第17章

“Butyoudidn’tgetoutofbedtotellmethat，“headdedseverely。

“Igotoutofbed，“saidHewetvaguely，“merelytotalkIsuppose。“

“MeanwhileIshallundress，“saidHirst。Whennakedofallbuthisshirt，andbentoverthebasin，Mr。Hirstnolongerimpressedonewiththemajestyofhisintellect，butwiththepathosofhisyoungyetuglybody，forhestooped，andhewassothinthatthereweredarklinesbetweenthedifferentbonesofhisneckandshoulders。

“Womeninterestme，“saidHewet，who，sittingonthebedwithhischinrestingonhisknees，paidnoattentiontotheundressingofMr。Hirst。

“They’resostupid，“saidHirst。“You’resittingonmypyjamas。“

“Isupposethey_are_stupid？“Hewetwondered。

“Therecan’tbetwoopinionsaboutthat，Iimagine，“saidHirst，hoppingbrisklyacrosstheroom，“unlessyou’reinlove——thatfatwomanWarrington？“heenquired。

“Notonefatwoman——allfatwomen，“Hewetsighed。

“ThewomenIsawto-nightwerenotfat，“saidHirst，whowastakingadvantageofHewet’scompanytocuthistoe-nails。

“Describethem，“saidHewet。

“YouknowIcan’tdescribethings！“saidHirst。“Theyweremuchlikeotherwomen，Ishouldthink。Theyalwaysare。“

“No；that’swherewediffer，“saidHewet。“Isayeverything’sdifferent。

Notwopeopleareintheleastthesame。Takeyouandmenow。“

“SoIusedtothinkonce，“saidHirst。“Butnowthey’realltypes。

Don’ttakeus，——takethishotel。Youcoulddrawcirclesroundthewholelotofthem，andthey’dneverstrayoutside。“

(“Youcankillahenbydoingthat“)，Hewetmurmured。

“Mr。HughlingElliot，Mrs。HughlingElliot，MissAllan，Mr。andMrs。Thornbury——onecircle，“Hirstcontinued。“MissWarrington，Mr。ArthurVenning，Mr。Perrott，EvelynM。anothercircle；

thenthereareawholelotofnatives；finallyourselves。“

“Areweallaloneinourcircle？“askedHewet。

“Quitealone，“saidHirst。“Youtrytogetout，butyoucan’t。

Youonlymakeamessofthingsbytrying。“

“I’mnotaheninacircle，“saidHewet。“I’madoveonatree-top。“

“Iwonderifthisiswhattheycallaningrowingtoe-nail？“

saidHirst，examiningthebigtoeonhisleftfoot。

“Iflitfrombranchtobranch，“continuedHewet。“Theworldisprofoundlypleasant。“Helaybackonthebed，uponhisarms。

“Iwonderifit’sreallynicetobeasvagueasyouare？“askedHirst，lookingathim。“It’sthelackofcontinuity——that’swhat’ssooddboutyou，“hewenton。“Attheageoftwenty-seven，whichisnearlythirty，youseemtohavedrawnnoconclusions。

Apartyofoldwomenexcitesyoustillasthoughyouwerethree。“

Hewetcontemplatedtheangularyoungmanwhowasneatlybrushingtherimsofhistoe-nailsintothefire-placeinsilenceforamoment。

“Irespectyou，Hirst，“heremarked。

“Ienvyyou——somethings，“saidHirst。“One:yourcapacityfornotthinking；two:peoplelikeyoubetterthantheylikeme。

Womenlikeyou，Isuppose。“

“Iwonderwhetherthatisn’treallywhatmattersmost？“saidHewet。

Lyingnowflatonthebedhewavedhishandinvaguecirclesabovehim。

“Ofcourseitis，“saidHirst。“Butthat’snotthedifficulty。

Thedifficultyis，isn’tit，tofindanappropriateobject？“

“Therearenofemalehensinyourcircle？“askedHewet。

“Nottheghostofone，“saidHirst。

AlthoughtheyhadknowneachotherforthreeyearsHirsthadneveryetheardthetruestoryofHewet’sloves。Ingeneralconversationitwastakenforgrantedthattheyweremany，butinprivatethesubjectwasallowedtolapse。Thefactthathehadmoneyenoughtodonowork，andthathehadleftCambridgeaftertwotermsowingtoadifferencewiththeauthorities，andhadthentravelledanddrifted，madehislifestrangeatmanypointswherehisfriends’

livesweremuchofapiece。

“Idon’tseeyourcircles——Idon’tseethem，“Hewetcontinued。

“Iseeathinglikeateetotumspinninginandout——knockingintothings——

dashingfromsidetoside——collectingnumbers——moreandmoreandmore，tillthewholeplaceisthickwiththem。Roundandroundtheygo——

outthere，overtherim——outofsight。“

Hisfingersshowedthatthewaltzingteetotumshadspunovertheedgeofthecounterpaneandfallenoffthebedintoinfinity。

“Couldyoucontemplatethreeweeksaloneinthishotel？“askedHirst，afteramoment’spause。

Hewetproceededtothink。

“Thetruthofitisthatoneneverisalone，andoneneverisincompany，“heconcluded。

“Meaning？“saidHirst。

“Meaning？Oh，somethingaboutbubbles——auras——whatd’youcall’em？

Youcan’tseemybubble；Ican’tseeyours；allweseeofeachotherisaspeck，likethewickinthemiddleofthatflame。

Theflamegoesaboutwithuseverywhere；it’snotourselvesexactly，butwhatwefeel；theworldisshort，orpeoplemainly；allkindsofpeople。“

“Anicestreakybubbleyoursmustbe！“saidHirst。

“Andsupposingmybubblecouldrunintosomeoneelse’sbubble——“

“Andtheybothburst？“putinHirst。

“Then——then——then——“ponderedHewet，asiftohimself，“itwouldbeane-nor-mousworld，“hesaid，stretchinghisarmstotheirfullwidth，asthoughevensotheycouldhardlyclaspthebillowyuniverse，forwhenhewaswithHirsthealwaysfeltunusuallysanguineandvague。

“Idon’tthinkyoualtogetherasfoolishasIusedto，Hewet，“

saidHirst。“Youdon’tknowwhatyoumeanbutyoutrytosayit。“

“Butaren’tyouenjoyingyourselfhere？“askedHewet。

“Onthewhole——yes，“saidHirst。“Ilikeobservingpeople。

Ilikelookingatthings。Thiscountryisamazinglybeautiful。

Didyounoticehowthetopofthemountainturnedyellowto-night？

Reallywemusttakeourlunchandspendthedayout。You’regettingdisgustinglyfat。“HepointedatthecalfofHewet’sbareleg。

“We’llgetupanexpedition，“saidHewetenergetically。“We’llasktheentirehotel。We’llhiredonkeysand——“

“Oh，Lord！“saidHirst，“doshutit！IcanseeMissWarringtonandMissAllanandMrs。Elliotandtherestsquattingonthestonesandquacking，’Howjolly！’“

“We’llaskVenningandPerrottandMissMurgatroyd——everyonewecanlayhandson，“wentonHewet。“What’sthenameofthelittleoldgrasshopperwiththeeyeglasses？Pepper？——Peppershallleadus。“

“ThankGod，you’llnevergetthedonkeys，“saidHirst。

“Imustmakeanoteofthat，“saidHewet，slowlydroppinghisfeettothefloor。“HirstescortsMissWarrington；Pepperadvancesaloneonawhiteass；provisionsequallydistributed——orshallwehireamule？

Thematrons——there’sMrs。Paley，byJove！——shareacarriage。“

“That’swhereyou’llgowrong，“saidHirst。“Puttingvirginsamongmatrons。“

“Howlongshouldyouthinkthatanexpeditionlikethatwouldtake，Hirst？“askedHewet。

“FromtwelvetosixteenhoursIwouldsay，“saidHirst。“Thetimeusuallyoccupiedbyafirstconfinement。“

“Itwillneedconsiderableorganisation，“saidHewet。Hewasnowpaddingsoftlyroundtheroom，andstoppedtostirthebooksonthetable。Theylayheapedoneuponanother。

“Weshallwantsomepoetstoo，“heremarked。“NotGibbon；no；

d’youhappentohave_Modern__Love_or_John__Donne_？Yousee，Icontemplatepauseswhenpeoplegettiredoflookingattheview，andthenitwouldbenicetoreadsomethingratherdifficultaloud。“

“Mrs。Paley_will_enjoyherself，“saidHirst。

“Mrs。Paleywillenjoyitcertainly，“saidHewet。“It’soneofthesaddestthingsIknow——thewayelderlyladiesceasetoreadpoetry。

Andyethowappropriatethisis:

IspeakasonewhoplumbsLife’sdimprofound，OnewhoatlengthcansoundClearviewsandcertain。

But——afterlovewhatcomes？

Ascenethatlours，Afewsadvacanthours，Andthen，theCurtain。

IdaresayMrs。Paleyistheonlyoneofuswhocanreallyunderstandthat。“

“We’llaskher，“saidHirst。“Please，Hewet，ifyoumustgotobed，drawmycurtain。Fewthingsdistressmemorethanthemoonlight。“

Hewetretreated，pressingthepoemsofThomasHardybeneathhisarm，andintheirbedsnextdoortoeachotherboththeyoungmenweresoonasleep。

BetweentheextinctionofHewet’scandleandtherisingofaduskySpanishboywhowasthefirsttosurveythedesolationofthehotelintheearlymorning，afewhoursofsilenceintervened。Onecouldalmosthearahundredpeoplebreathingdeeply，andhoweverwakefulandrestlessitwouldhavebeenhardtoescapesleepinthemiddleofsomuchsleep。Lookingoutofthewindows，therewasonlydarknesstobeseen。Allovertheshadowedhalfoftheworldpeoplelayprone，andafewflickeringlightsinemptystreetsmarkedtheplaceswheretheircitieswerebuilt。RedandyellowomnibuseswerecrowdingeachotherinPiccadilly；sumptuouswomenwererockingatastandstill；buthereinthedarknessanowlflittedfromtreetotree，andwhenthebreezeliftedthebranchesthemoonflashedasifitwereatorch。Untilallpeopleshouldawakeagainthehouselessanimalswereabroad，thetigersandthestags，andtheelephantscomingdowninthedarknesstodrinkatpools。

Thewindatnightblowingoverthehillsandwoodswaspurerandfresherthanthewindbyday，andtheearth，robbedofdetail，moremysteriousthantheearthcolouredanddividedbyroadsandfields。Forsixhoursthisprofoundbeautyexisted，andthenastheeastgrewwhiterandwhiterthegroundswamtothesurface，theroadswererevealed，thesmokeroseandthepeoplestirred，andthesunshoneuponthewindowsofthehotelatSantaMarinauntiltheywereuncurtained，andthegongblaringallthroughthehousegavenoticeofbreakfast。

Directlybreakfastwasover，theladiesasusualcircledvaguely，pickinguppapersandputtingthemdownagain，aboutthehall。

“Andwhatareyougoingtodoto-day？“askedMrs。ElliotdriftingupagainstMissWarrington。

Mrs。Elliot，thewifeofHughlingtheOxfordDon，wasashortwoman，whoseexpressionwashabituallyplaintive。Hereyesmovedfromthingtothingasthoughtheyneverfoundanythingsufficientlypleasanttorestuponforanylengthoftime。

“I’mgoingtotrytogetAuntEmmaoutintothetown，“saidSusan。

“She’snotseenathingyet。“

“Icallitsospiritedofheratherage，“saidMrs。Elliot，“comingallthiswayfromherownfireside。“

“Yes，wealwaystellhershe’lldieonboardship，“Susanreplied。

“Shewasbornonone，“sheadded。

“Intheolddays，“saidMrs。Elliot，“agreatmanypeoplewere。

Ialwayspitythepoorwomenso！We’vegotalottocomplainof！“

Sheshookherhead。Hereyeswanderedaboutthetable，andsheremarkedirrelevantly，“ThepoorlittleQueenofHolland！

Newspaperreporterspractically，onemaysay，atherbedroomdoor！“

“WereyoutalkingoftheQueenofHolland？“saidthepleasantvoiceofMissAllan，whowassearchingforthethickpagesof_The_

_Times_amongalitterofthinforeignsheets。

“Ialwaysenvyanyonewholivesinsuchanexcessivelyflatcountry，“

sheremarked。

“Howverystrange！“saidMrs。Elliot。“Ifindaflatcountrysodepressing。“

“I’mafraidyoucan’tbeveryhappyherethen，MissAllan，“

saidSusan。

“Onthecontrary，“saidMissAllan，“Iamexceedinglyfondofmountains。“

Perceiving_The__Times_atsomedistance，shemovedofftosecureit。

“Well，Imustfindmyhusband，“saidMrs。Elliot，fidgetingaway。

“AndImustgotomyaunt，“saidMissWarrington，andtakingupthedutiesofthedaytheymovedaway。

Whethertheflimsinessofforeignsheetsandthecoarsenessoftheirtypeisanyproofoffrivolityandignorance，thereisnodoubtthatEnglishpeoplescarceconsidernewsreadthereasnews，anymorethanaprogrammeboughtfromamaninthestreetinspiresconfidenceinwhatitsays。Averyrespectableelderlypair，havinginspectedthelongtablesofnewspapers，didnotthinkitworththeirwhiletoreadmorethantheheadlines。

“Thedebateonthefifteenthshouldhavereachedusbynow，“

Mrs。Thornburymurmured。Mr。Thornbury，whowasbeautifullycleanandhadredrubbedintohishandsomewornfaceliketracesofpaintonaweather-beatenwoodenfigure，lookedoverhisglassesandsawthatMissAllanhad_The__Times_。