The low rich purr of a Great Western express is not the worst background for conversation,and the journey passed pleasantly enough.Nothing could have exceeded the kindness of the two men.
They raised windows for some ladies,and lowered them for others,they rang the bell for the servant,they identified the colleges as the train slipped past Oxford,they caught books or bag-purses in the act of tumbling on to the floor.Yet there was nothing finicky about their politeness:
it had the Public School touch,and,though sedulous,was virile.
More battles than Waterloo have been won on our playing-fields,and Margaret bowed to a charm of which she did not wholly approve,and said nothing when the Oxford colleges were identified wrongly."Male and female created He them";the journey to Shrewsbury confirmed this questionable statement,and the long glass saloon,that moved so easily and felt so comfortable,became a forcing-house for the idea of sex.
At Shrewsbury came fresh air.Margaret was all for sight-seeing,and while the others were finishing their tea at the Raven,she annexed a motor and hurried over the astonishing city.
Her chauffeur was not the faithful Crane,but an Italian,who dearly loved making her late.Charles,watch in hand,though with a level brow,was standing in front of the hotel when they returned.It was perfectly all right,he told her;she was by no means the last.And then he dived into the coffee-room,and she heard him say,"For God's sake,hurry the women up;we shall never be off,"and Albert Fussell reply,"Not I;I've done my share,"and Colonel Fussell opine that the ladies were getting themselves up to kill.Presently Myra (Mrs.Warrington's daughter)appeared,and as she was his cousin,Charles blew her up a little:she had been changing her smart traveling hat for a smart motor hat.
Then Mrs.Warrington herself,leading the quiet child;the two Anglo-Indian ladies were always last.Maids,courier,heavy luggage,had already gone on by a branch-line to a station nearer Oniton,but there were five hat-boxes and four dressing-bags to be packed,and five dust-cloaks to be put on,and to be put off at the last moment,because Charles declared them not necessary.The men presided over everything with unfailing good-humour.By half-past five the party was ready,and went out of Shrewsbury by the Welsh Bridge.
Shropshire had not the reticence of Hertfordshire.
Though robbed of half its magic by swift movement,it still conveyed the sense of hills.They were nearing the buttresses that force the Severn eastern and make it an English stream,and the sun,sinking over the Sentinels of Wales,was straight in their eyes.Having picked up another guest,they turned southward,avoiding the greater mountains,but conscious of an occasional summit,rounded and mild,whose colouring differed in quality from that of the lower earth,and whose contours altered more slowly.
Quiet mysteries were in progress behind those tossing horizons:the West,as ever,was retreating with some secret which may not be worth the discovery,but which no practical man will ever discover.
They spoke of Tariff Reform.
Mrs.Warrington was just back from the Colonies.
Like many other critics of Empire,her mouth had been stopped with food,and she could only exclaim at the hospitality with which she had been received,and warn the Mother Country against trifling with young Titans."They threaten to cut the painter,"she cried,"and where shall we be then?
Miss Schlegel,you'll undertake to keep Henry sound about Tariff Reform?
It is our last hope."
Margaret playfully confessed herself on the other side,and they began to quote from their respective hand-books while the motor carried them deep into the hills.Curious these were,rather than impressive,for their outlines lacked beauty,and the pink fields--on their summits suggested the handkerchiefs of a giant spread out to dry.
An occasional outcrop of rock,an occasional wood,an occasional "forest,"treeless and brown,all hinted at wildness to follow,but the main colour was an agricultural green.The air grew cooler;they had surmounted the last gradient,and Oniton lay below them with its church,its radiating houses,its castle,its river-girt peninsula.Close to the castle was a grey mansion,unintellectual but kindly,stretching with its grounds across the peninsula's neck--the sort of mansion that was built all over England in the beginning of the last century,while architecture was still an expression of the national character.That was the Grange,remarked Albert,over his shoulder,and then he jammed the brake on,and the motor slowed down and stopped."I'm sorry,"said he,turning round.
"Do you mind getting out--by the door on the right?Steady on!""What's happened?"asked Mrs.Warrington.
Then the car behind them drew up,and the voice of Charles was heard saying:"Get out the women at once."There was a concourse of males,and Margaret and her companions were hustled out and received into the second car.What had happened?As it started off again,the door of a cottage opened,and a girl screamed wildly at them.
"What is it?"the ladies cried.
Charles drove them a hundred yards without speaking.
Then he said:"It's all right.Your car just touched a dog.""But stop!"cried Margaret,horrified.
"It didn't hurt him."
"Didn't really hurt him?"asked Myra.
"No."
"Do please stop!"said Margaret,leaning forward.She was standing up in the car,the other occupants holding her knees to steady her."I want to go back,please."Charles took no notice.
"We've left Mr.Fussell behind,"said another;"and Angelo,and Crane.""Yes,but no woman."
"I expect a little of"--Mrs.Warrington scratched her palm--"will be more to the point than one of us!""The insurance company sees to that,"remarked Charles,"and Albert will do the talking.""I want to go back,though,I say!"repeated Margaret,getting angry.
