WILLIAM
AN
ENGLISHMAN
BY
CICELY
HAMILTON
London
SKEFFINGTON
+
SON
,
LTD.
34
SOUTHAMPTON
STREET
,
STRAND
,
W.C.
2.
PUBLISHERS
TO
HIS
MAJESTY
THE
KING
CHAPTER
I
William
Tully
was
a
little
over
three-and-twenty
when
he
emerged
from
the
chrysalis
stage
of
his
clerkdom
and
became
a
Social
Reformer
.
His
life
and
doings
until
the
age
of
twenty-three
,
had
given
small
promise
of
the
distinction
of
his
future
career
;
from
a
mild-mannered
,
pale-faced
and
under-sized
boy
he
had
developed
into
a
mild-mannered
,
pale-faced
little
adult
standing
five
foot
five
in
his
boots
.
Educated
at
a
small
private
school
in
the
suburbs
of
London
,
his
record
for
conduct
was
practically
spotless
and
he
once
took
a
prize
for
Divinity
;
further
,
to
the
surprise
and
relief
of
his
preceptors
,
he
managed
to
scrape
through
the
Senior
Cambridge
Local
Examination
before
he
was
transferred
to
a
desk
in
the
office
of
a
London
insurance
company
.
His
preceptor-in-chief
,
in
a
neatly-written
certificate
,
assured
his
future
employers
that
they
would
find
him
painstaking
and
obedient
—
and
William
,
for
the
first
six
years
of
his
engagement
,
lived
up
to
the
character
given
him
.
His
mother
,
a
sharp-eyed
,
masterful
woman
,
had
brought
him
up
to
be
painstaking
and
obedient
;
it
might
be
said
with
truth
that
as
long
as
she
lived
he
did
not
know
how
to
be
otherwise
.
It
is
true
he
disliked
his
office
superiors
vaguely
,
for
the
restrictions
they
placed
upon
his
wishes
—
just
as
,
for
the
same
reason
,
he
vaguely
disliked
his
mother
;
but
his
wishes
being
indeterminate
and
his
ambition
non-existent
,
his
vague
dislike
never
stiffened
into
active
resentment
.
It
would
seem
that
the
supreme
effort
of
passing
his
Cambridge
Local
had
left
him
mentally
exhausted
for
a
season
;
at
any
rate
,
from
the
conclusion
of
his
school-days
till
he
made
the
acquaintance
of
Faraday
,
his
reading
was
practically
confined
to
romantic
and
humorous
literature
.
He
was
a
regular
patron
of
the
fiction
department
of
the
municipal
lending
library
and
did
not
disdain
to
spend
modestly
on
periodicals
of
the
type
of
Snappy
Bits
.
He
was
unable
to
spend
more
than
modestly
because
his
earnings
,
with
the
exception
of
a
small
sum
for
fares
and
pocket-money
,
were
annexed
by
his
mother
each
Saturday
as
a
matter
of
normal
routine
.
The
manner
of
her
annexation
made
discussion
singularly
difficult
;
and
if
William
ever
felt
stirrings
of
rebellion
over
the
weekly
cash
delivery
he
was
careful
never
to
betray
them
.
With
his
colleagues
of
the
office
Tully
was
a
negligible
quantity
.
He
was
not
unpopular
—
it
was
merely
that
he
did
not
matter
.
His
mother
's
control
of
the
family
funds
was
no
doubt
in
part
accountable
for
his
comrades
'
neglect
of
his
society
;
but
his
own
habits
and
manners
were
still
more
largely
to
blame
,
since
besides
being
painstaking
and
obedient
he
was
unobtrusive
and
diffident
.
There
was
once
a
project
on
foot
in
the
office
to
take
him
out
and
make
him
drunk
—
but
nothing
came
of
it
because
no
one
was
sufficiently
interested
in
William
to
give
up
an
evening
to
the
job
.
The
crisis
in
his
hitherto
well-ordered
life
came
when
his
mother
died
suddenly
.
This
was
in
October
1910.
William
had
gone
to
the
office
as
usual
that
morning
,
leaving
his
mother
apparently
in
her
usual
health
;
he
returned
in
the
evening
to
blinds
already
drawn
down
.
A
neighbour
(
female
)
was
in
waiting
in
the
sitting-room
and
broke
the
great
news
with
a
sense
of
its
importance
and
her
own
;
she
took
William
's
hand
,
told
him
with
sniffs
that
it
was
the
will
of
the
Lord
,
and
entered
into
clinical
details
.
William
sat
down
rather
suddenly
when
he
realized
that
there
would
be
no
one
in
future
to
annex
his
weekly
earnings
;
then
,
shocked
by
his
lack
of
filial
feeling
,
he
endeavoured
to
produce
an
emotion
more
suited
to
the
solemn
occasion
.
Disconcerted
by
a
want
of
success
which
he
feared
was
apparent
to
his
audience
,
he
fidgeted
,
dry-eyed
and
awkward
—
and
finally
,
all
things
considered
,
acted
well
and
wisely
by
demanding
to
be
left
alone
.
To
his
relief
the
demand
was
accepted
as
reasonable
and
proper
in
the
first
moments
of
his
grief
;
the
sympathizer
withdrew
,
wiping
her
eyes
—
unnecessarily
—
and
hoping
that
God
would
support
him
.
He
locked
the
door
stealthily
and
stared
at
his
mother
's
armchair
;
he
was
a
little
afraid
of
its
emptiness
,
he
was
also
shocked
and
excited
.
He
knew
instinctively
that
more
was
to
happen
,
that
life
from
now
on
would
be
something
new
and
different
...
.
The
arm-chair
was
empty
;
the
masterful
little
woman
who
had
borne
him
,
slapped
him
,
managed
him
and
cowed
him
—
the
masterful
little
woman
was
dead
!
There
was
no
one
now
to
whom
he
was
accountable
;
no
one
of
whom
he
was
afraid
...
.
He
walked
on
tiptoe
round
the
tiny
room
,
feeling
strangely
and
pleasantly
alive
.
The
next
day
increased
the
sense
of
his
new-found
importance
;
his
mother
had
died
rich
,
as
he
and
she
understood
riches
.
She
had
trusted
her
son
in
nothing
,
not
even
with
the
knowledge
of
her
income
,
and
after
the
stinting
and
scraping
to
which
she
had
accustomed
him
he
was
amazed
to
find
himself
master
of
a
hundred
and
fifty
pounds
a
year
,
the
interest
on
capital
gradually
and
carefully
invested
.
In
his
amazement
—
at
first
incredulous
—
he
trod
on
air
,
while
his
mind
wandered
hazily
over
the
glorious
possibilities
of
opulent
years
to
come
;
the
only
alloy
in
his
otherwise
supreme
content
being
the
necessity
for
preserving
(
at
least
until
the
funeral
was
over
)
a
decent
appearance
of
dejection
.
He
felt
,
too
,
the
need
of
a
friend
in
whom
to
confide
,
some
one
of
his
own
age
and
standing
before
whom
it
would
not
be
needful
to
keep
up
the
appearance
of
dejection
and
who
would
not
be
shocked
at
the
babblings
of
his
stirred
and
exultant
soul
;
and
it
was
this
natural
longing
for
a
confidant
which
,
on
the
day
following
his
mother
's
funeral
,
led
to
the
beginning
of
his
friendship
with
his
fellow-clerk
,
Faraday
.
The
head
of
his
department
,
meeting
him
in
the
passage
,
had
said
a
few
perfunctory
and
conventional
words
of
condolence
—
whereto
William
had
muttered
a
sheepish
"
Thank
you
,
sir
,
"
and
escaped
as
soon
as
might
be
.
The
familiar
office
after
his
four
days
'
estrangement
from
it
affected
him
curiously
and
unpleasantly
;
he
felt
his
newly-acquired
sense
of
importance
slipping
gradually
away
from
him
,
felt
himself
becoming
once
again
the
underling
and
creature
of
routine
—
the
William
Tully
,
obedient
and
painstaking
,
who
had
earned
from
his
childhood
the
favourable
contempt
of
his
superiors
.
It
was
borne
in
on
him
as
the
hours
went
by
that
it
was
not
enough
to
accept
good
fortune
—
good
fortune
had
to
be
made
use
of
;
and
he
began
to
make
plans
in
an
irregular
,
tentative
fashion
,
biting
the
end
of
his
pen
and
neglecting
his
work
.
Should
he
chuck
the
office
?
and
if
he
chucked
it
,
what
then
?
...
Here
imagination
failed
him
;
his
life
had
been
so
ordered
,
so
bound
down
and
directed
by
others
,
that
even
his
desires
were
tamed
to
the
wishes
of
others
and
left
to
himself
he
could
not
tell
what
he
desired
.
The
need
for
sympathy
and
guidance
became
imperative
;
driving
him
,
when
the
other
occupants
of
the
room
had
departed
for
lunch
,
to
unbosom
himself
to
Faraday
.
In
his
longing
to
talk
he
would
have
addressed
himself
almost
to
any
one
;
but
on
the
whole
,
and
in
spite
of
an
entire
ignorance
of
his
habits
and
character
,
he
was
glad
it
was
Faraday
who
was
left
behind
to
hear
him
—
a
newcomer
,
recently
transferred
from
another
branch
and
,
as
William
realized
(
if
only
half-consciously
)
like
himself
regarded
by
their
fellow-clerks
as
a
bit
of
an
outsider
.
A
sallow-faced
young
man
,
dark-haired
and
with
large
hazel
eyes
,
he
was
neatly
garbed
as
became
an
insurance
clerk
;
but
there
was
a
suggestion
of
discomfort
about
his
conventional
neatness
,
just
as
there
was
a
suggestion
of
effort
about
his
personal
cleanliness
.
He
worked
hard
and
steadily
;
taking
no
part
in
the
interludes
of
blithesome
chat
wherewith
his
companions
enlivened
their
hours
of
toil
and
appearing
to
be
satisfied
rather
than
annoyed
by
the
knowledge
of
his
own
isolation
.
He
had
spoken
to
William
but
two
or
three
times
and
always
in
the
way
of
business
—
nor
was
his
profile
bent
over
a
ledger
particularly
suggestive
of
sympathy
;
William
's
emotions
,
however
,
had
reached
exploding-point
,
and
the
door
had
hardly
closed
behind
the
last
of
their
fellows
when
he
blurted
out
,
"
I
say
,
"
and
Faraday
raised
his
head
.
"
I
say
,
"
William
blurted
again
,
"
did
you
know
—
my
mother
's
dead
?
"
"
Ah
—
yes
,
"
said
Faraday
uncomfortably
;
he
believed
he
was
being
appealed
to
for
sympathy
,
and
fidgeted
,
clearing
his
throat
;
"
I
—
I
had
heard
it
mentioned
.
I
need
n't
say
I
'm
very
sorry
—
extremely
...
.
I
suppose
you
were
very
much
attached
to
her
?
"
William
reflected
for
a
moment
and
then
answered
honestly
,
"
No.
"
"
Indeed
!
"
Faraday
returned
,
surprised
as
well
as
uncomfortable
.
Not
knowing
what
further
to
say
,
his
eyes
went
back
to
the
ledger
and
the
conversation
languished
.
It
was
William
who
resumed
it
—
wondering
at
the
difficulty
of
expressing
his
bubbling
emotions
.
"
I
do
n't
mean
to
say
,
"
he
explained
with
a
twinge
of
remorse
,
"
that
I
had
anything
to
complain
of
.
My
mother
always
did
her
duty
by
me
.
But
we
were
n't
what
you
might
call
sympathetic
.
"
"
Indeed
!
"
Faraday
repeated
—
still
at
sea
as
to
the
motive
of
the
conversation
.
"
It
was
unfortunate
,
"
William
went
on
,
"
but
it
could
n't
be
helped
.
I
am
sure
she
was
a
very
good
woman
.
"
(
He
said
this
with
the
more
confidence
because
,
from
his
childhood
up
,
he
had
always
associated
goodness
with
lack
of
amiability
.
)
"
But
that
was
n't
what
I
wanted
to
say
.
What
I
wanted
to
say
was
,
she
has
left
me
a
good
deal
of
money
.
"
"
Indeed
?
"
said
Faraday
for
the
third
time
;
adding
something
about
"
congratulation
.
"
He
hoped
the
episode
was
over
—
but
William
was
only
beginning
.
"
I
've
been
wondering
,
"
he
said
,
"
what
I
should
do
—
now
that
I
'm
independent
.
I
do
n't
want
to
go
on
like
this
.
It
's
a
waste
—
when
you
've
got
money
.
But
I
do
n't
know
how
to
set
about
things
...
.
If
some
one
would
put
me
in
the
way
!
"
Faraday
,
raising
his
eyes
from
the
ledger
,
met
the
wistful
appeal
in
William
's
and
imagined
himself
enlightened
.
"
I
see
,
"
he
said
interrogatively
;
"
then
you
have
n't
got
your
living
to
earn
—
you
are
not
tied
here
any
longer
?
You
can
direct
your
own
life
and
take
up
any
line
you
choose
?
"
"
Yes
,
"
William
assented
,
pleased
with
the
phrase
;
"
I
can
direct
my
own
life
—
certainly
.
"
"
Which
,
"
Faraday
suggested
,
"
was
difficult
for
you
before
?
"
"
Very
,
"
said
William
emphatically
.
"
And
,
"
the
other
went
on
,
"
now
that
you
are
your
own
man
you
wish
to
take
the
line
that
attracts
you
and
be
of
some
use
?
"
"
Oh
,
certainly
,
"
William
assented
again
—
perhaps
a
shade
less
emphatically
.
So
far
his
ideas
had
run
more
upon
pleasure
than
usefulness
.
Faraday
reflected
with
his
chin
resting
on
his
hand
.
"
Why
have
you
asked
me
?
"
he
demanded
suddenly
—
with
the
accent
strongly
on
the
"
me
.
"
"
I
know
so
few
people
,
"
William
explained
humbly
.
"
I
mean
,
of
course
,
people
who
could
give
me
any
ideas
...
.
I
thought
you
would
n't
mind
—
at
least
I
hoped
you
would
n't
...
.
I
know
it
's
unusual
—
but
if
you
could
help
me
in
any
way
?
...
With
suggestions
,
you
know
.
"
Again
Faraday
reflected
with
his
chin
resting
on
his
hand
.
"
I
could
put
you
,
"
he
said
at
last
,
"
in
touch
with
people
who
might
help
you
.
I
should
be
very
pleased
to
do
so
...
.
Of
course
,
I
should
like
to
know
more
of
you
first
—
what
your
views
are
—
—
"
"
Of
course
,
"
William
agreed
vaguely
,
puzzled
partly
by
the
words
and
partly
by
the
enigmatic
manner
.
"
If
you
've
nothing
else
to
do
,
"
Faraday
continued
,
"
perhaps
you
'll
come
round
to
my
rooms
to-night
for
a
talk
?
Say
at
half-past
eight
.
We
could
discuss
things
more
comfortably
there
.
"
William
,
still
puzzled
by
the
hint
of
mystery
in
his
manner
,
murmured
that
he
also
should
be
very
pleased
,
and
Faraday
gave
him
the
address
—
returning
forthwith
to
his
ledger
in
sign
that
he
considered
the
incident
closed
for
the
present
.
He
had
a
distinctly
authoritative
way
with
him
,
and
William
,
who
would
gladly
have
continued
the
subject
,
had
perforce
to
be
content
with
wondering
what
the
night
's
discussion
and
exchange
of
"
views
"
would
bring
forth
;
an
evening
spent
away
from
home
was
so
rare
an
event
in
his
life
that
the
prospect
of
his
visit
to
Faraday
's
rooms
afforded
him
food
for
an
afternoon
's
busy
speculation
.
His
own
domicile
being
in
the
region
of
Camberwell
,
he
did
not
return
to
it
after
office
hours
but
whiled
away
the
time
by
dinner
at
an
Oxford
Street
Lyons
—
secretly
glorying
in
the
length
of
his
bill
and
contrasting
his
power
of
spending
what
he
liked
with
the
old
days
of
doled-out
allowance
.
He
rang
down
a
sovereign
at
the
pay-desk
,
gathered
up
his
change
and
strolled
out
of
the
building
with
an
air
—
and
at
half-past
eight
precisely
found
himself
outside
Faraday
's
lodgings
in
a
mournful
side-street
in
Bloomsbury
.
A
shabby
maid-servant
ushered
him
upstairs
to
a
shabby
,
paper-strewn
room
where
Faraday
,
pipe
in
mouth
,
rose
to
greet
him
.
They
were
not
long
in
finding
out
that
the
invitation
had
been
given
and
accepted
under
a
misapprehension
on
both
sides
.
Faraday
,
as
soon
as
he
had
settled
his
guest
in
a
chair
,
came
straight
to
the
point
with
"
Now
tell
me
—
how
long
have
you
been
interested
in
social
questions
?
"
"
In
social
questions
?
"
William
repeated
blankly
.
"
I
'm
afraid
I
do
n't
—
—
What
sort
of
questions
do
you
mean
?
"
It
was
Faraday
's
turn
to
be
taken
aback
,
and
,
though
he
did
not
say
it
,
his
eyes
looked
.
"
Then
what
the
devil
—
—
?
"
William
's
fell
before
them
nervously
,
and
he
shifted
in
his
chair
like
a
child
detected
in
a
blunder
.
"
I
'm
afraid
I
do
n't
—
—
"
he
said
again
—
and
halted
.
"
Then
you
did
n't
know
,
"
his
companion
queried
,
"
that
I
am
'
Vindex
'
of
The
Torch
?
"
"
I
'm
afraid
not
,
"
muttered
William
,
who
had
heard
neither
of
one
nor
the
other
.
"
Vindex
"
of
The
Torch
sighed
inwardly
.
He
was
young
,
ambitious
,
fiercely
in
earnest
and
ever
on
the
look-out
for
his
Chance
;
and
,
the
wish
being
father
to
the
thought
,
he
had
momentarily
mistaken
William
for
an
embodiment
of
his
Chance
and
dreamed
dreams
since
the
morning
—
dreams
of
a
comrade
like-minded
and
willing
to
be
led
,
whose
newly-inherited
riches
might
be
used
to
endow
a
periodical
that
should
preach
a
purer
and
more
violent
rebellion
even
than
The
Torch
itself
.
With
the
aid
of
William
's
three
pounds
a
week
—
magnified
many
times
over
in
the
eyes
of
his
eager
mind
—
he
had
seen
himself
casting
the
hated
insurance
behind
him
and
devoting
himself
heart
and
pen
to
the
regeneration
of
the
State
and
Race
by
means
of
the
Class
War
.
And
lo
!
—
as
a
couple
more
searching
questions
revealed
to
him
—
in
place
of
a
patron
and
comrade
was
a
nervous
little
nincompoop
,
bewildered
at
finding
himself
for
the
first
time
out
of
leading-strings
,
to
whom
a
hundred
and
fifty
a
year
was
wealth
untold
and
who
had
never
so
much
as
heard
of
the
Class
War
!
For
a
moment
he
was
more
than
half
inclined
to
be
angry
with
the
nervous
little
nincompoop
whose
blundering
,
egoistic
attempt
at
confidence
had
induced
him
to
believe
that
the
secret
of
his
identity
had
been
penetrated
by
an
ardent
sympathizer
.
(
It
was
an
open
secret
in
"
advanced
"
circles
,
though
carefully
guarded
in
the
office
.
)
Then
,
more
justly
,
he
softened
,
recognizing
that
the
blunder
was
his
own
,
the
mistake
of
his
own
making
—
and
,
pitying
William
's
dropped
jaw
and
open
confusion
,
poured
him
out
a
whisky
and
endeavoured
to
set
him
at
his
ease
.
That
evening
in
the
company
of
Faraday
and
his
first
whisky
was
the
turning-point
in
the
career
of
William
Tully
.
Any
man
stronger
than
himself
could
at
that
juncture
in
his
life
have
turned
him
to
right
or
left
;
a
push
in
the
wrong
direction
would
have
made
of
him
an
idler
and
a
wastrel
,
and
fate
was
in
a
kindly
mood
when
she
placed
him
mentally
and
morally
in
charge
of
"
Vindex
"
of
The
Torch
.
She
might
,
as
her
reckless
way
is
,
have
handed
over
his
little
soul
to
some
flamboyant
rogue
or
expert
in
small
vices
;
instead
,
she
laid
it
in
the
keeping
of
a
man
who
was
clean-living
,
charged
with
unselfish
enthusiasm
and
never
consciously
dishonest
.
The
product
of
a
Board
School
Scholarship
and
a
fiercely
energetic
process
of
self-education
(
prompted
in
part
by
the
desire
to
excel
those
he
despised
)
Faraday
,
when
William
made
his
acquaintance
,
was
beginning
to
realize
some
of
his
cherished
ambitions
,
beginning
,
in
certain
Labour
and
Socialist
circles
,
to
be
treated
as
a
man
of
mark
.
His
pen
was
fluent
as
well
as
sarcastic
,
and
if
his
numerous
contributions
to
the
"
rebel
"
press
had
been
paid
for
at
ordinary
rates
he
would
have
been
a
prosperous
journalist
.
It
was
somewhat
of
a
shock
to
William
to
discover
on
the
top
of
the
whisky
that
his
new
acquaintance
was
a
Socialist
;
but
after
the
first
and
momentary
shock
he
swallowed
the
fact
as
he
had
swallowed
the
alcohol
—
not
because
he
liked
it
,
but
because
it
was
something
the
narrow
circle
of
his
mother
's
friends
would
have
heartily
and
loudly
disapproved
of
.
This
reactionary
and
undutiful
attitude
of
mind
was
not
deliberate
or
conscious
;
on
the
contrary
,
he
would
certainly
have
been
horrified
to
learn
that
it
was
the
dominant
factor
in
his
existence
during
the
first
few
weeks
of
his
emancipation
from
maternal
supervision
and
control
—
urging
him
to
drink
deeply
of
Faraday
's
brand
of
Socialism
as
it
urged
him
to
partake
with
unnecessary
sumptuousness
of
the
best
that
Lyons
could
provide
.
He
acquired
the
taste
for
Faraday
's
political
views
more
thoroughly
and
easily
than
the
taste
for
Faraday
's
whisky
.
The
man
's
authoritative
and
easy
manner
,
the
manner
which
stood
him
in
good
stead
with
his
audiences
,
of
assuming
(
quite
honestly
)
that
his
statements
were
proven
facts
which
no
sane
human
being
could
dispute
,
would
have
made
it
impossible
for
William
to
combat
his
opinions
even
had
his
limited
reading
and
thinking
supplied
him
with
material
for
the
contest
.
He
was
impressed
with
Faraday
's
erudition
no
less
than
with
Faraday
's
manner
;
and
impressed
still
more
when
,
later
in
the
evening
,
a
colleague
of
The
Torch
dropped
in
for
a
smoke
and
a
chat
.
The
pair
talked
Labour
and
International
movements
with
the
careless
ease
of
connoisseurs
and
bandied
the
names
of
politicians
contemptuously
from
mouth
to
mouth
—
William
sitting
by
in
a
silence
dazed
and
awed
,
drinking
in
a
language
that
attracted
by
its
wild
incomprehensibility
and
suggestion
.
His
mind
was
blank
and
virgin
for
the
sowing
of
any
seed
;
and
under
Faraday
's
influence
his
dull
,
half-torpid
resentment
against
the
restrictions
,
physical
and
mental
,
of
his
hitherto
narrow
life
became
merged
in
a
wider
sympathy
with
the
general
discomfort
,
in
an
honest
and
fiery
little
passion
for
Justice
,
Right
and
Progress
.
That
,
of
course
,
was
not
the
affair
of
one
evening
's
talk
;
but
even
the
one
evening
's
talk
sowed
the
seeds
.
He
went
away
from
it
uncomfortably
conscious
that
as
yet
he
had
lived
solely
for
himself
,
never
troubling
his
head
concerning
the
evils
that
men
like
Faraday
were
fighting
to
overcome
.
The
manner
of
his
future
living
was
decided
for
him
when
he
knocked
at
the
door
of
Faraday
's
Bloomsbury
lodging
.
His
simple
and
awed
admiration
for
his
new-found
friend
and
faith
had
in
all
probability
more
than
a
little
to
do
with
Faraday
's
readiness
to
allow
the
acquaintance
to
continue
—
even
a
rebel
prophet
is
not
insensible
to
flattery
.
William
became
for
a
time
his
satellite
and
pupil
,
the
admiring
sharer
of
his
schemes
,
of
his
hatreds
and
laudable
ambitions
;
he
read
Faraday
's
vehement
articles
and
accepted
each
word
and
line
.
His
very
blankness
of
mind
made
him
an
apt
pupil
,
and
within
a
month
of
his
mother
's
death
he
was
living
,
out
of
office
hours
,
in
a
whirl
of
semi-political
agitation
,
attending
meetings
and
cramming
his
head
with
pamphlets
.
In
three
months
more
all
his
hours
were
out-of-office
hours
;
in
his
enthusiasm
for
his
new
creed
and
interests
his
neglect
of
his
professional
duties
had
become
so
marked
that
the
manager
,
after
one
or
two
warnings
,
called
him
into
his
room
for
a
solemn
and
last
reprimand
.
As
it
happened
,
Faraday
,
the
night
before
,
had
confided
to
William
the
news
of
his
approaching
appointment
to
the
post
of
organizing
secretary
of
the
Independent
Socialist
Party
,
an
appointment
which
would
entail
a
speedy
retirement
from
his
hated
desk
in
the
City
.
The
news
,
naturally
,
had
not
increased
the
attraction
of
the
office
for
William
,
in
whom
the
spirit
of
revolt
had
already
fermented
to
some
purpose
;
thus
,
to
the
infinite
surprise
of
his
superiors
,
who
had
known
him
hitherto
as
the
meekest
of
meek
little
clerks
,
the
threat
of
dismissal
failing
improvement
was
countered
by
a
prompt
resignation
as
truculent
as
William
could
make
it
.
In
fact
,
in
the
exhilaration
of
the
moment
,
he
treated
the
astonished
representative
of
capitalism
to
something
in
the
nature
of
a
speech
—
culled
principally
from
the
writings
of
"
Vindex
.
"
From
that
day
onwards
he
devoted
himself
to
what
he
termed
public
life
—
a
ferment
of
protestation
and
grievance
;
sometimes
genuine
,
sometimes
manufactured
or
,
at
least
,
artificially
heightened
.
He
was
an
extremist
,
passionately
well-intentioned
and
with
all
the
extremist
's
,
contempt
for
those
who
balance
,
see
difficulties
and
strive
to
give
the
other
side
its
due
.
He
began
by
haunting
meetings
as
a
listener
and
a
steward
;
Faraday
's
meetings
at
first
,
then
,
as
his
circle
of
acquaintance
and
interest
widened
,
any
sort
of
demonstration
that
promised
a
sufficiency
of
excitement
in
the
form
of
invective
.
The
gentlest
of
creatures
by
nature
and
in
private
life
,
he
grew
to
delight
in
denunciation
,
and
under
its
ceaseless
influence
the
world
divided
itself
into
two
well-marked
camps
;
the
good
and
enlightened
who
agreed
with
him
,
and
the
fools
and
miscreants
who
did
not
...
.
In
short
,
he
became
a
politician
.
As
I
have
said
,
at
the
outset
of
his
career
he
modestly
confined
his
energies
to
stewarding
—
to
the
sale
of
what
propagandist
bodies
insist
on
describing
as
"
literature
,
"
the
taking
of
tickets
,
ushering
to
seats
and
the
like
;
but
in
a
short
time
ambition
fired
him
and
the
fighting
spirit
thereby
engendered
led
him
to
opposition
meetings
where
,
on
Faraday
's
advice
,
he
tried
heckling
the
enemy
speakers
.
His
first
and
flustered
attempts
were
not
over-successful
,
but
,
sustained
by
revolutionary
enthusiasm
,
he
refused
to
be
crushed
by
failure
and
accompanying
jeers
and
held
doggedly
on
to
his
purpose
.
Repeated
efforts
brought
their
measure
of
success
,
and
he
began
to
be
marked
by
his
comrades
as
a
willing
and
valuable
member
.
Within
a
year
,
he
had
found
his
feet
and
was
a
busy
and
full-blown
speaker
—
of
the
species
that
can
be
relied
on
to
turn
on
,
at
any
moment
,
a
glib
,
excited
stream
of
partisan
fact
and
sentiment
.
His
services
were
in
constant
demand
,
since
he
spoke
for
anything
and
everything
—
provided
only
the
promoters
of
the
meeting
were
sufficiently
violent
in
their
efforts
to
upset
the
prevailing
order
.
He
had
developed
and
was
pleased
with
himself
;
Faraday
,
though
still
a
great
man
in
his
eyes
,
was
more
of
an
equal
than
an
idol
.
He
was
wonderfully
happy
in
his
new
,
unrestful
existence
;
it
was
not
only
that
he
knew
he
was
doing
great
good
and
that
applause
uplifted
him
and
went
to
his
head
like
wine
;
as
a
member
of
an
organization
and
swayed
by
its
collective
passion
,
he
attained
to
,
and
was
conscious
of
,
an
emotional
(
and
,
as
he
thought
,
intellectual
)
activity
of
which
as
an
individual
he
would
have
been
entirely
incapable
.
As
a
deceased
statesman
was
intoxicated
with
the
exuberance
of
his
own
verbosity
,
so
William
was
intoxicated
with
the
exuberance
of
his
own
emotions
.
There
were
moments
when
he
looked
back
on
his
old
life
and
could
hardly
believe
he
was
the
same
William
Tully
who
once
,
without
thought
of
the
Social
Revolution
,
went
daily
from
Camberwell
to
the
City
and
back
from
the
City
to
Camberwell
...
.
As
time
went
on
,
he
was
entrusted
with
"
campaigns
"
and
the
stirring
up
of
revolt
;
and
it
was
a
proud
day
for
him
when
a
Conservative
evening
paper
,
in
connection
with
his
share
in
a
mining
agitation
,
referred
to
him
as
a
dangerous
man
.
He
wondered
,
with
pity
for
her
blindness
,
what
his
mother
would
have
thought
if
any
one
had
told
her
in
her
lifetime
that
her
son
would
turn
out
dangerous
.
As
a
matter
of
course
he
was
a
supporter
of
votes
for
women
;
an
adherent
(
equally
as
a
matter
of
course
)
of
the
movement
in
its
noisiest
and
most
intolerant
form
.
He
signed
petitions
denouncing
forcible
feeding
and
attended
meetings
advocating
civil
war
,
where
the
civil
warriors
complained
with
bitterness
that
the
other
side
had
hit
them
back
;
and
his
contempt
for
the
less
virulent
form
of
suffragist
was
as
great
as
his
contempt
for
the
Home
Secretary
and
the
orthodox
members
of
the
Labour
Party
.
It
was
at
one
of
these
meetings
,
in
December
1913
,
that
he
met
Griselda
Watkins
.
Griselda
Watkins
,
then
a
little
under
twenty-five
,
was
his
exact
counterpart
in
petticoats
;
a
piece
of
blank-minded
,
suburban
young-womanhood
caught
into
the
militant
suffrage
movement
and
enjoying
herself
therein
.
She
was
inclined
to
plumpness
,
had
a
fresh
complexion
,
a
mouth
slightly
ajar
and
suggestive
of
adenoids
,
and
the
satisfied
expression
which
comes
from
a
spirit
at
rest
.
Like
William
,
she
had
found
peace
of
mind
and
perennial
interest
in
the
hearty
denunciation
of
those
who
did
not
agree
with
her
.
On
the
night
when
William
first
saw
her
she
wore
,
as
a
steward
,
a
white
dress
,
a
sash
with
the
colours
of
her
association
and
a
badge
denoting
that
she
had
suffered
for
the
Cause
in
Holloway
.
Her
manner
was
eminently
self-conscious
and
assured
,
but
at
the
same
time
almost
ostentatiously
gracious
and
womanly
;
it
was
the
policy
of
her
particular
branch
of
the
suffrage
movement
to
repress
manifestations
of
the
masculine
type
in
its
members
and
encourage
fluffiness
of
garb
and
appeal
of
manner
.
Griselda
,
who
had
a
natural
weakness
for
cheap
finery
,
was
a
warm
adherent
of
the
policy
,
went
out
window-smashing
in
a
picture-hat
and
cultivated
ladylike
charm
.
She
introduced
herself
to
William
after
the
meeting
with
a
compliment
on
his
speech
,
which
had
been
fiery
enough
even
for
her
;
they
both
considered
the
compliment
graceful
and
for
a
few
minutes
exchanged
sympathetic
platitudes
on
martyrdom
,
civil
war
and
the
scoundrelly
behaviour
of
the
Government
.
Even
in
those
first
few
minutes
they
were
conscious
of
attraction
for
each
other
and
pleased
to
discover
,
in
the
course
of
their
talk
,
that
they
should
meet
again
next
week
on
another
militant
platform
.
They
met
and
re-met
—
at
first
only
on
platforms
,
afterwards
more
privately
and
pleasantly
.
William
,
when
his
own
meetings
did
not
claim
him
,
took
to
following
Griselda
about
to
hers
,
that
he
might
listen
entranced
to
the
words
of
enthusiastic
abuse
that
flowed
from
her
confident
lips
;
he
had
heard
them
all
before
and
from
speakers
as
confident
,
but
never
before
had
they
seemed
so
inspired
and
inspiring
,
never
before
had
he
desired
with
trembling
to
kiss
the
lips
that
uttered
them
.
Griselda
,
touched
as
a
woman
and
flattered
as
an
orator
by
his
persistent
presence
in
her
audience
,
invited
him
to
tea
at
her
aunt
's
house
in
Balham
;
the
visit
was
a
success
,
and
from
that
evening
(
in
early
March
)
the
end
was
a
foregone
conclusion
.
Their
friendship
ripened
so
fast
that
one
night
at
the
beginning
of
April
(
1914
)
William
,
escorting
her
home
from
a
meeting
,
proposed
to
her
on
the
top
of
an
otherwise
empty
'
bus
,
and
was
duly
and
sweetly
accepted
.
There
were
none
of
the
customary
obstacles
in
the
way
of
the
happy
pair
—
on
the
contrary
,
all
was
plain
sailing
.
William
's
original
income
had
for
some
years
been
augmented
by
his
earnings
as
a
speaker
,
and
Griselda
's
parents
had
left
her
modestly
provided
for
.
Her
aunt
,
long
since
converted
to
the
Movement
(
to
the
extent
of
being
unable
to
talk
of
anything
but
forcible
feeding
)
,
smiled
blessings
on
so
suitable
a
match
and
proceeded
to
consider
the
trousseau
;
and
after
a
little
persuasion
on
part
the
wedding
was
fixed
for
July
.
CHAPTER
II
The
mating
of
William
and
Griselda
might
be
called
an
ideal
mating
;
theirs
were
indeed
two
hearts
that
beat
as
one
.
With
each
day
they
were
happier
in
each
other
's
company
;
their
minds
as
it
were
flowed
together
and
intermingled
joyously
—
minds
so
alike
and
akin
that
it
would
have
been
difficult
,
without
hearing
the
voice
that
spoke
it
,
to
distinguish
an
utterance
of
Griselda
from
an
idea
formulated
by
William
.
Their
prominent
blue
eyes
—
they
both
had
prominent
blue
eyes
—
looked
out
upon
the
world
from
exactly
the
same
point
of
view
;
and
as
they
had
been
trained
by
the
same
influences
and
were
incapable
of
forming
an
independent
judgment
,
it
would
not
have
been
easy
to
find
cause
of
disagreement
between
them
.
There
are
men
and
women
not
a
few
who
find
their
complement
in
their
contrast
;
but
of
such
were
not
William
and
Griselda
.
Their
standard
of
conduct
was
rigid
and
their
views
were
pronounced
;
those
who
did
not
share
their
views
and
act
in
conformity
with
their
standards
were
outside
the
pale
of
their
liking
.
And
this
not
because
they
were
abnormally
or
essentially
uncharitable
,
but
because
they
had
lived
for
so
long
less
as
individuals
than
as
members
of
organizations
—
a
form
of
existence
which
will
end
by
sucking
charity
out
of
the
sweetest
heart
alive
.
It
was
well
for
them
,
therefore
,
that
their
creed
,
like
their
code
of
manners
and
morals
,
was
identical
or
practically
identical
.
It
was
a
simple
creed
and
they
held
to
it
loyally
and
faithfully
.
They
believed
in
a
large
,
vague
and
beautifully
undefined
identity
,
called
by
William
the
People
,
and
by
Griselda
,
Woman
;
who
in
the
time
to
come
was
to
accomplish
much
beautiful
and
undefined
Good
;
and
in
whose
service
they
were
prepared
meanwhile
to
suffer
any
amount
of
obloquy
and
talk
any
amount
of
nonsense
.
They
believed
that
Society
could
be
straightened
and
set
right
by
the
well-meaning
efforts
of
well-meaning
souls
like
themselves
—
aided
by
the
Ballot
,
the
Voice
of
the
People
,
and
Woman
.
They
believed
,
in
defiance
of
the
teachings
of
history
,
that
Democracy
is
another
word
for
peace
and
goodwill
towards
men
.
They
believed
(
quite
rightly
)
in
the
purity
of
their
own
intentions
;
and
concluded
(
quite
wrongly
)
that
the
intentions
of
all
persons
who
did
not
agree
with
them
must
therefore
be
evil
and
impure
...
.
They
were
,
in
short
,
very
honest
and
devout
sectarians
—
cocksure
,
contemptuous
,
intolerant
,
self-sacrificing
after
the
manner
of
their
kind
.
They
held
,
as
I
have
said
,
to
their
own
opinions
strongly
and
would
have
died
rather
than
renounce
,
or
seem
to
renounce
,
them
—
which
did
not
restrain
them
from
resenting
the
same
attitude
of
mind
and
heart
in
others
.
What
in
themselves
they
admired
as
loyalty
,
they
denounced
in
others
as
interested
and
malignant
stubbornness
.
More
—
it
did
not
prevent
them
from
disliking
and
despising
many
excellent
persons
whose
opinions
,
if
analysed
,
would
have
proved
nearly
akin
to
their
own
.
William
,
for
instance
,
would
all
but
foam
at
the
mouth
when
compulsory
service
in
the
army
was
the
subject
of
conversation
,
and
"
militarism
,
"
to
him
,
was
the
blackest
of
all
the
works
of
the
devil
;
but
he
was
bitter
,
and
violently
bitter
,
against
the
blackleg
who
objected
to
compulsory
service
in
a
Trade
Union
,
and
had
spoken
,
times
without
number
,
in
hearty
encouragement
of
that
form
of
siege
warfare
which
is
commonly
known
as
a
Strike
.
He
was
a
pacifist
of
the
type
which
seeks
peace
and
ensues
it
by
insisting
firmly
,
and
even
to
blood
,
that
it
is
the
other
side
's
duty
to
give
way
.
Griselda
also
was
a
pacifist
—
when
it
suited
her
and
when
she
had
got
her
way
.
She
believed
in
a
future
World-Amity
,
brought
about
chiefly
by
Woman
;
meanwhile
,
she
exulted
loudly
and
frequently
in
the
fighting
qualities
of
her
sex
.
Like
William
,
she
had
no
quarrel
with
Continental
nations
;
on
the
contrary
,
what
she
had
seen
of
Continental
nations
during
a
fortnight
's
stay
at
Interlaken
had
inclined
her
to
look
on
them
with
favour
.
Like
William
,
her
combatant
instincts
were
concentrated
on
antagonists
nearer
home
;
she
knew
them
better
and
therefore
disliked
them
more
.
It
is
a
mistake
to
suppose
that
either
nations
or
individuals
will
necessarily
like
the
people
they
see
most
of
;
if
you
must
know
a
man
in
order
to
love
him
,
you
seldom
hate
a
man
with
whom
you
have
not
acquaintance
.
Nothing
could
have
been
more
ideally
peaceful
than
the
relations
of
China
and
England
during
the
Middle
Ages
—
for
the
simple
reason
that
China
and
England
knew
absolutely
nothing
of
each
other
.
In
the
same
way
,
if
in
a
lesser
degree
,
Griselda
and
William
had
a
friendly
feeling
for
Germany
and
the
German
people
.
They
had
never
been
to
Germany
and
knew
nothing
of
her
history
or
politics
;
but
they
had
heard
of
the
Germans
as
intelligent
people
addicted
to
spectacles
,
beer
and
sonatas
,
and
established
on
the
banks
of
the
Rhine
.
And
—
the
Rhine
being
some
way
off
—
they
liked
them
.
As
internationalists
they
had
no
words
too
strong
for
standing
armies
and
their
methods
;
but
upon
military
operations
against
domestic
tyrants
they
looked
with
less
disapproval
.
There
existed
,
I
believe
,
in
the
back
of
their
minds
some
ill-defined
distinction
between
bloodshed
perpetrated
by
persons
clad
in
uniform
and
by
persons
not
so
clad
—
between
fighting
with
bayonets
and
fighting
with
bombs
and
brickbats
.
The
one
was
militarism
and
unjustifiable
;
the
other
heroism
and
holy
.
Had
you
been
unkind
enough
to
pen
them
into
a
corner
and
force
them
to
acknowledge
that
there
are
many
born
warriors
out
of
khaki
,
they
would
have
ended
probably
by
declaring
that
one
should
take
arms
only
against
tyranny
and
in
a
righteous
cause
—
and
so
have
found
themselves
in
entire
agreement
not
only
with
their
adversary
but
with
the
Tory
Party
,
the
German
Emperor
,
the
professional
soldier
and
poor
humanity
in
general
.
The
elect
,
when
one
comes
to
examine
them
,
are
not
always
so
very
elect
.
The
difficulty
would
have
been
to
persuade
them
that
there
could
be
two
opinions
concerning
a
cause
they
espoused
;
their
little
vision
was
as
narrow
as
it
was
pure
,
and
their
little
minds
were
so
seldom
exhausted
by
thinking
.
Apostles
of
the
reign
of
Woman
and
of
International
Amity
,
they
might
have
been
summed
up
as
the
perfect
type
of
aggressor
.
With
regard
to
what
used
to
be
called
culture
(
before
August
1914
)
,
the
attainments
of
William
and
Griselda
were
very
much
on
a
level
.
They
read
newspapers
written
by
persons
who
wholly
agreed
with
their
views
;
they
read
pamphlets
issued
,
and
books
recommended
,
by
societies
of
which
they
were
members
.
From
these
they
quoted
,
in
public
and
imposingly
,
with
absolute
faith
in
their
statements
.
Of
history
and
science
,
of
literature
and
art
,
they
knew
nothing
,
or
next
to
nothing
;
and
,
their
ignorance
being
mutual
,
neither
bored
the
other
by
straying
away
from
the
subjects
in
which
both
were
interested
...
.
As
I
have
said
,
their
mating
was
an
ideal
mating
.
The
period
of
their
engagement
was
not
without
its
beauty
;
an
ever-present
consciousness
of
their
mission
to
mankind
did
not
prevent
them
from
being
blissful
as
loving
young
couples
are
blissful
—
it
merely
coloured
their
relations
and
spiritualized
them
.
One
evening
,
not
long
before
their
wedding
,
they
sat
together
in
Battersea
Park
on
a
bench
and
dedicated
their
mutual
lives
to
the
service
of
Progress
and
Humanity
.
They
had
invented
a
suitable
formula
for
the
occasion
and
repeated
it
softly
,
one
after
the
other
,
holding
each
other
's
hands
.
Griselda
's
voice
trembled
as
she
vowed
,
in
semi-ecclesiastical
phraseology
,
that
not
even
her
great
love
for
William
should
wean
her
from
her
life
's
work
;
and
William
's
voice
shook
back
as
he
vowed
in
his
turn
that
not
even
Griselda
,
the
woman
of
his
dreams
,
should
make
him
neglectful
of
the
call
of
Mankind
and
his
duty
to
the
holiest
of
causes
.
It
was
a
very
solemn
little
moment
;
man
and
woman
,
affianced
lovers
,
they
dedicated
themselves
to
their
mission
,
the
uplifting
of
the
human
race
.
They
were
spared
the
doubts
which
would
have
assailed
wiser
heads
as
to
the
manner
of
accomplishing
their
mission
;
and
as
they
sat
side
by
side
on
the
bench
,
with
their
hands
clasped
,
they
knew
themselves
for
acceptable
types
and
forerunners
of
the
world
they
were
helping
to
create
...
.
Man
and
Woman
,
side
by
side
,
vowed
to
service
.
"
We
shall
never
forget
this
evening
,
"
Griselda
whispered
as
the
sun
dipped
down
in
glory
.
"
In
all
our
lives
there
can
be
nothing
more
beautiful
than
this
.
"
She
was
right
;
the
two
best
gifts
of
life
are
love
and
an
approving
conscience
.
These
twain
,
William
and
Griselda
,
loved
each
other
sincerely
—
if
not
with
the
tempestuous
passion
of
a
Romeo
and
a
Juliet
,
with
an
honest
and
healthy
affection
;
they
had
for
each
other
an
attraction
which
could
set
their
pulses
beating
and
start
them
dreaming
dreams
.
That
evening
,
on
the
bench
in
Battersea
Park
,
they
had
dreamed
their
dreams
—
while
their
consciences
looked
on
and
smiled
.
They
foreshadowed
their
home
not
only
as
a
nest
where
they
two
and
their
children
should
dwell
,
but
as
a
centre
of
light
and
duty
—
as
they
understood
duty
and
light
;
a
meeting-place
for
the
like-minded
,
where
fresh
courage
could
be
gathered
for
the
strife
with
prejudice
and
evil
.
They
pictured
themselves
(
this
was
in
June
1914
)
as
what
they
would
have
called
Powers
—
as
a
man
and
a
woman
working
for
progress
and
destined
to
leave
their
mark
.
The
sense
of
their
destiny
awed
and
elated
them
—
and
they
walked
away
from
Battersea
Park
with
their
hearts
too
full
for
speech
.
On
the
way
home
a
flaring
headline
distracted
Griselda
temporarily
from
her
dreams
.
"
Who
's
this
Archduke
that
's
been
assassinated
?
"
she
asked
.
(
Her
morning
's
reading
had
been
confined
to
The
Suffragette
.
)
"
Austrian
,
"
William
informed
her
.
(
He
had
read
the
Daily
Herald
.
)
"
Franz
Joseph
—
no
,
Franz
Ferdinand
—
the
heir
to
the
Austrian
throne
.
"
"
Who
assassinated
him
?
"
his
betrothed
inquired
,
not
very
much
interested
.
"
I
ca
n't
remember
their
names
,
"
William
admitted
,
"
but
there
seem
to
have
been
several
in
it
.
Anyhow
,
he
's
been
assassinated
.
Somewhere
in
the
Balkans
.
With
bombs
.
"
"
Oh
!
"
said
Griselda
,
ceasing
to
be
interested
at
all
.
Her
mind
had
turned
from
traffic
in
strange
archdukes
and
was
running
on
a
high
resolve
;
the
solemn
vow
of
service
was
translating
itself
into
action
.
"
I
shall
go
to
the
meeting
to-morrow
,
"
she
announced
,
"
and
make
my
protest
.
"
William
knew
what
was
passing
in
her
mind
and
made
no
effort
to
dissuade
her
.
No
more
than
she
dared
he
let
their
mutual
happiness
enervate
them
—
it
must
urge
them
to
high
endeavour
,
to
struggle
and
sacrifice
for
the
Cause
.
"
I
'll
go
too
,
"
he
said
simply
,
"
if
I
can
manage
to
get
a
ticket
.
"
"
Oh
,
I
'll
get
you
a
ticket
,
"
Griselda
told
him
;
"
they
're
sure
to
have
some
at
the
office
"
—
and
thanked
him
with
a
squeeze
of
the
fingers
that
set
his
pulses
beating
.
She
was
as
good
as
her
word
,
and
the
next
night
saw
him
in
a
Cabinet
Minister
's
audience
.
From
his
seat
in
the
arena
(
their
seats
were
not
together
and
the
pair
had
entered
separately
)
his
eye
sought
for
Griselda
and
found
her
easily
in
the
first
row
of
the
balcony
—
most
obviously
composed
and
with
her
gloved
hands
folded
on
the
rail
.
She
was
dressed
in
pale
blue
,
with
a
flowered
toque
perched
on
her
head
;
her
blue
silk
blouse
,
in
view
of
possibilities
,
was
firmly
connected
by
safety-pins
with
the
belt
of
her
blue
cloth
skirt
,
and
her
hair
secured
more
tightly
than
usual
by
an
extra
allowance
of
combs
.
Previous
experience
had
taught
her
the
wisdom
of
these
measures
.
As
usual
,
in
accordance
with
the
tradition
of
her
party
,
she
had
insisted
in
her
costume
on
the
ultra-feminine
note
;
her
blouse
savoured
of
Liberty
and
there
was
a
cluster
of
rosebuds
at
her
breast
.
She
was
breathing
quickly
,
so
her
mouth
was
more
open
than
usual
;
otherwise
she
gave
no
sign
of
mental
or
physical
trepidation
—
save
a
studied
indifference
which
might
have
betrayed
her
to
an
eye
sufficiently
acute
.
To
William
she
looked
adorable
and
his
heart
swelled
with
admiration
of
her
courage
and
determination
to
sustain
her
in
her
protest
to
the
uttermost
;
he
vowed
to
himself
to
be
worthy
of
such
a
mate
.
He
did
his
best
to
prove
himself
worthy
when
the
critical
moment
came
.
He
waited
for
that
moment
during
more
than
three-quarters
of
an
hour
—
for
Griselda
was
not
without
confederates
,
and
three
ladies
in
picture
hats
and
a
gentleman
in
the
garb
of
a
Nonconformist
minister
had
arisen
at
intervals
to
make
the
running
before
her
voice
rang
out
.
All
were
suppressed
,
though
not
without
excitement
;
two
of
the
ladies
parted
with
their
hats
and
the
clergyman
broke
a
chair
.
The
chair
and
the
clergyman
having
been
alike
removed
,
the
audience
buzzed
down
into
silence
,
and
for
full
five
minutes
there
was
peace
—
until
the
speaker
permitted
himself
a
jesting
allusion
to
the
recently
exported
objectors
.
A
man
with
a
steward
's
rosette
in
his
coat
was
stationed
in
the
gangway
close
to
William
;
and
as
the
laughter
the
jest
had
provoked
died
away
,
he
swore
under
his
breath
,
"
By
God
,
there
's
another
in
the
balcony
!
"
William
swung
round
,
saw
Griselda
on
her
feet
and
heard
her
voice
shrill
out
—
to
him
an
inspiration
and
a
clarion
,
to
the
steward
a
source
of
profanity
.
"
Mr.
Chairman
,
I
rise
to
protest
against
the
speaker
's
gross
insult
to
the
noble
women
who
—
—
"
A
man
in
the
seat
behind
clapped
his
hands
on
her
shoulders
and
rammed
her
back
into
her
chair
—
where
she
writhed
vigorously
,
calling
him
coward
and
demanding
how
he
dared
!
His
grip
,
sufficiently
hard
to
be
unpleasant
,
roused
her
fighting
instincts
and
gave
a
fillip
to
her
conscientious
protest
;
in
contact
with
actual
,
if
not
painful
,
personal
violence
,
she
found
it
easier
to
scream
,
hit
out
and
struggle
.
Two
stewards
,
starting
from
either
end
of
the
row
of
chairs
,
were
wedging
themselves
towards
her
;
she
clung
to
her
seat
with
fingers
and
toes
,
and
shrieked
a
regulation
formula
which
the
meeting
drowned
in
opprobrium
.
Conscious
of
rectitude
,
the
jeers
and
hoots
but
encouraged
her
and
fired
her
blood
;
and
when
her
hands
were
wrenched
from
their
hold
on
the
chair
she
clung
and
clawed
to
the
shoulder
of
her
next-door
neighbour
—
a
stout
and
orthodox
Liberal
who
thrust
her
from
him
,
snorting
indignation
.
One
steward
had
her
gripped
under
the
armpits
,
the
other
with
difficulty
mastered
her
active
ankles
;
and
,
wriggling
like
a
blue
silk
eel
and
crowing
her
indefatigable
protest
,
she
was
bundled
in
rapid
and
business-like
fashion
to
a
side
entrance
of
the
building
.
"
Cowards
!
"
she
ejaculated
as
she
found
her
feet
on
the
pavement
.
"
Damned
little
cat
!
"
was
the
ungentlemanly
rejoinder
.
"
If
you
come
here
again
I
'll
pare
your
nasty
little
nails
for
you
.
"
And
,
dabbing
a
scored
left
hand
with
his
handkerchief
,
the
steward
returned
to
his
duties
—
leaving
Griselda
in
the
centre
of
a
jocular
crowd
attracted
to
the
spot
by
several
previous
ejections
.
She
was
minus
her
rosebuds
,
her
toque
and
quite
half
of
her
hairpins
;
on
the
other
hand
,
she
held
tightly
grasped
in
her
fingers
a
crumpled
silk
necktie
which
had
once
been
the
property
of
a
stout
and
orthodox
Liberal
.
She
was
conscious
that
she
had
acted
with
perfect
dignity
as
well
as
with
unusual
courage
—
and
that
consciousness
,
combined
with
her
experience
of
similar
situations
,
enabled
her
to
sustain
with
calm
contempt
the
attentions
of
the
jocular
crowd
.
"
You
'd
like
a
taxi
,
I
suppose
,
miss
?
"
the
constable
on
duty
suggested
—
having
also
considerable
experience
of
similar
situations
.
Griselda
assented
and
the
taxi
was
duly
hailed
.
Before
it
arrived
at
the
kerb
she
was
joined
on
the
pavement
by
her
lover
,
who
had
left
the
meeting
by
the
same
door
as
his
betrothed
and
in
much
the
same
manner
and
condition
;
he
had
parted
with
a
shoe
as
well
as
a
hat
,
and
one
of
his
braces
was
broken
.
A
hearty
shove
assisted
him
down
the
steps
to
the
pavement
where
,
to
the
applause
of
the
unthinking
multitude
,
he
fell
on
his
knees
in
an
attitude
of
adoration
before
Griselda
's
friend
the
constable
.
Recovering
his
equilibrium
,
he
would
have
turned
again
to
the
assault
;
but
his
game
attempt
to
re-enter
the
building
was
frustrated
not
only
by
a
solidly
extended
arm
of
the
law
but
by
the
intervention
of
Griselda
herself
.
"
You
have
done
enough
for
to-night
,
dear
,
"
she
whispered
,
taking
his
arm
.
"
My
instructions
are
not
to
insist
on
arrest
.
We
have
made
our
protest
—
we
can
afford
to
withdraw
.
"
She
led
the
retreat
to
the
taxi
with
a
dignity
born
of
practice
;
William
,
now
conscious
of
his
snapped
brace
,
following
with
less
deportment
.
The
vehicle
once
clear
of
the
jeering
crowd
,
Griselda
put
her
arms
round
her
lover
and
kissed
his
forehead
solemnly
.
"
My
dear
one
,
"
she
said
,
"
I
am
proud
of
you
.
"
"
Oh
,
Griselda
,
I
'm
proud
of
you
,
"
he
murmured
between
their
kisses
.
"
How
brave
you
are
—
how
wonderful
!
—
how
dared
they
!
...
I
went
nearly
mad
when
I
saw
them
handling
you
—
I
hit
out
,
and
the
cowards
knocked
me
down
...
.
A
woman
raising
her
voice
on
the
side
of
justice
—
and
they
silence
her
with
brutal
violence
—
—
"
"
It
's
only
what
we
must
expect
,
dear
,
"
she
whispered
back
,
stroking
his
rumpled
hair
.
"
Remember
this
is
War
—
God
knows
it
's
horrible
,
but
we
must
not
shrink
from
it
.
"
She
spoke
from
her
heart
,
from
the
profound
ignorance
of
the
unread
and
unimaginative
...
and
once
more
in
the
darkness
of
the
taxi
the
warriors
clasped
and
kissed
.
CHAPTER
III
After
the
usual
hesitations
and
excursions
they
had
settled
on
their
future
home
—
a
tiny
flat
in
Bloomsbury
,
central
and
handy
for
the
perpetual
getting
about
to
meetings
which
was
so
integral
a
part
of
their
well-filled
,
bustling
lives
.
They
furnished
it
lovingly
and
with
what
they
considered
good
taste
;
Griselda
brought
in
her
friends
to
admire
,
and
engaged
a
respectable
woman
who
was
to
"
do
"
for
them
and
have
all
in
readiness
when
they
returned
from
their
four
weeks
'
honeymoon
—
and
they
were
as
foolishly
happy
over
their
nest
as
any
other
loving
little
couple
.
They
were
married
towards
the
end
of
July
—
to
be
exact
,
on
the
twenty-third
day
of
the
month
.
The
wedding
took
place
in
Balham
from
the
house
of
Griselda
's
aunt
;
the
ceremony
was
performed
by
an
enlightened
vicar
who
had
consented
to
omit
the
ignoble
vow
of
obedience
;
and
the
church
was
thronged
to
its
doors
with
comrades
and
ardent
sympathizers
.
The
advanced
Press
spread
itself
over
the
description
of
the
ceremony
and
—
in
view
of
the
fact
that
the
bridesmaids
,
six
in
number
,
had
all
done
time
for
assault
—
even
the
Press
that
was
not
advanced
considered
the
event
worth
a
paragraph
.
The
pair
were
snapshotted
on
leaving
the
church
with
the
customary
direful
results
,
and
the
modest
residence
of
Griselda
's
aunt
could
hardly
accommodate
the
flood
of
progressive
guests
.
There
was
rice
and
slipper-throwing
and
a
whirl
of
good
wishes
—
and
Griselda
,
flushed
,
looked
pretty
,
and
in
William
's
eyes
quite
lovely
.
They
left
by
an
afternoon
train
for
Dover
and
crossed
the
next
day
to
Ostend
.
Their
selection
of
the
Belgian
Ardennes
for
a
honeymoon
was
due
to
Griselda
's
long-standing
acquaintance
with
a
cosmopolitan
female
revolutionist
understood
to
be
of
Russian
Polish
extraction
.
Owing
,
it
was
further
understood
,
to
her
pronounced
opinions
and
pronounced
manner
of
expressing
them
,
she
had
long
ceased
to
be
welcome
in
the
land
that
gave
her
birth
;
at
any
rate
,
she
avoided
it
studiously
and
existed
chiefly
at
a
series
of
epoch-making
revolutionary
meetings
which
she
addressed
by
turns
in
bad
German
,
worse
French
,
and
worst
English
.
She
wrote
vehement
pamphlets
in
all
these
languages
and
prided
herself
on
the
fact
that
,
on
the
Continent
at
least
,
they
were
frequently
suppressed
by
the
police
;
wore
tartan
blouses
,
a
perennial
smile
,
and
a
hat
that
was
always
askew
.
For
some
reason
or
another
she
was
the
possessor
of
a
cottage
in
the
heart
of
the
Belgian
Ardennes
—
which
she
visited
on
the
rare
occasions
when
she
was
not
plying
her
epoch-making
activities
in
London
,
Vienna
,
or
New
York
.
A
week
once
a
year
was
about
all
the
use
she
made
of
it
—
reappearing
after
her
seven
days
'
seclusion
with
a
brace
of
new
pamphlets
burning
for
the
Press
,
and
like
a
giant
refreshed
for
the
fight
.
This
estimable
woman
was
as
good-natured
as
she
was
revolutionary
,
and
hearing
that
Griselda
was
thinking
of
a
rural
honeymoon
,
she
hastened
to
offer
the
happy
couple
the
loan
of
her
Belgian
property
,
which
was
as
secluded
as
heart
could
desire
.
Griselda
,
since
her
fortnight
at
Interlaken
,
had
hankered
for
another
stay
abroad
;
she
jumped
at
the
offer
,
and
William
—
whose
acquaintance
with
foreign
parts
was
limited
to
an
International
Socialist
Congress
in
Holland
—
-jumped
gladly
in
unison
with
her
.
Madame
Amberg
beamed
with
joy
at
their
delighted
acceptance
of
her
offer
;
she
kissed
Griselda
,
shook
hands
with
William
and
promised
to
make
all
the
necessary
arrangements
for
their
stay
—
to
write
to
the
old
woman
who
looked
after
the
cottage
and
tell
her
when
to
expect
them
.
She
babbled
rhapsodically
of
honeymoons
and
the
joys
of
the
Forest
of
Arden
—
forgetting
how
bored
she
was
in
the
Forest
of
Arden
at
the
end
of
a
seven-days
'
stay
there
—
and
further
directed
them
how
to
reach
it
,
looked
out
trains
and
suggested
hotels
.
Heaven
smiled
on
the
opening
of
their
married
life
;
Dover
was
a
receding
beauty
in
the
distance
and
the
Channel
a
good-natured
lake
.
As
their
boat
chunked
between
the
long
piers
of
Ostend
they
held
and
squeezed
each
other
's
hands
ecstatically
,
the
crowd
collecting
on
the
gangway
side
enabling
them
to
do
so
unnoticed
.
The
consciousness
of
their
total
ignorance
of
the
language
of
the
country
gave
them
an
agitated
moment
as
they
set
foot
on
foreign
soil
—
but
,
taken
in
tow
by
a
polyglot
porter
,
they
were
safely
transferred
from
the
quay
to
a
second-class
carriage
,
with
instructions
to
change
at
Brussels
;
and
,
having
changed
obediently
,
were
in
due
course
set
down
at
Namur
.
Madame
Amberg
had
advised
them
to
lodge
with
economy
at
the
Hotel
de
Hollande
near
the
station
;
but
another
specimen
of
the
polyglot
porter
pounced
down
and
annexed
them
firmly
for
his
own
more
distant
establishment
,
and
after
a
feeble
resistance
they
followed
him
meekly
and
were
thrust
with
their
bags
into
the
omnibus
lying
in
wait
for
them
.
They
felt
it
their
duty
as
the
vehicle
rattled
them
along
to
make
a
few
depreciatory
and
high-principled
remarks
on
the
subject
of
the
towering
fortifications
;
but
having
thus
satisfied
their
consciences
they
relapsed
into
mere
enjoyment
of
rest
,
novelty
,
a
good
dinner
,
and
a
view
of
the
lazy
Meuse
.
After
dinner
,
when
the
fortress
above
them
was
fading
into
the
soft
blackness
of
a
warm
summer
night
,
they
walked
arm-in-arm
by
the
river
and
were
quite
unutterably
happy
.
They
rose
early
in
the
morning
to
catch
the
little
river
boat
for
Dinant
;
caught
it
with
the
aid
of
their
guardian
,
the
porter
,
and
camped
side
by
side
on
its
deck
to
enjoy
the
sauntering
trip
.
They
enjoyed
it
so
