第56章

“Oh，Crikey！”saidmyaunt，readingaletterbehindhercoffee-machine。“HERE’Sayoungwoman，George！”

WewerebreakfastingtogetherinthebigwindowbayatLadyGrovethatlooksupontheirisbeds；myunclewasinLondon。

Isoundedaninterrogativenoteanddecapitatedanegg。

“Who’sBeatriceNormandy？”askedmyaunt。“I’venotheardofherbefore。”

“Shetheyoungwoman？”

“Yes。Sayssheknowsyou。I’mnohandatoldetiquette，George，butherlineisabitunusual。Practicallyshesaysshe’sgoingtomakehermother——“

“Eh？Step-mother，isn’tit？”

“Youseemtoknowalotabouther。Shesays’mother’——LadyOsprey。They’retocallonme，anyhow，nextWednesdayweekatfour，andthere’sgottobeyoufortea。”

“Eh？”

“You——fortea。

“H’m。Shehadrather——forceofcharacter。WhenIknewherbefore。”

Ibecameawareofmyaunt’sheadstickingoutobliquelyfrombehindthecoffee-machineandregardingmewithwidebluecuriosity。Imethergazeforamoment，flinched，coloured，andlaughed。

“I’veknownherlongerthanI’veknownyou。”Isaid，andexplainedatlength。

Myauntkepthereyeonmeoverandroundthecoffee-machineasIdidso。Shewasgreatlyinterested，andaskedseveralelucidatoryquestions。

“Whydidn’tyoutellmethedayyousawher？You’vehadheronyourmindforaweek。”shesaid。

“ItISoddIdidn’ttellyou。”Iadmitted。

“YouthoughtI’dgetaDownonher。”saidmyauntconclusively。

“That’swhatyouthought“andopenedtherestofherletters。

Thetwoladiescameinapony-carriagewithconspicuouspunctuality，andIhadtheunusualexperienceofseeingmyauntentertainingcallers。Wehadteaupontheterraceunderthecedar，butoldLadyOsprey，beinganembitteredProtestant，hadneverbeforeseentheinsideofthehouse，andwemadeasortoftourofinspectionthatremindedmeofmyfirstvisittotheplace。InspiteofmypreoccupationwithBeatrice，Istoredaqueerlittlememoryofthecontrastbetweenthetwootherwomen；

myaunt，tall，slenderandawkward，inasimplebluehomekeepingdress，anomnivorousreaderandaveryauthenticwit，andtheladyofpedigree，shortandplump，dressedwithVictorianfussiness，livingattheintellectuallevelofpalmistryandgenteelfiction，pinkinthefaceandgenerallyflusteredbyasenseofmyaunt’ssocialstrangenessanddisposedunderthecircumstancestobehaveratherlikeanimitationofthemorequeenlymomentsofherowncook。Theoneseemedmadeofwhalebone，theotherofdough。Myauntwasnervous，partlythroughtheintrinsicdifficultyofhandlingtheladyandpartlybecauseofherpassionatedesiretowatchBeatriceandme，andhernervousnesstookacommo