LORD SUMMERHAYS. Does Mr Tarleton like to be called the Grand Cham, do you think, Bentley?
BENTLEY. Well, he thinks hes too modest for it. He calls himself Plain John. But you cant call him that in his own office: besides, it doesnt suit him: it"s not flamboyant enough.
JOHNNY. Flam what?
BENTLEY. Flamboyant. Lets go and meet him. Hes telephoned from Guildford to say hes on the road. The dear old son is always telephoning or telegraphing: he thinks hes hustling along like anything when hes only sending unnecessary messages.
LORD SUMMERHAYS. Thank you: I should prefer a quiet afternoon.
BENTLEY. Right O. I shant press Johnny: hes had enough of me for one week-end. _[He goes out through the pavilion into the grounds]._
JOHNNY. Not a bad idea, that.
LORD SUMMERHAYS. What?
JOHNNY. Going to meet the Governor. You know you wouldnt think it; but the Governor likes Bunny rather. And Bunny is cultivating it. I shouldnt be surprised if he thought he could squeeze me out one of these days.
LORD SUMMERHAYS. You dont say so! Young rascal! I want to consult you about him, if you dont mind. Shall we stroll over to the Gibbet?
Bentley is too fast for me as a walking companion; but I should like a short turn.
JOHNNY. _[rising eagerly, highly flattered]_ Right you are. Thatll suit me down to the ground. _[He takes a Panama and stick from the hat stand]._
_Mrs Tarleton and Hypatia come back just as the two men are going out.
Hypatia salutes Summerhays from a distance with an enigmatic lift of her eyelids in his direction and a demure nod before she sits down at the worktable and busies herself with her needle. Mrs Tarleton, hospitably fussy, goes over to him._
MRS TARLETON. Oh, Lord Summerhays, I didnt know you were here. Wont you have some tea?
LORD SUMMERHAYS. No, thank you: I"m not allowed tea. And I"m ashamed to say Ive knocked over your beautiful punch-bowl. You must let me replace it.
MRS TARLETON. Oh, it doesnt matter: I"m only too glad to be rid of it. The shopman told me it was in the best taste; but when my poor old nurse Martha got cataract, Bunny said it was a merciful provision of Nature to prevent her seeing our china.
LORD SUMMERHAYS. _[gravely]_ That was exceedingly rude of Bentley, Mrs Tarleton. I hope you told him so.
MRS TARLETON. Oh, bless you! I dont care what he says; so long as he says it to me and not before visitors.
JOHNNY. We"re going out for a stroll, mother.
MRS TARLETON. All right: dont let us keep you. Never mind about that crock: I"ll get the girl to come and take the pieces away.
_[Recollecting herself]_ There! Ive done it again!
JOHNNY. Done what?
MRS TARLETON. Called her the girl. You know, Lord Summerhays, its a funny thing; but now I"m getting old, I"m dropping back into all the ways John and I had when we had barely a hundred a year. You should have known me when I was forty! I talked like a d.u.c.h.ess; and if Johnny or Hypatia let slip a word that was like old times, I was down on them like anything. And now I"m beginning to do it myself at every turn.
LORD SUMMERHAYS. There comes a time when all that seems to matter so little. Even queens drop the mask when they reach our time of life.
MRS TARLETON. Let you alone for giving a thing a pretty turn! Youre a humbug, you know, Lord Summerhays. John doesnt know it; and Johnny doesnt know it; but you and I know it, dont we? Now thats something that even you cant answer; so be off with you for your walk without another word.
_Lord Summerhays smiles; bows; and goes out through the vestibule door, followed by Johnny. Mrs Tarleton sits down at the worktable and takes out her darning materials and one of her husband"s socks.
Hypatia is at the other side of the table, on her mother"s right.
They chat as they work._
HYPATIA. I wonder whether they laugh at us when they are by themselves!
MRS TARLETON. Who?
HYPATIA. Bentley and his father and all the toffs in their set.
MRS TARLETON. Oh, thats only their way. I used to think that the aristocracy were a nasty sneering lot, and that they were laughing at me and John. Theyre always giggling and pretending not to care much about anything. But you get used to it: theyre the same to one another and to everybody. Besides, what does it matter what they think? It"s far worse when theyre civil, because that always means that they want you to lend them money; and you must never do that, Hypatia, because they never pay. How can they? They dont make anything, you see. Of course, if you can make up your mind to regard it as a gift, thats different; but then they generally ask you again; and you may as well say no first as last. You neednt be afraid of the aristocracy, dear: theyre only human creatures like ourselves after all; and youll hold your own with them easy enough.
HYPATIA. Oh, I"m not a bit afraid of them, I a.s.sure you.
MRS TARLETON. Well, no, not afraid of them, exactly; but youve got to pick up their ways. You know, dear, I never quite agreed with your father"s notion of keeping clear of them, and sending you to a school that was so expensive that they couldnt afford to send their daughters there; so that all the girls belonged to big business families like ourselves. It takes all sorts to make a world; and I wanted you to see a little of all sorts. When you marry Bunny, and go among the women of his father"s set, theyll shock you at first.
HYPATIA. _[incredulously]_ How?
MRS TARLETON. Well, the things they talk about.
HYPATIA. Oh! scandalmongering?
MRS TARLETON. Oh no: we all do that: thats only human nature. But you know theyve no notion of decency. I shall never forget the first day I spent with a marchioness, two d.u.c.h.esses, and no end of Ladies This and That. Of course it was only a committee: theyd put me on to get a big subscription out of John. I"d never heard such talk in my life. The things they mentioned! And it was the marchioness that started it.
HYPATIA. What sort of things?
MRS TARLETON. Drainage!! She"d tried three systems in her castle; and she was going to do away with them all and try another. I didnt know which way to look when she began talking about it: I thought theyd all have got up and gone out of the room. But not a bit of it, if you please. They were all just as bad as she. They all had systems; and each of them swore by her own system. I sat there with my cheeks burning until one of the d.u.c.h.esses, thinking I looked out of it, I suppose, asked me what system I had. I said I was sure I knew nothing about such things, and hadnt we better change the subject.
Then the fat was in the fire, I can tell you. There was a regular terror of a countess with an anaerobic system; and she told me, downright brutally, that I"d better learn something about them before my children died of diphtheria. That was just two months after I"d buried poor little Bobby; and that was the very thing he died of, poor little lamb! I burst out crying: I couldnt help it. It was as good as telling me I"d killed my own child. I had to go away; but before I was out of the door one of the d.u.c.h.esses--quite a young woman--began talking about what sour milk did in her inside and how she expected to live to be over a hundred if she took it regularly. And me listening to her, that had never dared to think that a d.u.c.h.ess could have anything so common as an inside! I shouldnt have minded if it had been children"s insides: we have to talk about them. But grown-up people! I was glad to get away that time.
HYPATIA. There was a physiology and hygiene cla.s.s started at school; but of course none of our girls were let attend it.
MRS TARLETON. If it had been an aristocratic school plenty would have attended it. Thats what theyre like: theyve nasty minds. With really nice good women a thing is either decent or indecent; and if it"s indecent, we just dont mention it or pretend to know about it; and theres an end of it. But all the aristocracy cares about is whether it can get any good out of the thing. Theyre what Johnny calls cynical-like. And of course n.o.body can say a word to them for it. Theyre so high up that they can do and say what they like.
HYPATIA. Well, I think they might leave the drains to their husbands.
I shouldnt think much of a man that left such things to me.
MRS TARLETON. Oh, dont think that, dear, whatever you do. I never let on about it to you; but it"s me that takes care of the drainage here. After what that countess said to me I wasnt going to lose another child or trust John. And I don"t want my grandchildren to die any more than my children.
HYPATIA. Do you think Bentley will ever be as big a man as his father? I dont mean clever: I mean big and strong.
MRS TARLETON. Not he. Hes overbred, like one of those expensive little dogs. I like a bit of a mongrel myself, whether it"s a man or a dog: theyre the best for everyday. But we all have our tastes: whats one woman"s meat is another woman"s poison. Bunny"s a dear little fellow; but I never could have fancied him for a husband when I was your age.
HYPATIA. Yes; but he has some brains. Hes not like all the rest.
One can"t have everything.
MRS TARLETON. Oh, youre quite right, dear: quite right. It"s a great thing to have brains: look what it"s done for your father!
Thats the reason I never said a word when you jilted poor Jerry Mackintosh.
HYPATIA. _[excusing herself]_ I really couldnt stick it out with Jerry, mother. I know you liked him; and n.o.body can deny that hes a splendid animal--