They do not dare to kiss, and HUBERT goes out very stiff and straight, in the doorway pa.s.sing STEEL, of whom he takes no notice. STEEL hesitates, and would go away.
KATHERINE. Come in, Mr. Steel.
STEEL. The deputation from Toulmin ought to be here, Mrs. More.
It"s twelve.
OLIVE. [Having made a little ball of newspaper-slyly] Mr. Steel, catch!
[She throws, and STEEL catches it in silence.]
KATHERINE. Go upstairs, won"t you, darling?
OLIVE. Mayn"t I read in the window, Mummy? Then I shall see if any soldiers pa.s.s.
KATHERINE. No. You can go out on the terrace a little, and then you must go up.
[OLIVE goes reluctantly out on to the terrace.]
STEEL. Awful news this morning of that Pa.s.s! And have you seen these? [Reading from the newspaper] "We will have no truck with the jargon of the degenerate who vilifies his country at such a moment.
The Member for Toulmin has earned for himself the contempt of all virile patriots." [He takes up a second journal] "There is a certain type of public man who, even at his own expense, cannot resist the itch to advertise himself. We would, at moments of national crisis, muzzle such persons, as we muzzle dogs that we suspect of incipient rabies...." They"re in full cry after him!
KATHERINE. I mind much more all the creatures who are always flinging mud at the country making him their hero suddenly! You know what"s in his mind?
STEEL. Oh! We must get him to give up that idea of lecturing everywhere against the war, Mrs. More; we simply must.
KATHERINE. [Listening] The deputation"s come. Go and fetch him, Mr. Steel. He"ll be in his room, at the House.
[STEEL goes out, and KATHERINE Stands at bay. In a moment he opens the door again, to usher in the deputation; then retires.
The four gentlemen have entered as if conscious of grave issues.
The first and most picturesque is JAMES HOME, a thin, tall, grey-bearded man, with plentiful hair, contradictious eyebrows, and the half-shy, half-bold manners, alternately rude and over polite, of one not accustomed to Society, yet secretly much taken with himself. He is dressed in rough tweeds, with a red silk tie slung through a ring, and is closely followed by MARK WACE, a waxy, round-faced man of middle-age, with sleek dark hair, traces of whisker, and a smooth way of continually rubbing his hands together, as if selling something to an esteemed customer. He is rather stout, wears dark clothes, with a large gold chain. Following him comes CHARLES SHELDER, a lawyer of fifty, with a bald egg-shaped head, and gold pince-nez. He has little side whiskers, a leathery, yellowish skin, a rather kind but watchful and dubious face, and when he speaks seems to have a plum in his mouth, which arises from the preponderance of his shaven upper lip. Last of the deputation comes WILLIAM BANNING, an energetic-looking, square-shouldered, self-made country-man, between fifty and sixty, with grey moustaches, ruddy face, and lively brown eyes.]
KATHERINE. How do you do, Mr. Home?
HOME. [Bowing rather extravagantly over her hand, as if to show his independence of women"s influence] Mrs. More! We hardly expected-- This is an honour.
WACE. How do you do, Ma"am?
KATHERINE. And you, Mr. Wace?
WACE. Thank you, Ma"am, well indeed!
SHELDER. How d"you do, Mrs. More?
KATHERINE. Very well, thank you, Mr. Shelder.
BANNING. [Speaking with a rather broad country accent] This is but a poor occasion, Ma"am.
KATHERINE. Yes, Mr. Banning. Do sit down, gentlemen.
Seeing that they will not settle down while she is standing, she sits at the table. They gradually take their seats. Each member of the deputation in his own way is severely hanging back from any mention of the subject in hand; and KATHERINE as intent on drawing them to it.
KATHERINE. My husband will be here in two minutes. He"s only over at the House.
SHELDER. [Who is of higher standing and education than the others]
Charming position--this, Mrs. More! So near the--er--Centre of-- Gravity um?
KATHERINE. I read the account of your second meeting at Toulmin.
BANNING. It"s bad, Mrs. More--bad. There"s no disguising it. That speech was moon-summer madness--Ah! it was! Take a lot of explaining away. Why did you let him, now? Why did you? Not your views, I"m sure!
[He looks at her, but for answer she only compresses her lips.]
BANNING. I tell you what hit me--what"s. .h.i.t the whole const.i.tuency-- and that"s his knowing we were over the frontier, fighting already, when he made it.
KATHERINE. What difference does it make if he did know?
HOME. Hitting below the belt--I should have thought--you"ll pardon me!
BANNING. Till war"s begun, Mrs. More, you"re ent.i.tled to say what you like, no doubt--but after! That"s going against your country.
Ah! his speech was strong, you know--his speech was strong.
KATHERINE. He had made up his mind to speak. It was just an accident the news coming then.
[A silence.]
BANNING. Well, that"s true, I suppose. What we really want is to make sure he won"t break out again.
HOME. Very high-minded, his views of course--but, some consideration for the common herd. You"ll pardon me!
SHELDER. We"ve come with the friendliest feelings, Mrs. More--but, you know, it won"t do, this sort of thing!
WACE. We shall be able to smooth him down. Oh! surely.
BANNING. We"d be best perhaps not to mention about his knowing that fighting had begun.
[As he speaks, MORE enters through the French windows. They all rise.]
MORE. Good-morning, gentlemen.
[He comes down to the table, but does not offer to shake hands.]
BANNING. Well, Mr. More? You"ve made a woeful mistake, sir; I tell you to your face.
MORE. As everybody else does, Banning. Sit down again, please.
[They gradually resume their seats, and MORE sits in KATHERINE"s chair. She alone remains standing leaning against the corner of the bay window, watching their faces.]
BANNING. You"ve seen the morning"s telegrams? I tell you, Mr.