第11章
Hedidmostofthetalking。Mymotherrepeatedwhatshehadalreadysaidintheshop，“IhavebroughtGeorgeovertoyou。”
andthendesistedforatimefromtherealbusinessinhand。
“Youfindthisacomfortablehouse？”sheasked；andthisbeingaffirmed：“Itlooks——veryconvenient。Nottoobigtobeatrouble——no。YoulikeWimblehurst，Isuppose？”
MyuncleretortedwithsomeinquiriesaboutthegreatpeopleofBladesover，andmymotheransweredinthecharacterofapersonalfriendofLadyDrew’s。Thetalkhungforatime，andthenmyuncleembarkeduponadissertationuponWimblehurst。
“Thisplace。”hebegan，“isn’tofcoursequitetheplaceIoughttobein。”
Mymothernoddedasthoughshehadexpectedthat。
“ItgivesmenoScope。”hewenton。“It’sdead-and-alive。
Nothinghappens。”
“He’salwayswantingsomethingtohappen。”saidmyauntSusan。
“Somedayhe’llgetashowerofthingsandthey’llbetoomuchforhim。”
“Notthey。”saidmyuncle，buoyantly。
“Doyoufindbusiness——slack？”askedmymother。
“Oh！onerubsalong。Butthere’snoDevelopment——nogrowth。
Theyjustcomealonghereandbuypillswhentheywant’em——andahorseballorsuch。They’vegottobeillbeforethere’saprescription。Thatsorttheyare。Youcan’tget’emtolaunchout，youcan’tget’emtotakeupanythingnew。Forinstance，I’vebeentryinglately——inducethemtobuytheirmedicinesinadvance，andinlargerquantities。Buttheywon’tlookforit！
ThenItriedtofloatalittlenotionofmine，sortofaninsuranceschemeforcolds；youpaysomuchaweek，andwhenyou’vegotacoldyougetabottleofCoughLinctussolongasyoucanproduceasubstantialsniff。See？ButLord！they’venocapacityforideas，theydon’tcatchon；noJumpabouttheplace，noLife。Live！——theytrickle，andwhatonehastodohereistotrickletoo——Zzzz。”
“Ah！”saidmymother。
“Itdoesn’tsuitme。”saidmyuncle。“I’mthecascadingsort。”
“Georgewasthat。”saidmymotherafteraponderingmoment。
MyauntSusantookuptheparablewithanaffectionateglanceatherhusband。
“He’salwaystryingtomakehisoldbusinessjump。”shesaid。
“Alwaysputtingfreshcardsinthewindow，orgettinguptosomething。You’dhardlybelieve。ItmakesMEjumpsometimes。”
“Butitdoesnogood。”saidmyuncle。
“Itdoesnogood。”saidhiswife。“It’snothismiloo。”
Presentlytheycameuponawidepause。
Fromthebeginningoftheirconversationtherehadbeenthepromiseofthispause，andIprickedmyears。Iknewperfectlywhatwasboundtocome；theyweregoingtotalkofmyfather。I
wasenormouslystrengthenedinmypersuasionwhenIfoundmymother’seyesrestingthoughtfullyuponmeinthesilence，andthanmyunclelookedatmeandthenmyaunt。Istruggledunavailinglytoproduceanexpressionofmeekstupidity。
“Ithink。”saidmyuncle，“thatGeorgewillfinditmoreamusingtohaveaturninthemarket-placethantositheretalkingwithus。There’sapairofstocksthere，George——veryinteresting。
Old-fashionedstocks。”
“Idon’tmindsittinghere。”Isaid。
Myuncleroseandinthemostfriendlywayledmethroughtheshop。Hestoodonhisdoorstepandjerkedamiabledirectionstome。
“Ain’titsleepy，George，eh？There’sthebutcher’sdogoverthere，asleepintheroad-halfanhourfrommidday！IfthelastTrumpsoundedIdon’tbelieveitwouldwake。Nobodywouldwake！
Thechapsupthereinthechurchyard——they’djustturnoverandsay：’Naar——youdon’tcatchus，youdon’t！See？’。Well，you’llfindthestocksjustroundthatcorner。”
Hewatchedmeoutofsight。
SoIneverheardwhattheysaidaboutmyfatherafterall。
VI
WhenIreturned，myunclehadinsomeremarkablewaybecomelargerandcentral。“Tha’chu，George？”hecried，whentheshop-doorbellsounded。“Comerightthrough“；andIfoundhim，asitwere，inthechairman’splacebeforethedrapedgrate。
Thethreeofthemregardedme。
“Wehavebeentalkingofmakingyouachemist，George。”saidmyuncle。
Mymotherlookedatme。“Ihadhoped。”shesaid，“thatLadyDrewwouldhavedonesomethingforhim——“Shestopped。
“Inwhatway？”saidmyuncle。
“Shemighthavespokentosomeone，gothimintosomethingperhaps。”Shehadtheservant’sinvinciblepersuasionthatallgoodthingsaredonebypatronage。
“Heisnotthesortofboyforwhomthingsaredone。”sheadded，dismissingthesedreams。“Hedoesn’taccommodatehimself。WhenhethinksLadyDrewwishesathing，heseemsnottowishit。
TowardsMr。Redgrave，too，hehasbeen——disrespectful——heislikehisfather。”
“Who’sMr。Redgrave？”
“TheVicar。”
“Abitindependent？”saidmyuncle，briskly。
“Disobedient。”saidmymother。“Hehasnoideaofhisplace。Heseemstothinkhecangetonbyslightingpeopleandfloutingthem。He’lllearnperhapsbeforeitistoolate。”
Myunclestrokedhiscutchinandme。“HaveyoulearntanyLatin？”heaskedabruptly。
IsaidIhadnot。
“He’llhavetolearnalittleLatin。”heexplainedtomymother，“toqualify。H’m。Hecouldgodowntothechapatthegrammarschoolhere——it’sjustbeenroutedintoexistenceagainbytheCharityCommissionersandhavelessons。”
“What，melearnLatin！”Icried，withemotion。
“Alittle。”hesaid。
“I’vealwayswanted“Isaidand；“LATIN！”
IhadlongbeenobsessedbytheideathathavingnoLatinwasadisadvantageintheworld，andArchieGarvellhaddriventhepointofthisprettyearnestlyhome。TheliteratureIhadreadatBladesoverhadalltendedthatway。LatinhadhadaqualityofemancipationformethatIfinditdifficulttoconvey。Andsuddenly，whenIhadsupposedalllearningwasatanendforme，Iheardthis！
“It’snogoodtoyou，ofcourse。”saidmyuncle，“excepttopassexamswith，butthereyouare！”
“You’llhavetolearnLatinbecauseyouhavetolearnLatin。”
saidmymother，“notbecauseyouwantto。Andafterwardsyouwillhavetolearnallsortsofotherthings。”
TheideathatIwastogoonlearning，thattoreadandmasterthecontentsofbookswasstilltobejustifiableasaduty，overwhelmedallotherfacts。Ihadhaditratherclearinmymindforsomeweeksthatallthatkindofopportunitymightclosetomeforever。Ibegantotakealivelyinterestinthisnewproject。
“ThenshallIlivehere？”Iasked，“withyou，andstudy。aswellasworkintheshop？”
“That’sthewayofit。”saidmyuncle。
Ipartedfrommymotherthatdayinadream，sosuddenandimportantwasthisnewaspectofthingstome。IwastolearnLatin！NowthatthehumiliationofmyfailureatBladesoverwaspastforher，nowthatshehadalittlegotoverherfirstintenserepugnanceatthisresorttomyuncleandcontrivedsomethingthatseemedlikeapossibleprovisionformyfuture，thetendernessnaturaltoapartingfarmoresignificantthananyofourpreviouspartingscreptintohermanner。
Shesatinthetraintoreturn，Iremember，andIstoodattheopendoorofhercompartment，andneitherofusknewhowsoonweshouldceaseforevertobeatroubletooneanother。
“Youmustbeagoodboy，George。”shesaid。“Youmustlearn。
Andyoumustn’tsetyourselfupagainstthosewhoareaboveyouandbetterthanyou。Orenvythem。”