While the shake is in progress MARY returns, and, having seen it to a safe conclusion, speaks.
MARY. Coming, Dad?
MR MARCH. Excuse me, Mr Bly, I must away.
He goes towards the door, and BLY dips his sponge.
MARY. [In a low voice] Well?
MR MARCH. Mr Bly is like all the greater men I know--he can"t listen.
MARY. But you were shaking--
MR MARCH. Yes; it"s a weakness we have--every three minutes.
MARY. [Bubbling] Dad--Silly!
MR MARCH. Very!
As they go out MR BLY pauses in his labours to catch, as it were, a philosophical reflection. He resumes the wiping of a pane, while quietly, behind him, FAITH comes in with a tray. She is dressed now in lilac-coloured linen, without a cap, and looks prettier than ever. She puts the tray down on the sideboard with a clap that attracts her father"s attention, and stands contemplating the debris on the table.
BLY. Winders! There they are! Clean, dirty! All sorts--All round yer!
Winders!
FAITH. [With disgust] Food!
BLY. Ah! Food and winders! That"s life!
FAITH. Eight times a day four times for them and four times for us.
I hate food!
She puts a chocolate into her mouth.
BLY. "Ave some philosophy. I might just as well hate me winders.
FAITH. Well!
She begins to clear.
BLY. [Regarding her] Look "ere, my girl! Don"t you forget that there ain"t many winders in London out o" which they look as philosophical as these here. Beggars can"t be choosers.
FAITH. [Sullenly] Oh! Don"t go on at me!
BLY. They spoiled your disposition in that place, I"m afraid.
FAITH. Try it, and see what they do with yours.
BLY. Well, I may come to it yet.
FAITH. You"ll get no windows to look out of there; a little bit of a thing with bars to it, and lucky if it"s not thick gla.s.s. [Standing still and gazing past MR BLY] No sun, no trees, no faces--people don"t pa.s.s in the sky, not even angels.
BLY. Ah! But you shouldn"t brood over it. I knew a man in Valpiraso that "ad spent "arf "is life in prison-a jolly feller; I forget what "e"d done, somethin" b.l.o.o.d.y. I want to see you like him. Aren"t you happy here?
FAITH. It"s right enough, so long as I get out.
BLY. This Mr March--he"s like all these novel-writers--thinks "e knows "uman nature, but of course "e don"t. Still, I can talk to "im--got an open mind, and hates the Gover"ment. That"s the two great things. Mrs March, so far as I see, "as got her head screwed on much tighter.
FAITH. She has.
BLY. What"s the young man like? He"s a long feller.
FAITH. Johnny? [With a shrug and a little smile] Johnny.
BLY. Well, that gives a very good idea of him. They say "es a poet; does "e leave "em about?
FAITH. I"ve seen one or two.
BLY. What"s their tone?
FAITH. All about the condition of the world; and the moon.
BLY. Ah! Depressin". And the young lady?
FAITH shrugs her shoulders.
Um--"ts what I thought. She "asn"t moved much with the times. She thinks she "as, but she "asn"t. Well, they seem a pleasant family.
Leave you to yourself. "Ow"s Cook?
FAITH. Not much company.
BLY. More body than mind? Still, you get out, don"t you?
FAITH. [With a slow smile] Yes. [She gives a sudden little twirl, and puts her hands up to her hair before the mirror] My afternoon to-day.
It"s fine in the streets, after-being in there.
BLY. Well! Don"t follow your instincts too much, that"s all! I must get on to the drawin" room now. There"s a shower comin".
[Philosophically] It"s "ardly worth while to do these winders. You clean "em, and they"re dirty again in no time. It"s like life. And people talk o" progress. What a sooperst.i.tion! Of course there ain"t progress; it"s a world-without-end affair. You"ve got to make up your mind to it, and not be discouraged. All this depression comes from "avin" "igh "opes. "Ave low "opes, and you"ll be all right.
He takes up his pail and cloths and moves out through the windows.
FAITH puts another chocolate into her mouth, and taking up a flower, twirls round with it held to her nose, and looks at herself in the gla.s.s over the hearth. She is still looking at herself when she sees in the mirror a reflection of JOHNNY, who has come in. Her face grows just a little scared, as if she had caught the eye of a warder peering through the peep-hole of her cell door, then brazens, and slowly sweetens as she turns round to him.
JOHNNY. Sorry! [He has a pipe in his hand and wears a Norfolk jacket]
Fond of flowers?
FAITH. Yes. [She puts back the flower] Ever so!
JOHNNY. Stick to it. Put it in your hair; it"ll look jolly. How do you like it here?