第7章

youtakeamouthful，andLordknowshowyou’regoingtoswallowit；

butpersevere，andyouoftensettletheattackforgood。Mywife’sacoward。“

Theywerepushingbacktheirchairs。Theladieswerehesitatingatthedoorway。

“I’dbettershowtheway，“saidHelen，advancing。

Rachelfollowed。Shehadtakennopartinthetalk；noonehadspokentoher；butshehadlistenedtoeverywordthatwassaid。

ShehadlookedfromMrs。DallowaytoMr。Dalloway，andfromMr。Dallowaybackagain。Clarissa，indeed，wasafascinatingspectacle。

Sheworeawhitedressandalongglitteringnecklace。

Whatwithherclothes，andherarchdelicateface，whichshowedexquisitelypinkbeneathhairturninggrey，shewasastonishinglylikeaneighteenth-centurymasterpiece——aReynoldsoraRomney。

ShemadeHelenandtheotherslookcoarseandslovenlybesideher。

Sittinglightlyuprightsheseemedtobedealingwiththeworldasshechose；theenormoussolidglobespunroundthiswayandthatbeneathherfingers。Andherhusband！Mr。Dallowayrollingthatrichdeliberatevoicewasevenmoreimpressive。Heseemedtocomefromthehummingoilycentreofthemachinewherethepolishedrodsaresliding，andthepistonsthumping；hegraspedthingssofirmlybutsoloosely；

hemadetheothersappearlikeoldmaidscheapeningremnants。

Rachelfollowedinthewakeofthematrons，asifinatrance；

acuriousscentofvioletscamebackfromMrs。Dalloway，minglingwiththesoftrustlingofherskirts，andthetinklingofherchains。

Asshefollowed，Rachelthoughtwithsupremeself-abasement，takinginthewholecourseofherlifeandthelivesofallherfriends，“Shesaidwelivedinaworldofourown。It’strue。

We’reperfectlyabsurd。“

“Wesitinhere，“saidHelen，openingthedoorofthesaloon。

“Youplay？“saidMrs。DallowaytoMrs。Ambrose，takingupthescoreof_Tristan_whichlayonthetable。

“Myniecedoes，“saidHelen，layingherhandonRachel’sshoulder。

“Oh，howIenvyyou！“ClarissaaddressedRachelforthefirsttime。

“D’yourememberthis？Isn’titdivine？“Sheplayedabarortwowithringedfingersuponthepage。

“AndthenTristangoeslikethis，andIsolde——oh！——it’salltoothrilling！HaveyoubeentoBayreuth？“

“No，Ihaven’t，“saidRachel。`“Thenthat’sstilltocome。

Ishallneverforgetmyfirst_Parsifal_——agrillingAugustday，andthosefatoldGermanwomen，comeintheirstuffyhighfrocks，andthenthedarktheatre，andthemusicbeginning，andonecouldn’thelpsobbing。Akindmanwentandfetchedmewater，Iremember；

andIcouldonlycryonhisshoulder！Itcaughtmehere“(shetouchedherthroat)。“It’slikenothingelseintheworld！Butwhere’syourpiano？““It’sinanotherroom，“Rachelexplained。

“Butyouwillplaytous？“Clarissaentreated。“Ican’timagineanythingnicerthantositoutinthemoonlightandlistentomusic——

onlythatsoundstoolikeaschoolgirl！Youknow，“shesaid，turningtoHelen，“Idon’tthinkmusic’saltogethergoodforpeople——

I’mafraidnot。“

“Toogreatastrain？“askedHelen。

“Tooemotional，somehow，“saidClarissa。“Onenoticesitatoncewhenaboyorgirltakesupmusicasaprofession。SirWilliamBroadleytoldmejustthesamething。Don’tyouhatethekindofattitudespeoplegointooverWagner——likethis——“Shecasthereyestotheceiling，claspedherhands，andassumedalookofintensity。

“Itreallydoesn’tmeanthattheyappreciatehim；infact，Ialwaysthinkit’stheotherwayround。Thepeoplewhoreallycareaboutanartarealwaystheleastaffected。D’youknowHenryPhilips，thepainter？“sheasked。

“Ihaveseenhim，“saidHelen。

“Tolookat，onemightthinkhewasasuccessfulstockbroker，andnotoneofthegreatestpaintersoftheage。That’swhatIlike。“

“Thereareagreatmanysuccessfulstockbrokers，ifyoulikelookingatthem，“saidHelen。

Rachelwishedvehementlythatherauntwouldnotbesoperverse。

“Whenyouseeamusicianwithlonghair，don’tyouknowinstinctivelythathe’sbad？“Clarissaasked，turningtoRachel。“WattsandJoachim——

theylookedjustlikeyouandme。“

“Andhowmuchnicerthey’dhavelookedwithcurls！“saidHelen。

“Thequestionis，areyougoingtoaimatbeautyorareyounot？“

“Cleanliness！“saidClarissa，“Idowantamantolookclean！“

“Bycleanlinessyoureallymeanwell-cutclothes，“saidHelen。

“There’ssomethingoneknowsagentlemanby，“saidClarissa，“butonecan’tsaywhatitis。“

“Takemyhusbandnow，doeshelooklikeagentleman？“

ThequestionseemedtoClarissainextraordinarilybadtaste。

“Oneofthethingsthatcan’tbesaid，“shewouldhaveputit。

Shecouldfindnoanswer，butalaugh。

“Well，anyhow，“shesaid，turningtoRachel，“Ishallinsistuponyourplayingtometo-morrow。“

TherewasthatinhermannerthatmadeRachelloveher。

Mrs。Dallowayhidatinyyawn，ameredilationofthenostrils。

“D’youknow，“shesaid，“I’mextraordinarilysleepy。It’stheseaair。

IthinkIshallescape。“

Aman’svoice，whichshetooktobethatofMr。Pepper，stridentindiscussion，andadvancinguponthesaloon，gaveherthealarm。

“Good-night——good-night！“shesaid。“Oh，Iknowmyway——doprayforcalm！Good-night！“

Heryawnmusthavebeentheimageofayawn。Insteadoflettinghermouthdroop，droppingallherclothesinabunchasthoughtheydependedononestring，andstretchingherlimbstotheutmostendofherberth，shemerelychangedherdressforadressing-gown，withinnumerablefrills，andwrappingherfeetinarug，satdownwithawriting-padonherknee。Alreadythiscrampedlittlecabinwasthedressingroomofaladyofquality。Therewerebottlescontainingliquids；

thereweretrays，boxes，brushes，pins。Evidentlynotaninchofherpersonlackeditsproperinstrument。ThescentwhichhadintoxicatedRachelpervadedtheair。Thusestablished，Mrs。Dallowaybegantowrite。Apeninherhandsbecameathingonecaressedpaperwith，andshemighthavebeenstrokingandticklingakittenasshewrote:

Pictureus，mydear，afloatintheveryoddestshipyoucanimagine。

It’snottheship，somuchasthepeople。Onedoescomeacrossqueersortsasonetravels。ImustsayIfindithugelyamusing。

There’sthemanageroftheline——calledVinrace——anicebigEnglishman，doesn’tsaymuch——youknowthesort。Asfortherest——theymighthavecometrailingoutofanoldnumberof_Punch_。They’relikepeopleplayingcroquetinthe’sixties。Howlongthey’veallbeenshutupinthisshipIdon’tknow——yearsandyearsIshouldsay——

butonefeelsasthoughonehadboardedalittleseparateworld，andthey’dneverbeenonshore，ordoneordinarythingsintheirlives。It’swhatI’vealwayssaidaboutliterarypeople——

they’refarthehardestofanytogetonwith。Theworstofitis，thesepeople——amanandhiswifeandaniece——mighthavebeen，onefeels，justlikeeverybodyelse，iftheyhadn’tgotswallowedupbyOxfordorCambridgeorsomesuchplace，andbeenmadecranksof。

Theman’sreallydelightful(ifhe’dcuthisnails)，andthewomanhasquiteafineface，onlyshedresses，ofcourse，inapotatosack，andwearsherhairlikeaLibertyshopgirl’s。Theytalkaboutart，andthinkussuchpoopsfordressingintheevening。However，Ican’thelpthat；I’dratherdiethancomeintodinnerwithoutchanging——

wouldn’tyou？Itmatterseversomuchmorethanthesoup。

(It’soddhowthingslikethat_do_mattersomuchmorethanwhat’sgenerallysupposedtomatter。I’dratherhavemyheadcutoffthanwearflannelnexttheskin。)Thenthere’saniceshygirl——

poorthing——Iwishonecouldrakeheroutbeforeit’stoolate。

Shehasquiteniceeyesandhair，only，ofcourse，she’llgetfunnytoo。Weoughttostartasocietyforbroadeningthemindsoftheyoung——muchmoreusefulthanmissionaries，Hester！Oh，I’dforgottenthere’sadreadfullittlethingcalledPepper。

He’sjustlikehisname。He’sindescribablyinsignificant，andratherqueerinhistemper，poordear。It’slikesittingdowntodinnerwithanill-conditionedfox-terrier，onlyonecan’tcombhimout，andsprinklehimwithpowder，asonewouldone’sdog。

It’sapity，sometimes，onecan’ttreatpeoplelikedogs！

Thegreatcomfortisthatwe’reawayfromnewspapers，sothatRichardwillhavearealholidaythistime。Spainwasn’taholiday……

“Youcoward！“saidRichard，almostfillingtheroomwithhissturdyfigure。

“Ididmydutyatdinner！“criedClarissa。

“You’veletyourselfinfortheGreekalphabet，anyhow。“

“Oh，mydear！Who_is_Ambrose？“

“IgatherthathewasaCambridgedon；livesinLondonnow，andeditsclassics。“

“Didyoueverseesuchasetofcranks？ThewomanaskedmeifI

thoughtherhusbandlookedlikeagentleman！“

“Itwashardtokeeptheballrollingatdinner，certainly，“

saidRichard。“Whyisitthatthewomen，inthatclass，aresomuchqueererthanthemen？“

“They’renothalfbad-looking，really——only——they’resoodd！“

Theybothlaughed，thinkingofthesamethings，sothattherewasnoneedtocomparetheirimpressions。

“IseeIshallhavequitealottosaytoVinrace，“saidRichard。

“HeknowsSuttonandallthatset。Hecantellmeagooddealabouttheconditionsofship-buildingintheNorth。“

“Oh，I’mglad。Themenalways_are_somuchbetterthanthewomen。“

“Onealwayshassomethingtosaytoamancertainly，“saidRichard。

“ButI’venodoubtyou’llchatterawayfastenoughaboutthebabies，Clarice。“

“Hasshegotchildren？Shedoesn’tlooklikeitsomehow。“

“Two。Aboyandgirl。“

ApangofenvyshotthroughMrs。Dalloway’sheart。

“We_must_haveason，Dick，“shesaid。

“GoodLord，whatopportunitiestherearenowforyoungmen！“

saidDalloway，forhistalkhadsethimthinking。“Idon’tsupposethere’sbeensogoodanopeningsincethedaysofPitt。“

“Andit’syours！“saidClarissa。

“Tobealeaderofmen，“Richardsoliloquised。“It’safinecareer。

MyGod——whatacareer！“

Thechestslowlycurvedbeneathhiswaistcoat。

“D’youknow，Dick，Ican’thelpthinkingofEngland，“saidhiswifemeditatively，leaningherheadagainsthischest。“Beingonthisshipseemstomakeitsomuchmorevivid——whatitreallymeanstobeEnglish。Onethinksofallwe’vedone，andournavies，andthepeopleinIndiaandAfrica，andhowwe’vegoneoncenturyaftercentury，sendingoutboysfromlittlecountryvillages——

andofmenlikeyou，Dick，anditmakesonefeelasifonecouldn’tbear_not_tobeEnglish！ThinkofthelightburningovertheHouse，Dick！WhenIstoodondeckjustnowIseemedtoseeit。

It’swhatonemeansbyLondon。“

“It’sthecontinuity，“saidRichardsententiously。AvisionofEnglishhistory，KingfollowingKing，PrimeMinisterPrimeMinister，andLawLawhadcomeoverhimwhilehiswifespoke。Heranhismindalongthelineofconservativepolicy，whichwentsteadilyfromLordSalisburytoAlfred，andgraduallyenclosed，asthoughitwerealassothatopenedandcaughtthings，enormouschunksofthehabitableglobe。

“It’stakenalongtime，butwe’veprettynearlydoneit，“hesaid；

“itremainstoconsolidate。“

“Andthesepeopledon’tseeit！“Clarissaexclaimed。

“Ittakesallsortstomakeaworld，“saidherhusband。“Therewouldneverbeagovernmentifthereweren’tanopposition。“

“Dick，you’rebetterthanIam，“saidClarissa。“Youseeround，whereIonlysee_there_。“Shepressedapointonthebackofhishand。

“That’smybusiness，asItriedtoexplainatdinner。“

“WhatIlikeaboutyou，Dick，“shecontinued，“isthatyou’realwaysthesame，andI’macreatureofmoods。“

“You’reaprettycreature，anyhow，“hesaid，gazingatherwithdeepereyes。

“Youthinkso，doyou？Thenkissme。“

Hekissedherpassionately，sothatherhalf-writtenletterslidtotheground。Pickingitup，hereaditwithoutaskingleave。

“Where’syourpen？“hesaid；andaddedinhislittlemasculinehand:

R。D。_loquitur_:Claricehasomittedtotellyouthatshelookedexceedinglyprettyatdinner，andmadeaconquestbywhichshehasboundherselftolearntheGreekalphabet。Iwilltakethisoccasionofaddingthatwearebothenjoyingourselvesintheseoutlandishparts，andonlywishforthepresenceofourfriends(yourselfandJohn，towit)tomakethetripperfectlyenjoyableasitpromisestobeinstructive