第65章

“Mydearfriend，rememberitisnotpoorLadyJane’sfaultthatsheiswellborn。”Pittreplied，withacourtlyair。”Shecannothelpbeingalady。Besides，IamaTory，youknow。”

“Oh，asforthat。”saidJim，“there’snothinglikeoldblood；no，dammy，nothinglikeit。I’mnoneofyourradicals。Iknowwhatitistobeagentleman，dammy。

Seethechapsinaboat-race；lookatthefellersinafight；aye，lookatadawgkillingrats——whichisitwins？

thegood-bloodedones。Getsomemoreport，Bowls，oldboy，whilstIbuzzthisbottle-here。WhatwasIasaying？”

“Ithinkyouwerespeakingofdogskillingrats。”Pittremarkedmildly，handinghiscousinthedecanterto“buzz。~

“KillingratswasI？Well，Pitt，areyouasportingman？DoyouwanttoseeadawgasCANkillarat？

Ifyoudo，comedownwithmetoTomCorduroy’s，inCastleStreetMews，andI’llshowyousuchabull-terrieras——Pooh！gammon。”criedJames，burstingoutlaughingathisownabsurdity——“YOUdon’tcareaboutadawgorrat；it’sallnonsense。I’mblestifIthinkyouknowthedifferencebetweenadogandaduck。”

“No；bytheway。”Pittcontinuedwithincreasedblandness。”itwasaboutbloodyouweretalking，andthepersonaladvantageswhichpeoplederivefrompatricianbirth。Here’sthefreshbottle。”

“Blood’stheword。”saidJames，gulpingtherubyfluiddown。”Nothinglikeblood，sir，inhosses，dawgs，AND

men。Why，onlylastterm，justbeforeIwasrusticated，thatis，ImeanjustbeforeIhadthemeasles，ha，ha——therewasmeandRingwoodofChristchurch，BobRingwood，LordCinqbars’son，havingourbeerattheBellatBlenheim，whentheBanburybargemanofferedtofighteitherofusforabowlofpunch。Icouldn’t。Myarmwasinasling；couldn’teventakethedragdown——abruteofamareofminehadfellwithmeonlytwodaysbefore，outwiththeAbingdon，andIthoughtmyarmwasbroke。

Well，sir，Icouldn’tfinishhim，butBobhadhiscoatoffatonce——hestooduptotheBanburymanforthreeminutes，andpolishedhimoffinfourroundseasy。Gad，howhediddrop，sir，andwhatwasit？Blood，sir，allblood。”

“Youdon’tdrink，James。”theex-attachecontinued。

“InmytimeatOxford，themenpassedroundthebottlealittlequickerthanyouyoungfellowsseemtodo。”

“Come，come。”saidJames，puttinghishandtohisnoseandwinkingathiscousinwithapairofvinouseyes，“nojokes，oldboy；notryingitononme。Youwanttotrotmeout，butit’snogo。Invinoveritas，oldboy。Mars，Bacchus，Apollovirorum，hey？Iwishmyauntwouldsenddownsomeofthistothegovernor；it’sapreciousgoodtap。”

“Youhadbetteraskher。”Machiavelcontinued，“ormakethebestofyourtimenow。Whatsaysthebard？

’Nuncvinopellitecuras，Crasingensiterabimusaequor，’“

andtheBacchanalian，quotingtheabovewithaHouseofCommonsair，tossedoffnearlyathimblefulofwinewithanimmenseflourishofhisglass。

AttheRectory，whenthebottleofportwinewasopenedafterdinner，theyoungladieshadeachaglassfromabottleofcurrantwine。Mrs。Butetookoneglassofport，honestJameshadacouplecommonly，butashisfathergrewverysulkyifhemadefurtherinroadsonthebottle，thegoodladgenerallyrefrainedfromtryingformore，andsubsidedeitherintothecurrantwine，ortosomeprivategin-and-waterinthestables，whichheenjoyedinthecompanyofthecoachmanandhispipe。AtOxford，thequantityofwinewasunlimited，butthequalitywasinferior：butwhenquantityandqualityunitedasathisaunt’shouse，Jamesshowedthathecouldappreciatethemindeed；andhardlyneededanyofhiscousin’sencouragementindrainingoffthesecondbottlesuppliedbyMr。Bowls。

Whenthetimeforcoffeecame，however，andforareturntotheladies，ofwhomhestoodinawe，theyounggentleman’sagreeablefranknesslefthim，andherelapsedintohisusualsurlytimidity；contentinghimselfbysayingyesandno，byscowlingatLadyJane，andbyupsettingonecupofcoffeeduringtheevening。

Ifhedidnotspeakheyawnedinapitiablemanner，andhispresencethrewadampuponthemodestproceedingsoftheevening，forMissCrawleyandLadyJaneattheirpiquet，andMissBriggsatherwork，feltthathiseyeswerewildlyfixedonthem，andwereuneasyunderthatmaudlinlook。

“Heseemsaverysilent，awkward，bashfullad。”saidMissCrawleytoMr。Pitt。

“H