The Gentleman
Page 23
*This is so, and even now the ramifications may be seen. Already a new branch of government has been formed—the Aeronautical Office. Though at present it sits ignominiously in a single room in the basement of the Admiralty and is staffed only by a disgraced soldier named Perkins, there is little doubt that it will in the future become quite important.—HL.
*This, also, was likely a wise omission. Even for a man as open-minded as I, there are parts of this (as I now know with certainty) entirely factual tale which were difficult to swallow at first blush.—HL.
*This is one of the instances I have alluded to, when Miss Savage’s innocent acts of curiosity and exploration could be misconstrued as immoral.—HL.
*That is me.—HL.
*I have resolved to take offence at nothing which Mr Savage says about my dress or my person. I have often been complimented, and by diverse acquaintances, on my taste in clothes and my fine figure.—HL.
*Be still, my pen.—HL.
*I did. It was not less than a full mile, I might add.—HL.
*I must here say something. I am well aware that literary men take liberties with the facts, and represent things as being so which were not actually so. This is something with which we must all contend—so be it. But the way I am here painted by Mr Savage is I believe deliberately offensive. I am not so timid, or so short, or so bumbling, as he makes me out to be. (He does not overstate the grandeur of my nose, however.) I will say no more on the subject, but I had to say that.—HL.
*This, at least, did occur—though I certainly would not have said it unless pressed. I am not a boastful man.—HL.
*I did not say this, either.—HL.
*I was not hurt. I was simply correcting an error.—HL.
*I neither said nor did this.—HL.
*It is, though—a little bit.—HL.
*It was not. And though things may have turned out for the best, I wish very much that Vivien had consulted me before altering the plan. It is characteristic of her, though, that she did not. Both of my Lancaster cousins (I mean Vivien and Ashley) are strong-willed and fiercely independent. Though I love and admire them both very much, these traits can sometimes make them difficult. Once, for instance, Vivien climbed a tree at Garrick Hall and became stuck in the high branches. I offered to climb up and help her descend, but she refused. Instead, she tore up her petticoats and made from them a rope which she used to lower herself down. It very nearly worked, but the rope snapped suddenly and she fell to earth and broke her wrist. The next day, Ashley decided to prove that he could get down from the same perch with less difficulty. Well, he got stuck, too. I offered him assistance. He refused, and chose instead to jump. He broke an ankle and an arm.—HL.
*This question has yet to be satisfactorily resolved. Mr Savage has declared his intention to finance the upcoming South American expedition—though given the fact that Mr Savage’s money was originally Vivien’s, and that it was obtained through marriage (which rite, or lack thereof, is of course the reason Ashley currently has none), there is some irony to this circular situation.—HL.
*I hope the reader does not think me either pedantic or immoral for pointing out that beneath our clothes we are all of us quite naked.—HL.
*It is an amusing fact that the Devil in this instance truly was blameless. Can this be often said? I do not know anymore—as Mr Savage said, our perception of things has gone rather topsy-turvy.—HL.
*Time will tell.—HL.
*I am at times forgotten by my family, but it does not bother me. I like to think it is because of my discretion.—HL.
*I believe it does not. I do not count it as such, for myself.—HL.
*I do myself favour the modern judicial system.—HL.
*The fact is that both my cousins here were taking rather hard lines in an argument without any hard lines. Metrical modes have always fallen in and out of favour. I believe expending so much passion on such a diaphanous subject to be silly and misjudged. I should never have done so.—HL.
*What is especially sad about this remark is that Mr Savage meant every word of it with an ingenuous sincerity quite unlike him. I am inclined to side with Miss Savage in the belief that he has in his pursuit of knowledge been rather lopsided.—HL.
*It is my own personal opinion that this is not true. I believe that Vivien has the genuine poetic spark, but that Mr Savage does not. I may perhaps be wrong in this. Time will tell.—HL.
*This was I believe well done.—HL.
*She said this with such an air that I almost thought there lay a less chaste sentiment beneath her words. Doubtless I was mistaken.—HL.
*This is in many ways typical of Mr Savage. It is also the most amusing feature in a series of events which, in retrospect, was laced with some little amusement.—HL.
*Vivien many times in the six months we were constructing and executing the plan complained to me of these parties. She quite loathed them.—HL.
*I was not, but he does.—HL.
*As it should. There are very, very few women upon this earth who are like Vivien.—HL.
*I was late for a rather delicate appointment, and to miss it altogether would have imperilled certain negotiations of international importance.—HL.
*This is to me a point of great pride. If you’ll forgive a play on words which I would almost certainly deplore if Mr Savage committed it: I may have fought for her honour, but the honour was mine.—HL.
*Lady Lancaster, upon learning of this exchange and subsequent events, was deeply unamused.—HL.
*See here.—HL.
*Upon her return, her room was in fact vacated, and there was a violin lying in the middle of her bed. I know, because I purchased it. She has since become quite an accomplished musician.—HL.
*All men treat Miss Savage with much solicitousness. I have often noted and been amused by it. It often makes them look quite ridiculous.—HL.
*The learned will note that the rubeum allec is a herring noted for its rosy flesh.—HL.
Looking for more?
Visit Penguin.com for more about this author and a complete list of their books.
Discover your next great read!