the overbearing manner permitted to irascible important men
whose insteps are painful. Among other things he had flouted the idea
that women would ever understand statecraft or be more than a nuisance
in politics, denied flatly that Hindoos were capable of anything
whatever except excesses in population, regretted he could not
censor picture galleries and circulating libraries, and declared that
dissenters were people who pretended to take theology seriously with the
express purpose of upsetting the entirely satisfactory compromise of the
Established Church. "No sensible people, with anything to gain or lose,
argue about religion," he said. "They mean mischief." Having delivered
his soul upon these points, and silenced the little conversation to the
left of him from which they had arisen, he became, after an appreciative
encounter with a sanguinary woodcock, more amiable, responded to some
respectful initiatives of Crupp's, and related a number of classical
anecdotes of those blighting snubs, vindictive retorts and scandalous
miscarriages of justice that are so dear to the forensic mind. Now he
reposed. He was breathing heavily with his mouth a little open and his
head on one side. One whisker was turned back against the comfortable
padding. His plump strong hands gripped the arms of his chair, and his
frown was a little assuaged. How tremendously fed up he looked! Honours,
wealth, influence, respect, he had them all. How scornful and hard it
had made his unguarded expression!

I note without comment that it didn't even occur to me then to wake him
up and ask him what HE was up to with mankind.

9

One countervailing influence to my drift to Toryism in those days was
Margaret's quite religious faith in the Liberals. I realised that slowly
and with a mild astonishment. It set me, indeed, even then questioning
my own change of opinion. We came at last incidentally, as our way was,
to an exchange of views. It was as nearly a quarrel as we had before
I came over to the Conservative side. It was at Champneys, and I think
during the same visit that witnessed my exploration of Lady Forthundred.
It arose indirectly, I think, out of some comments of mine upon our
fellow-guests, but it is one of those memories of which the scene and
quality remain more vivid than the things said, a memory without any
very definite beginning or end. It was afternoon, in the pause between
tea and the dressing bell, and we were in Margaret'