FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59  
60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   >>   >|  
eturned to more soluble problems. 4 Mrs. Hilary and Grandmama came to Windover. Mrs. Hilary would rather have come without Grandmama, but Grandmama enjoyed the jaunt, as she called it. For eighty-four, Grandmama was wonderfully sporting. They arrived on Saturday afternoon, and rested after the journey, as is usually done by people of Grandmama's age, and often by people of Mrs. Hilary's. Sunday was full of such delicate clashings as occur when new people have joined a party. Grandmama was for morning church, and Neville drove her to it in the pony carriage. So Mrs. Hilary, not being able to endure that they should go off alone together, had to go too, though she did not like church, morning or other. She sighed over it at lunch. "So stuffy. So long. And the _hymns_...." But Grandmama said, "My dear, we had David and Goliath. What more do you want?" During David and Goliath Grandmama's head had nodded approvingly, and her thin old lips had half smiled at the valiant child with his swaggering lies about bears and lions, at the gallant child and the giant. Mrs. Hilary, herself romantically sensible, as middle-aged ladies are, of valour and high adventure, granted Grandmama David and Goliath, but still repined at the hymns and the sermon. "Good words, my dear, good words," Grandmama said to that. For Grandmama had been brought up not to criticise sermons, but had failed to bring up Mrs. Hilary to the same self-abnegation. The trouble with Mrs. Hilary was, and had always been, that she expected (even now) too much of life. Grandmama expected only what she got. And Neville, wisest of all, had not listened, for she too _expected_ what she would get if she did. She was really rather like Grandmama, in her cynically patient acquiescence, only brought up in a different generation, and not to hear sermons. In the gulf of years between these two, Mrs. Hilary's restless, questing passion fretted like unquiet waves. 5 "This Barry Briscoe," said Mrs. Hilary to Neville after lunch, as she watched Nan and he start off for a walk together. "I suppose he's in love with her?" "I suppose so. Something of the kind, anyhow." Mrs. Hilary said, discontentedly, "Another of Nan's married men, no doubt. She _collects_ them." "No, Barry's not married." Mrs. Hilary looked more interested. "Not? Oh, then it may come to something.... I wish Nan _would_ marry. It's quite time." "Nan isn't exactly keen to, you know
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59  
60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

Grandmama

 

Hilary

 
expected
 

people

 

Neville

 

Goliath

 

morning

 

suppose

 

church

 

married


sermons

 
brought
 
acquiescence
 

generation

 
patient
 
wisest
 

abnegation

 

trouble

 

criticise

 

failed


listened

 

cynically

 

unquiet

 

looked

 

interested

 

collects

 

Another

 

discontentedly

 

fretted

 
passion

questing

 

restless

 
Something
 

Briscoe

 

watched

 
delicate
 

clashings

 
Sunday
 

joined

 
endure

carriage

 

enjoyed

 

called

 
Windover
 

eturned

 

soluble

 
problems
 

eighty

 

Saturday

 
afternoon