登陆注册
5241800000009

第9章 CHAPTER IV(1)

FRANCESCA prided herself on being able to see things from other people's points of view, which meant, as it usually does, that she could see her own point of view from various aspects. As regards Comus, whose doings and non-doings bulked largely in her thoughts at the present moment, she had mapped out in her mind so clearly what his outlook in life ought to be, that she was peculiarly unfitted to understand the drift of his feelings or the impulses that governed them. Fate had endowed her with a son; in limiting the endowment to a solitary offspring Fate had certainly shown a moderation which Francesca was perfectly willing to acknowledge and be thankful for; but then, as she pointed out to a certain complacent friend of hers who cheerfully sustained an endowment of half-a-dozen male offsprings and a girl or two, her one child was Comus. Moderation in numbers was more than counterbalanced in his case by extravagance in characteristics.

Francesca mentally compared her son with hundreds of other young men whom she saw around her, steadily, and no doubt happily, engaged in the process of transforming themselves from nice boys into useful citizens. Most of them had occupations, or were industriously engaged in qualifying for such; in their leisure moments they smoked reasonably-priced cigarettes, went to the cheaper seats at music-halls, watched an occasional cricket match at Lord's with apparent interest, saw most of the world's spectacular events through the medium of the cinematograph, and were wont to exchange at parting seemingly superfluous injunctions to "be good." The whole of Bond Street and many of the tributary thoroughfares of Piccadilly might have been swept off the face of modern London without in any way interfering with the supply of their daily wants. They were doubtless dull as acquaintances, but as sons they would have been eminently restful. With a growing sense of irritation Francesca compared these deserving young men with her own intractable offspring, and wondered why Fate should have singled her out to be the parent of such a vexatious variant from a comfortable and desirable type. As far as remunerative achievement was concerned, Comus copied the insouciance of the field lily with a dangerous fidelity. Like his mother he looked round with wistful irritation at the example afforded by contemporary youth, but he concentrated his attention exclusively on the richer circles of his acquaintance, young men who bought cars and polo ponies as unconcernedly as he might purchase a carnation for his buttonhole, and went for trips to Cairo or the Tigris valley with less difficulty and finance-stretching than he encountered in contriving a week-end at Brighton.

Gaiety and good-looks had carried Comus successfully and, on the whole, pleasantly, through schooldays and a recurring succession of holidays; the same desirable assets were still at his service to advance him along his road, but it was a disconcerting experience to find that they could not be relied on to go all distances at all times. In an animal world, and a fiercely competitive animal world at that, something more was needed than the decorative ABANDON of the field lily, and it was just that something more which Comus seemed unable or unwilling to provide on his own account; it was just the lack of that something more which left him sulking with Fate over the numerous breakdowns and stumbling-blocks that held him up on what he expected to be a triumphal or, at any rate, unimpeded progress.

Francesca was, in her own way, fonder of Comus than of anyone else in the world, and if he had been browning his skin somewhere east of Suez she would probably have kissed his photograph with genuine fervour every night before going to bed; the appearance of a cholera scare or rumour of native rising in the columns of her daily news-sheet would have caused her a flutter of anxiety, and she would have mentally likened herself to a Spartan mother sacrificing her best-beloved on the altar of State necessities.

But with the best-beloved installed under her roof, occupying an unreasonable amount of cubic space, and demanding daily sacrifices instead of providing the raw material for one, her feelings were tinged with irritation rather than affection. She might have forgiven Comus generously for misdeeds of some gravity committed in another continent, but she could never overlook the fact that out of a dish of five plovers' eggs he was certain to take three. The absent may be always wrong, but they are seldom in a position to be inconsiderate.

Thus a wall of ice had grown up gradually between mother and son, a barrier across which they could hold converse, but which gave a wintry chill even to the sparkle of their lightest words. The boy had the gift of being irresistibly amusing when he chose to exert himself in that direction, and after a long series of moody or jangling meal-sittings he would break forth into a torrential flow of small talk, scandal and malicious anecdote, true or more generally invented, to which Francesca listened with a relish and appreciation, that was all the more flattering from being so unwillingly bestowed.

"If you chose your friends from a rather more reputable set you would be doubtless less amusing, but there would be compensating advantages."

Francesca snapped the remark out at lunch one day when she had been betrayed into a broader smile than she considered the circumstances of her attitude towards Comus warranted.

"I'm going to move in quite decent society to-night," replied Comus with a pleased chuckle; "I'm going to meet you and Uncle Henry and heaps of nice dull God-fearing people at dinner."

Francesca gave a little gasp of surprise and annoyance.

"You don't mean to say Caroline has asked you to dinner to-night?" she said; "and of course without telling me. How exceedingly like her!"

同类推荐
  • 摩诃摩耶经

    摩诃摩耶经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Short Stories and Essays

    Short Stories and Essays

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 驯悍记

    驯悍记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Ban and Arriere Ban

    Ban and Arriere Ban

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 天顺日录

    天顺日录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 我被系统包养了

    我被系统包养了

    天降系统,包养主人,横行诸天万界与现实时空,开启神级屌丝人生。跟风建个群,二次元女装大佬交流群:433209489
  • 冷宫弃妃祸天下

    冷宫弃妃祸天下

    【女主强大】大婚当天他抬起手狠狠的给了她一巴掌,将她打入冷宫,践踏着她的自尊,“你连给本王暖床的资格都没有!冷瑶,从小她就生活在冷血无情的佣兵团,她穿越了,第一次有男人给了她一巴掌,她眼神狠狠的盯着他。被他折磨,她连眼睛都不眨一下,可是当她见到痴傻的六王爷时,一切都变了,她的心活了,她不在忍受,“到此为止吧,暴君,我会让你付出惨痛的代价!”
  • 神秘老公超级甜

    神秘老公超级甜

    他是帝都权势滔天的第一大少,人前他禁欲淡漠,杀伐果断,人后他温柔体贴,宠妻无下限。有人问白少:“请问你有什么梦想?”白墨尧:“娶季芷初为妻,然后爱她、宠她,一辈子。”
  • 白罂粟

    白罂粟

    周末的晚上,应朋友之邀去看京剧《杨门女将》,中国京剧院莅临成都演出。我这个人很少做随意性的事,那么一个不懂京剧的人架起势去看京剧,肯定是有原因的,其一,附庸风雅,想想那是国粹,自己一个文化人应当对之有兴趣才是;其二,怀想逝去的青春。
  • 美美娇娘恶魔夫2

    美美娇娘恶魔夫2

    倔强坚强女大学生林琳,在游泳池中被一支古玉簪刺到,被带到千年之前的大唐。机缘巧合的结识了李世民之胞弟李元吉,两人性格冲突,误会不断。然而两人在分分合合冲突间,产生了感情,彼此认为对方是今生的知己。然而唐太宗李世民,也对林琳有些感情,千方百计为二人制造障碍。而后事的发展,谁也没有预料到……婉转曲折的爱情故事,阴险狠毒的阴谋伎俩,错综复杂的人物关系,请看《美美娇娘恶魔夫2》
  • 幽灵的白色魅影

    幽灵的白色魅影

    几千年来,为何幽灵的传说经久不衰?这个世界上真的有幽灵吗?幽灵究竟只是传说,还是存在于人们生活中?《幽灵的白色魅影》带你一起探寻幽灵的行踪,追寻它产生的源头,带给你一个不一样的幽灵世界。
  • 快穿之逆光行者

    快穿之逆光行者

    背对着光明,一步一步的踏入黑暗……本文纯属虚构!请勿深信!
  • NO.03漫客·悬疑世界·异种

    NO.03漫客·悬疑世界·异种

    《漫客·悬疑世界》由蔡骏主编,知音动漫强势发行,网罗一线悬疑作家,打造最好看最惊悚最具悬念的悬疑杂志书。悬念阅读、惊悚体验——本刊贯穿始终的编辑方针。篇篇精彩,期期可读,带给读者绵绵不断的刺激感。蔡骏,中国作家协会会员、中国悬疑作家领军人物。自2001年《病毒》横空出世,至今已出版《地狱的第19层》《荒村公寓》《天机》等小说十余部。“蔡骏心理悬疑小说”已申请商标保护。截至2008年,其作品在中国大陆累计发行近300万册,多年保持中国原创悬疑类小说畅销纪录。
  • 墨菲法则

    墨菲法则

    本书从立身处世的角度出发,对墨菲法则进行了深入浅出的剖析,包括原理、意义及解决的办法,作者将跟随它所揭示的道理进入到事实真相的内部,并反过来为读者服务,争取降低坏消息到来的概率。
  • 悬者

    悬者

    手握麻绳,将自我悬挂,横梁之上,究竟是老鼠还是小丑,我庆幸将自己悬在这世上,看清了一切脉络