt it"s an honorable trait in your character that you dont wish any man to give you his hand in ignorance of your disgrace; but you had better allow us to forget. We wish to forget. It isnt your disgrace alone: it"s a disgrace to the army and to all of us. Pardon my plain speaking.
HOTCHKISS [sunnily] My dear General, I dont know what fear means in the military sense of the word. Ive fought seven duels with the sabre in Italy and Austria, and one with pistols in France, without turning a hair. There was no other way in which I could vindicate my motives in refusing to make that attack at s.m.u.tsfontein. I dont pretend to be a brave man. I"m afraid of wasps. I"m afraid of cats. In spite of the voice of reason, I"m afraid of ghosts; and twice Ive fled across Europe from false alarms of cholera. But afraid to fight I am not. [He turns gaily to Reginald and slaps him on the shoulder]. Eh, Rejjy? [Reginald grunts].
THE GENERAL. Then why did you not do your duty at s.m.u.tsfontein?
HOTCHKISS. I did my duty--my higher duty. If I had made that attack, my commanding officer"s plan would have been successful, and he would have been promoted. Now I happen to think that the British Army should be commanded by gentlemen, and by gentlemen alone. This man was not a gentleman. I sacrificed my military career--I faced disgrace and social ostracism rather than give that man his chance.
THE GENERAL [generously indignant] Your commanding officer, sir, was my friend Major Billiter.
HOTCHKISS. Precisely. What a name!
THE GENERAL. And pray, sir, on what ground do you dare allege that Major Billiter is not a gentleman?
HOTCHKISS. By an infallible sign: one of those trifles that stamp a man. He eats rice pudding with a spoon.
THE GENERAL [very angry] Confound you, _I_ eat rice pudding with a spoon. Now!
HOTCHKISS. Oh, so do I, frequently. But there are ways of doing these things. Billiter"s way was unmistakable.
THE GENERAL. Well, I"ll tell you something now. When I thought you were only a coward, I pitied you, and would have done what I could to help you back to your place in Society--
HOTCHKISS [interrupting him] Thank you: I havnt lost it. My motives have been fully appreciated. I was made an honorary member of two of the smartest clubs in London when the truth came out.
THE GENERAL. Well, sir, those clubs consist of sn.o.bs; and you are a jumping, bounding, prancing, snorting sn.o.b yourself.
THE BISHOP [amused, but hospitably remonstrant] My dear Boxer!
HOTCHKISS [delighted] How kind of you to say so, General! Youre quite right: I am a sn.o.b. Why not? The whole strength of England lies in the fact that the enormous majority of the English people are sn.o.bs. They insult poverty. They despise vulgarity. They love n.o.bility. They admire exclusiveness. They will not obey a man risen from the ranks. They never trust one of their own cla.s.s. I agree with them. I share their instincts. In my undergraduate days I was a Republican-a Socialist. I tried hard to feel toward a common man as I do towards a duke. I couldnt. Neither can you.
Well, why should we be ashamed of this aspiration towards what is above us? Why dont I say that an honest man"s the n.o.blest work of G.o.d? Because I dont think so. If he"s not a gentleman, I dont care whether he"s honest or not: I shouldnt let his son marry my daughter. And thats the test, mind. Thats the test. You feel as I do. You are a sn.o.b in fact: I am a sn.o.b, not only in fact, but on principle. I shall go down in history, not as the first sn.o.b, but as the first avowed champion of English sn.o.bbery, and its first martyr in the army. The navy boasts two such martyrs in Captains Kirby and Wade, who were shot for refusing to fight under Admiral Benbow, a promoted cabin boy. I have always envied them their glory.
THE GENERAL. As a British General, Sir, I have to inform you that if any officer under my command violated the sacred equality of our profession by putting a single jot of his duty or his risk on the shoulders of the humblest drummer boy, I"d shoot him with my own hand.
HOTCHKISS. That sentiment is not your equality, General, but your superiority. Ask the Bishop. [He seats himself on the edge of the table].
THE BISHOP. I cant support you, Sinjon. My profession also compels me to turn my back on sn.o.bbery. You see, I have to do such a terribly democratic thing to every child that is brought to me. Without distinction of cla.s.s I have to confer on it a rank so high and awful that all the grades in Debrett and Burke seem like the medals they give children in Infant Schools in comparison. I"m not allowed to make any cla.s.s distinction. They are all soldiers and servants, not officers and masters.
HOTCHKISS. Ah, youre quoting the Baptism service. Thats not a bit real, you know. If I may say so, you would both feel so much more at peace with yourselves if you would acknowledge and confess your real convictions. You know you dont really think a Bishop the equal of a curate, or a lieutenant in a line regiment the equal of a general.
THE BISHOP. Of course I do. I was a curate myself.
THE GENERAL. And I was a lieutenant in a line regiment.
REGINALD. And I was nothing. But we"re all our own and one another"s equals, arnt we? So perhaps when youve quite done talking about yourselves, we shall get to whatever business Sinjon came about.
HOTCHKISS [coming off the table hastily] my dear fellow. I beg a thousand pardons. Oh! true, It"s about the wedding?
THE GENERAL. What about the wedding?
HOTCHKISS. Well, we cant get our man up to the scratch. Cecil has locked himself in his room and wont see or speak to any one. I went up to his room and banged at the door. I told him I should look through the keyhole if he didnt answer. I looked through the keyhole. He was sitting on his bed, reading a book. [Reginald rises in consternation. The General recoils]. I told him not to be an a.s.s, and so forth. He said he was not going to budge until he had finished the book. I asked him did he know what time it was, and whether he happened to recollect that he had a rather important appointment to marry Edith. He said the sooner I stopped interrupting him, the sooner he"d be ready. Then he stuffed his fingers in his ears; turned over on his elbows; and buried himself in his beastly book. I couldnt get another word out of him; so I thought I"d better come here and warn you.
REGINALD. This looks to me like theyve arranged it between them.
THE BISHOP. No. Edith has no sense of humor. And Ive never seen a man in a jocular mood on his wedding morning.
Collins appears in the tower, ushering in the bridegroom, a young gentleman with good looks of the serious kind, somewhat careworn by an exacting conscience, and just now distracted by insoluble problems of conduct.
COLLINS [announcing] Mr Cecil Sykes. [He retires].
HOTCHKISS. Look here, Cecil: this is all wrong. Youve no business here until after the wedding. Hang it, man! youre the bridegroom.
SYKES [coming to the Bishop, and addressing him with dogged desperation] Ive come here to say this. When I proposed to Edith I was in utter ignorance of what I was letting myself in for legally. Having given my word, I will stand to it. You have me at your mercy: marry me if you insist. But take notice that I protest. [He sits down distractedly in the railed chair].
THE GENERAL {both } What the devil do you mean by {highly } This? What the-- REGINALD {incensed} Confound your impertinence, what do you--
HOTCHKISS { } Easy, Rejjy. Easy, old man. Steady, steady.
{ } [Reginald subsides into his chair. Hotchkiss { } sits on his right, appeasing him.]
THE BISHOP { } No, please, Rej. Control yourself, Boxer, I beg you.
THE GENERAL. I tell you I cant control myself. Ive been controlling myself for the last half-hour until I feel like bursting. [He sits down furiously at the end of the table next the study].