 CHAPTER 1 As he waited for his breakfast, never served to time, Mr. Lashmark drummed upon the windowpane, and seemed to watch a blackbird lunching. with much gusto about the moist lawn of Alvarholm vicarage. But his gaze was absent and worried. The countenance of the reverend gentleman rarely wore any other expression, for he took to heart all human miseries and follies, and lived in a ceaseless, mild indignation against the tenor of the age. Inwardly Mr. Lashmark was at this moment rather pleased, having come upon an article in his weekly paper which reviewed, in a very depressing strain, the present aspect of English life. He felt that he might have and ought to have written the article himself, a loss of opportunity which gave new matter for discontent. The reverend Philip was in his sixty seventh year, a thin, dry, round-shouldered man with bald, occupied, straggling yellowish beard and a face which we called that of Darwin. The resemblance pleased him privately. He accepted the theory of organic evolution, reconciling it with a very broad Anglicanism. In his public utterances he touched upon the Darwinian doctrine with a weary disdain. This contradiction involved no insincerity. Mr. Lashmark merely held in contempt the common understanding and declined to expose an esoteric truth to vulgar misinterpretation. Yet he often worried about it as he worried over everything. Newer causes of disquiet were not liking to him, for several years the income of his living had steadily decreased. His glee upon which he chiefly depended fell more and more under the influence of agricultural depression, and at present he found himself, if not seriously embarrassed, likely to be so in a very short time. He was not a good economist. He despised everything in the nature of parsimony. His ideal of the clerical life demanded a liberal expenditure of money, no less than unsparing personal toil. He had generously exhausted the greater part of a small private fortune. From that source there remained to him only about a hundred pounds a year. His charities must needs be restricted. His parish outlay must be pinched. Domestic life must proceed on a narrower basis. In all this was to Mr. Lashmar supremely distasteful. Not less so to Mr. Lashmar's wife, a lady ten years his junior endowed with abundant energies in every direction save that of household order and thrift. Whilst the vicar stood waiting for breakfast tapping grirly, on the window pane Mrs. Lashmar entered the room, and her voice sounded the deep resonant note which announced a familiar morning mood. You don't mean to say that breakfast isn't ready. Surely, my dear, you could ring the bell. I have done so replied the vicar in a tone of melancholy abstraction. Mrs. Lashmar rang with emphasis and for the next five minutes her contralto swelled through the vicarage rendering inaudible the replies she kept demanding from a half rebellious, half intimidated servant. She was not personally a coarse woman, and her manners did not grossly offend against the convention of good breeding, but her nature was self-assertive. She could not brook a semblance of disregard for her authority, it like women in general had no idea of how to rule. The small round face had once been pretty, now with its prominent eyes in drawn lips and obscured chin it inspired no sympathetic emotion, rather an uneasiness and an inclination for retreat. In good humor or in ill Mrs. Lashmar was aggressive, her smile conveyed an amiable defiance, her look of grave interest alarmed and subdued. I have a line from dice remarked the vicar as at length he applied himself to his lukewarm egg and very hard toast he thinks of running down. When, he doesn't say, then why did he write? I've no patience with those vague projects, why did he write until he had decided on the day? Really I don't know, answered Mr. Lashmar feebly, his wife in this mood had a daising effect upon him. Let me see the letter. Mrs. Lashmar perused the half dozen lines in her son's handwriting. Why, he does say, she exclaimed in her deepest and most disdainful court, he says before long. True, but I hardly think that conveys, oh please don't begin a sophisticated argument. He says when he is coming and that's all I want to know. Here's a letter I see from that silly Mrs. Barker, her husband has quite given up drink and earns good wages and the eldest boy has a place, poo. All very good news, it seems to me, remarked the vicar, slightly raising his eyebrows, but one of Mrs. Lashmar's little peculiarities was that, though she would exert herself to any extent for people whose helpless circumstances utterly subjected them to her authority, she lost all interest in them as soon as their troubles were surmounted and even viewed with resentment that result of her own efforts. Worse still, from her point of view, if the effort had largely been that of the sufferers themselves as in this case, Mrs. Barker, a washerwoman who had reformed her saddish husband, was henceforth a mere offense in the eyes of the vicar's wife. As silly a letter as ever I read, she exclaimed throwing aside the poor little sheet of cheap note paper with its illiterate gratitude. Oh, here's something from Lady Susan, poo, another baby, what do I care about her babies? Not one word about dice, not one word, now really. I don't remember what you expected, remarked the vicar mildly. Mrs. Lashmar paid no heed to him, with a resentful countenance she had pushed the letters aside and was beginning her meal. Amid all the so-called duties which she imposed upon herself, for in her own way she bore the burden of the world, no less than did the Reverend Philip. Mrs. Lashmar never lost sight of one great preoccupation, the interests of her son. He, Dice Lashmar, only child of the house, now 27 years old, lived in London and partly supported himself as a private tutor. The obscurity of this existence so painful a contrast to the hopes his parents had nourished, so disappointing an outcome of all the thought that had been given to Dice's education and of the not inconsiderable sums spent upon it, threaded Mrs. Lashmar to the soul. At times she turned in anger against the young man himself, accusing him of ungrateful supineness, but more often eased her injured feelings by accusation of all such persons as by any possibility might have aided Dice to a career. One of these was Lady Susan Harop, a very remote relative of hers, twice or thrice a year, for half a dozen years at least. Mrs. Lashmar had urged upon Lady Susan the claims of her son to social countenance and more practical forms of advancement, hitherto with no result save indeed that Dice dined once every season at the Harop's table. The subject was painful to Mr. Lashmar also, but it affected him in a different way, and he had long ceased to speak of it. That selfish frivolous woman sounded presently from behind the coffee service not now in accents of wrath, but as the deliberate utterance of cold judgment, never in all her life has she thought of anyone but herself, what right has such a being to bring children into the world? What can be expected of them but meanness and hypocrisy? Mr. Lashmar smiled. He had just broken an imperfect tooth upon a piece of toast. And as usual, when irritated, his temper became ironic. Sweet are the uses of disappointment. He observed how it clears one's vision. Do you suppose I ever had any better opinion of Lady Susan exclaimed his wife? It was a principle of Mr. Lashmar's never to argue with a woman, sadly smiling, he rose from the table. Here's an article you ought to read, he said, holding out the weekly paper. It's full of truth, well expressed. It may even have some bearing on this question. The vicar went about his long day's work and took with him many uneasy reflections. He had not thought of it before breakfast, but now it struck him that much in that pungent article on the men of today might perchance apply to the character and conduct of his own son. A habit of facile enthusiasm, not perhaps altogether insincere but totally without moral value, convictions assumed at will as a matter of fashion, or else of singularity, the lack of stable purpose save only in matters of gross self-interest and increasing tendency to verbose expression and all but utter lack of what old-fashioned people still call principle. These phrases recurred to his memory with disagreeable significance, was that in truth a picture of his son, of the boy whom he had loved and watched over and so zealously hoped for. Possibly he wronged dice for the young man's mind and heart had long ceased to be clearly legible to him. Worse perhaps of all these frequent traits is the affectation of, to use a silly word, altruism. The most radically selfish of men seem capable of persuading themselves into the belief that their prime motive is to live for others. Of truly persuading themselves, that is the strange thing. This, it seems to us, is morally far worse than the unconscious hypocrisy which here and there exists in professors of the old religion. There is something more nauseous about self-deceiving altruism than in the attitude of a man who thoroughly, worldly in fact believes himself a hopeful candidate for personal salvation. Certain recent letters of dice appeared in a new light when seen from this point of view. It was too disagreeable a subject that vicar strove to dismiss it from his mind. In the afternoon he had to visit a dying man, an intelligent shopkeeper who, while accepting the visit as a proof of kindness, altogether refused spiritual comfort and would speak of nothing but the future of his children. Straightway, Mr. Lashmar became the practical consolar lavish of kindly forethought, only when he came forth did he ask himself whether he could possibly fulfill half of what he had undertaken. It is easier he reflected to make promises for the world to come. Is it not also better? After all, can I not do it with a clearer conscience? He walked slowly, worrying about this and 50 other things, feeling a very atlas under the globe's oppression. His way took him across a field in which there was a newly burgeoned cops. He remembered that last spring he had found white violets about the roots of the trees. A desire for their beauty and odor possessed him. He turned across the grass. Presently a perfume guided him to a certain mossy corner where pale sweet florids nestled amid their leaves. He bent over them and stretched his hand to pluck. But in the same moment checked himself, why should he act the destroyer in this spot of perfect quietness and beauty? Dice would not care much about them was another thought that came into his mind. He rose from his stooping posture with ache of muscles and creaking of joints, alas for the days when he ran and leaped and knew not pain. Walking slowly away, he worried himself about the brevity of life. By a style he passed into the high road at the lower end of the long village of Alvarholm. He had an appointment with his curate at the church school and not to be unpunctual, he quickened his pace in that direction. At a little distance behind him was a young lady whom he had not noticed. She recognizing the vicar pursued with like quick step and soon overtook him. How do you do, Mr. Lashmark? Why, Miss Bride exclaimed the vicar what a long time since we saw you. Have you just come? I'm on a little holiday. How are you? And how is Mrs. Lashmark? Miss Bride had a soberly decisive way of speaking and an aspect which corresponded therewith. Her figure was rather short, well balanced, apt, fibrous movement. She held her head very straight and regarded the world with a pair of dark eyes suggestive of anything but a sentimental nature. Her gray dress, black jacket and felt hat trimmed with a little brown ribbon, declared the practical woman who thinks about her costume only just as much as is needful. Her dark brown hair was coiled in a plat just above the nape as if neatly and definitely put out of the way. She looked neither more nor less than her age, which was eight and twenty. At first sight, her features struck one as hard and unsympathetic, though tolerably regular, watching her as she talked or listened, one became aware of a mobility which gave large expressiveness, especially in the region of the eyebrows, which seemed to move with her every thought. Her lips were long and ordinarily compressed in the line of conscious self-control. She had a very shapely neck, the skin white and delicate, her facial complexion was admirably pure and a warmish tint. And where are you living, Miss Bride, asked Mr. Lashmark regarding her with curiosity at Hollingford, that is to say near it, I am secretary to Lady Ogrum. I don't know whether you ever heard of her. Ogrum, I know the name. I'm very glad indeed to hear that you have such a pleasant position. And your father, it is very long since I heard from him. He has a curiosity at Liverpool and seems to be all right. My mother died about two years ago. The matter of fact tone in which this information was imparted caused Mr. Lashmark to glance at the speaker's face, though very little of an observer, he was comforted by an assurance that Miss Bride's features were less impassive than her words. Indeed, the cold of breathness with which she spoke was sufficient proof of feeling roughly subdued. Some six years had now elapsed since the girl's father after acting for a short time, as cured to Mr. Lashmark accepted a living in another county. The technical term in this case was rich in satiric meaning Mr. Bride's incumbency quickly reduced him to pauperism. At the end of the first 12 months and his rural benefits, the unfortunate cleric made a calculation that he was legally responsible for rather more than twice the sum of money represented by his stipend and the offer tories. The church needed a new roof. The parsley was barely habitable for long lack of repairs. The church school lost its teacher through default of salary and so on. With endless difficulty Mr. Bride escaped from his vicarage to freedom and semi starvation and deemed himself very lucky indeed when at length he regained Levitical Harbourage. These things had his daughter watched with her intent dark eyes. Constance Bride did not feel kindly disposed towards the Church of England as by law established. She had seen her mother sink under penury and humiliation and all unmerited hardship. She had seen her father change from a vigorous, hopeful, kindly man to an embittered pessimist as for herself, sound health and a good endowment of brains enabled her to make her way in the world. Luckily she was a soul child. Her father managed to give her a decent education till she was old enough to live by teaching. But teaching was not her vocation. Looking round for possibilities Constance hid upon the idea of studying pharma-sutics and becoming a dispenser wherein with long steady effort she had linked succeeded. This project had already been shaped whilst the Brides were at Alvar Home. Mrs. Lashmore had since heard of Constance as employed in the dispensary of a Midland hospital. Hollenford remarked the vicar as they walked on, I think I remember that you have relatives there. I was born there and I have an old aunt still living in the town. She keeps a little baker's shop. Mr. Lashmore, the philosopher was not used to this bluntness of revelation. It gave him a slight shock, evinced in a troublous rolling of the eyes. Ah, yes, I trust you will dine with us this evening, Ms. Bride. Thank you, I can't dine. I want to leave by an early evening train. But I should like to see Mrs. Lashmore if she is at home. She will be delighted. I must beg you to pardon me for leaving you an appointment at the schools, but I will get home as soon as possible. Pray excuse me. Why, of course, Mr. Lashmore, I haven't forgotten the rate to the vicarage. She pursued it and in a few minutes rang the bell. Mrs. Lashmore was in the dining room busy with a female parishioner whose self-will in the treatment of infant's maladies had given the vicar's wife a great deal of trouble. It's as plain as, blessed daylight, mom, the woman was exclaiming that this medicine don't agree with her. Mrs. Dibb spoke in the other severely, you will allow me to be a better judge. What is it? The housemaid had opened the door to announce Ms. Bride. Ms. Bride occurred the lady in astonishment. Very well, show her into the drawing room. The visitor waited for nearly a quarter of an hour. She had placed herself on one of the least comfortable chairs and sat there in a very stiff attitude, holding her umbrella across her knees. After a rather nervous survey of the room, it had changed very little in appearance since her last visit six years ago, she fell into uneasy thoughtfulness, now and then looking impatiently towards the door. When the hostess at length appeared, she rose with deliberation. Her lips just relaxed in a half smile. So it is really you exclaimed Mrs. Lashmar in a voice of force welcome. I thought you must have all together forgotten us. It's the first time I have returned to our home replied the other in a contrasting tone of calmness. And what are you doing? Where are you living? Tell me all about yourself. Are you still at the hospital? You did get a place at a hospital, I think we were told so. Mrs. Lashmar's patronage was a little more patronizing than usual. Her condescension one or two degrees more condescending. She had various reasons for regarded Constance Bride with disapproval, the least of them that sense of natural antipathy, which was inevitable between two such women. In brief as sentences, Miss Bride made known that she had given up dispensing two years ago and was now acting as secretary to a baronet's widow. A baronet's widow repeated the hostess with some emphasis of candid surprise. How did you manage that? Who is she? An old friend of my family was the balanced reply, Lady Ogrem of Riven Oak, near Hollingford. Oh, indeed, I wasn't aware. Mrs. Lashmar thought better of her inclination to be trenchantly rude and smoothed off into common places. Presently, the vicar entered and found his wife conversing with the visitor more amably than he had expected. You have seen Miss Bride already, said Mrs. Lashmar. I am trying to persuade her to stay overnight with us. Is it really impossible? Constantly but decidedly declined. Addressing herself to the vicar, she spoke with more ease and friendliness than hitherto. Nevertheless, it was obvious that she counted the minutes dictated by decency for the prolongation of her stay. Once or twice her look wandered to a certain part of the wall where hung a framed photograph, a portrait of Dice Lashmar at the age of one and twenty. She regarded it for an instant with cold, fixity, as though it interested her not at all. Just as she was on the point of rising, there came a sound of wheels on the vicarage drive. Who's that, I wonder, said Mrs. Lashmar. Why, surely it isn't. A voice from without had reached her ears, surprised and annoyance, darkened her countenance. It certainly Dice, said the vicar, who for his part recognized the voice with pleasure. Impossible, he said he was coming in a week's time. Mr. Lashmar would not have cared to correct his statement, and remark was rendered superfluous by the opening of the door and the appearance of Dice himself. Afraid I'm taking you rather at unaware, said the young man in a swab oxford voice. Unexpectedly, I found myself free. His eyes fell upon Constance Bride, and for a moment he was mute. Then he stepped towards her, and with an air of peculiar frankness, of comrade-like understanding, extended his hand. How do you do, Miss Connie? Delighted to find you here. Mother, glad to see you. He touched Mrs. Lashmar's forehead with his lips. Well, Father, uncommonly pleasant to be at the vicarage again. Miss Bride had stood up and was now advancing towards the hostess. You must go, said Mrs. Lashmar, with her most agreeable smile. What, going, exclaimed Dice? Why? Are you staying in the village? No, I must catch a train. What train? The six forty-five. Why, then, you have plenty of time. Mother, bid Miss Connie be seated. I haven't had a moment's talk with her. It's absurd. Six forty-five. You needn't leave here for twenty minutes. What a lucky thing that I came in just now. For certain ticks of the clock it was a doubtful matter whether Miss Bride would depart or remain. Glancing involuntarily at Mrs. Lashmar, she saw the gloom of resentment and hostility hover upon that lady's countenance, and this proved decisive. I'll have some tea, please. Gried the young man cheerfully as Constance with some abruptness resumed her seat. How was your father, Miss Connie? Well, that's right, Mrs. Bride. My mother's dead, replied the girl, quite simply, looking away. A soft murmur of pain escaped Dice's lips. He leaned forward, uttered gently, pray forgive me, and was silent. The vicar interposed with a harmless remark about the flight of years. End of Chapter 1. Chapter 2 of our friend, the charlatan. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Our friend, the charlatan by George Gissing, Chapter 2. In the moments when Dice Lashmar was neither aware of being observed, nor consciously occupied with the pressing problems of his own existence, his face expressed a natural amiability, inclining to pensiveness. The features were in no way remarkable. They missed the vigor of his father's type without attaining the regularity which had given his mother a claim to good looks. Such a visage falls to the lot of numberless men born to keep themselves alive and to propagate their insignificance. But Dice was not insignificant. As soon as his countenance lighted with animation, it revealed a character rich in various possibility, a vital force which, by its bright indefiniteness, made some appeal to the imagination. Often he had the air of a lyric enthusiast, often that of a profound thinker, not seldom there came into his eyes a glint of stern energy which seemed a challenge to the world. There, with all nothing perceptively histrionic, look or speak as he might the young man exhaled an atmosphere of sincerity and persuaded others because he seemed so thoroughly to have convinced himself. He did not give the impression of high-breeding his Oxford voice, his easy self-possession satisfied the social standard but left a defect to the viner sense. Dice said not the self-oblivion of entire courtesy, it seemed probable that he would often err intact. A certain awkwardness marred his personal bearing, which aimed at the modern ideal of flowing unconstrained. Sipping the cup of tea which his mother had handed to him, Dice talked at large, nothing he declared was equal to the delight of leaving town just at this moment of the year when hedge and meadow were donning their brightest garments and the sky gleamed with its purest blue. He spoke in the tone of rapturous enjoyment and yet one might have felt a doubt whether his sensibility was as keen as he professed or imagined all the time he appeared to be thinking of something else. Most of his remarks were addressed to Miss Bride and with that manner of intimate friendliness which he alone of the family used towards their visitor. He inquired about the events of her life and manifested a strong interest in the facts which Constance briefly repeated. Let me walk with you as far as the station. He said when the time came for her departure, please don't trouble. Constance replied with a quick glance at Mrs. Lashmar's face, still resentful under the conventional smile. Dice, without more words, took his hat and accompanied her. The victor went with them to the garden gate, courteous but obviously embarrassed. Pray remember me to your father, Miss Bride. He said I should much like to hear from him. It's chilly this evening remarked Dice as he and his companion walked briskly away. Are you going far? To Hollingford. But you'll be traveling for two or three hours. What about your dinner? Oh, I shall eat something when I get home. Women are absurd about food, exclaimed Dice, with laughing impatience. Most of you systematically starve yourselves and wonder that you get all sorts of ailments. Why wouldn't you stay at the vicarage tonight? I'm quite sure it would have made no difference if you had got back to Hollingford in the morning. Perhaps not, but I don't care much for staying at other people's houses. Dice examined his companion's face. She did not meet his look and bore it with some uneasiness. In the minds of both was a memory which would have accounted for much more constraint between them than apparently existed. Six years ago in the days of late summer when Dice Lashmark was spending his vacation at the vicarage and Connie Bride was making ready to go out into the world. They had been want to see a good deal of each other and to exhaust the topics of the time in long conversations tending ever to a close intimacy of thought and sentiment. The companionship was not very favorably regarded by Mr. Lashmark and to the vicar's wife was a source of angry apprehension. There came the evening when Dice and Constance had to bid each other goodbye with no near prospect of renewing their talks and rambles together. What might be in the girl's thought she alone knew. The young man effusive in vain of friendship seemed never to glance beyond. A safe borderline is emotion satisfied with intellectual communion. At the moment of shaking hands they stood in a field behind the vicarage. Dusk was falling and the spots secluded. They parted Constance in a bewilderment which was to last many a day for Dice had kissed her and without a word was gone. There followed no exchange of letters. From that hour to this the two had in no way communicated. Mr. Bride somewhat offended by what he had seen and surmised of Mr. Mises Lashmark's disposition held no correspondence with the vicar of our home. His wife had never been on friendly terms with Mises Lashmark. How Dice thought of that singular incident it was impossible to infer from his demeanor. Constance might well have supposed that he had forgotten all about it. Is your work interesting whereas next words what does Lady Ogrum go in for? Many things. You prefer it to the other work. It isn't so hard and it's much more profitable. By the by who is Lady Ogrum asked Dice with a smiling glance. A remarkable old lady her husband died ten years ago. She has no children and is very rich. I shouldn't think there's a worse tempered person living yet she has all sorts of good qualities. By birth she belongs to the working class. By disposition she's a violent aristocrat. I often hate her. At other times I like her very much. Dice listened with increasing attention. Has she any views? She inquired. Oh plenty Constance answered with a dry little laugh about social questions that kind of thing especially. I shouldn't be surprised if she called herself a socialist. That's just what she does when she thinks it will annoy people she dislikes. Dice smiled meditatively. I should like to know her. Yes I should very much like to know her. Could you manage it for me? Constance did not reply. She was comparing the Dice Lashmar of today with him of the past and trying to understand the change that had come about in his talk, his manner. It would have helped her had she known that in the ripe experience of his seven and twentieth year Dice had arrived at certain conclusions with regard to women and thereupon had based a method of practical behavior towards them. Women he held had never been treated with elementary justice. To worship them was no less unfair than to hold them in contempt. The honest man in our day should regard a woman without the least bias of sexual prejudice should view her simply as a fellow being who according to circumstances might or not be on his own plane. Away with all empty show and form those relics of barbarism known as chivalry he wished to discontinue even the habit of hat doffing in female presence was not civility preserved between man and man without such idol form. Why not then between man and woman? Unable as yet to go the entire length of his principles in everyday life he endeavored at all events to cultivate in his intercourse with women a frankness of speech a directness of bearing beyond the usual. He shook hands as with one of his own sex spine uncooked he greeted them with level voice not as one who addresses a thing afraid of sound to a girl or matron whom he liked he said in tone if not in phrase let us be comrades. In his opinion this tended notably to the purifying of the social atmosphere it was the introduction of simple honesty into relations commonly marked and corrupted by every form of disingenuousness. Moreover it was the great first step to that reconstruction of society at large which every thinker saw to be imperative and imminent. But Constance Bride knew nothing of this and in her ignorance could not but misinterpret the young man's demeanor. She felt it to be brusque she imagined it to imply a proposed oblivion of things in the past taken together with Mrs. Lashmore's way of receiving her at the vicarage it stirred in her heart and mind already prone to bitterness a resentment which of all things she shrank from betraying. Is Lady Ogrum approachable? Dice asked when his companion had walked a few paces without speaking does she care to make new acquaintances? It depends she likes to know interesting people. Well Dice murmured a lot perhaps she might think me interesting in a way her subject is mine I'm working at sociology have been for a long time I'm getting my ideas into shape and I like to talk about them do you write? asked the girl without raising her eyes to his no people write too much we're flooded with print I've grown out of my old ambitions that way the Greek philosophers taught by word of mouth and it was better I want to learn how to talk to talk well to communicate what I have to say in a few plain words it saves time and money I'm convinced too that it carries more weight everyone nowadays can write a book and most people do but how many can talk the art is being utterly forgotten chatter and gavel and mumble and abuse of language what's your view? I think perhaps you are right come now I'm glad to hear you say that if I had time I would tell you more but here's the station and there's the smoke of the train we've cut it rather close across the line you'll have to run sharp they did so reaching the platform as the train drew up Dice allowed his companion to open a carriage door for herself that was quite in accord with his principles but perhaps he would for once have neglected them had he been sure by which class Miss Bride would travel she entered the third you wouldn't care to introduce me to Lady Ogrem he said standing by the window and looking straight into the girl's eyes I will if you wish she answered meeting his look with hard steadiness and a frown as of pain many thanks Rivernoke calling for the address suppose I call in a few days if you like the train moved dice bared his head and as he turned away thought how contemptible was the practice walking briskly against a cold wind he busied his imagination about Lady Ogrem the picture he made to himself of this wealthy and original old lady was very fertile of suggestion his sanguine temper bore him to height's a brilliant possibility Dice Lashmore had a genius for airy construction much of his time was spent in deducing imaginary results from some half presented opportunity as his fancy rot he walked faster and faster and he reached the vic region of physical glow which corresponded to his scintillating state of mind of Constance Bride he thought hardly at all she did not interest him her proximity left him cold she might be a useful instrument apart from his method that was the light in which he regarded all the women he knew experience had taught him that he possessed a certain power over women of a certain kind it seemed probable that Constance belonged to the class but this was a fact which had no emotional bearing with the moment's idle wonder he remembered the circumstances of their former parting he was then a boy and who shall account for a boy's momentary impulses Constance was a practical sort of person and in all likelihood thought no more of that foolish incident than he did why are you so eccentric in your movements dice of Mrs. Lashmore irritably when he entered the drawing room again you write one day that you're coming in a week or two and on the next here you are how could you know that it was convenient to us to have you just now the woolstin boy has a cold dice replied and I found myself free for a few days i'm sorry to put you out not at all i say that it might have done dice is bearing to his mother was decently respectful but in no way affectionate the knowledge that she counted for little or nothing with him was an annoyance rather than a distress to Mrs. Lashmore with tenderness she could dispense but the loss of authority wounded her dinner was a rather silent meal the vicar seemed to be worrying about something even more than usual when they had risen from table Mrs. Lashmore made the remark which was always forthcoming on these occasions so you are still doing nothing dice i assure you i'm very busy and to the young man has one indulgent to an inferior understanding so you always say when did you see Lady Susan oh not for a long time what vex is me is that you don't make the slightest use of your opportunities it's really astonishing that with your talents you should be content to go on teaching children their a b c you have no energy dice and no ambition by this time you might have been in the diplomatic service you might have been in parliament are you going to waste your whole life that depends on the view one takes of life said dice in a philosophical term which he sometimes adopted generally after dinner why should one always be thinking about getting on it's the vice of the time why should i elbow and hustle in a vulgar crowd a friend of mine lord dim church what you have made friends with a lord cried mrs. Lashmore her face illumined why not i was going to say that dim church though he's poor and does nothing at all is probably about the most distinguished man in the peerage he is distinguished by nature and that's enough for him you'd like dim church father the vicar looked up from a fit of black brooding and said ah no doubt mrs. Lashmore learning the circumstances of lord dim church took less pride in him but went on to ask questions had his lordship no interest which might serve a friend could he not present dice to more influential people i should be ashamed to hint that kind of thing to him answered dice don't be so impatient mother if i am to do anything in your sense of the word the opportunity will come if it doesn't well fate has ordered it so all i know is dice that you might be the coming man and you're content to be nobody at all dice laughed the coming man well perhaps i am who knows at all events it's something to know that you believe in me and it may be that you are not the only one later dice and his father went into the study to smoke the young man brought with him a large paperbacks volume which he had taken out of his traveling bag here's a book i'm reading a few days ago i happened to be at Williams and nor gates this caught my eyes in a glance at page or two interested me so much that i bought it at once it would please you father i've no time for reading nowadays side the vicar what is it he took the volume of philosophical work by a french writer bearing recent date mr lashmark listlessly turned a few pages whilst dice was filling and lighting his pipe it's uncommonly suggestive said dice between puffs the best social theory i know he calls his system bio sociology a theory of society founded on the facts of biology thoroughly scientific and convincing smashing socialism in the common sense that is social democracy but establishing a true socialism in harmony with the aristocratic principle i'm sure you'd enjoy it i fancy it's just your view yes perhaps so here's the central idea no true sociology could be established before the facts of biology were known as the one results from the other in both the ruling principle is that of association with the evolution of a directing power an animal is an association of cells every association implies division of labor now progress in organic development means the slow constitution of an organ the brain which shall direct the body so in society an association of individuals with slow constitution of a directing organ called the government the problem of civilization is to establish government on scientific principles to pick out the fit for rule to distinguish between the multitude and the select and at the same time to balance their working it is nonsense to talk about equality evolution is engaged in sephalizing the political aggregate as it did the aggregate of cells in the animal organism it makes for the differentiation of the select and of the crowd that is to say towards inequality very interesting murmur the vicar who listened with an effort whilst mechanically loading his pipe isn't it and the ideas are well marked out first the bio sociological theory then the psychology and ethics which result from it the book is giving me a stronger impulse than anything i've read for years it carries conviction with it it clears one's mind of all sorts of doubts and hesitations i always kicked at the democratic idea now i know that i was right ah perhaps so these questions are very difficult by the by dice i want to speak to you about a matter that has been rather troubling me of late let us get it over now shall we dice's animated look faded under a shadow of uneasiness he regarded the vicar steadily with eyes which gathered apprehension it's very disagreeable pursued mr lashmar after puffing a pipe on lit i'm afraid it'll be no less so to you than to me i've postponed the necessity as long as i could the fact is dice i'm getting pinched in my finances let me tell you just how matters stand the son listened to an exposition of his father's difficulties he had his feet crossed his head bent and the pipe hanging from his mouth at the first silence he removed his pipe and said quietly it's plain that my allowance must stop not another word about that father you ought to have spoken before i've been a burden to you no no my dear boy i haven't felt it till now but as you see things begin to look awkward do you think you can manage of course i can don't trouble about me for a moment i have my hundred and fifty a year for mrs wool stan and that's quite enough for a bachelor i shall pick up something else in any case i've no right to sponge on you i've done it too long if i had had the slightest suspicion a sense of virtue lit up dice's countenance again nothing was more agreeable to him than the uttering of generous sentiments having reassured his father he launched into a larger optimism don't suppose that i've taken your money year after year without thinking about it i couldn't have gone on like that if i hadn't felt sure that someday i should pay my debt it's natural enough that your mother should feel a little disappointed about me i seem to have done nothing but believe me i'm not idle money making i admit has never been much in my mind all the same i shall have money enough one of these days and before very long try to have faith in me if it were necessary i shouldn't mind entering into an obligation to furnish such and such as some yearly buy when i am 30 years old it's a thing i never said to anyone but i know perfectly well that a career perhaps rather a brilliant one is opening before me i know it just as one knows that one is in good health it's an intimate sense needing no supportive argument of course i'm glad to hear you speak like that said the vicar venturing only a glance at his son's face don't i beg worry about your affairs pursued dice with kindling i cut off my supplies and go quietly on he stretched out a soothing hand palm downwards the responsibility for the future is mine from tonight i take it upon myself much more in the same vein did dice pour forth obviously believing every word he said and arriving great satisfaction from the sound of his praises he went to bed at length in such a self-approving frame of mind that no sooner had he laid his head on the pillow than sweet sleep lapped him about and he knew nothing more till the sunlight shimmered at his window a letter awaited him at the breakfast table it had been forwarded from his london address and he knew at a glance that it came from mrs. woolstand the mother of his pupil the lady dating from a house at west hamstead wrote thus dear mr. lashmar you will be surprised to hear from me so soon again i particularly want to see you something has happened which we must talk over at once i shall be alone tomorrow afternoon do come if you possibly can sincerely yours iris woolstand dice had come down in a mood less cheerful than that overnight as happened sometimes he had slept too soundly his head was not quite clear and his nerves felt rather unsteady this note from mrs. woolstand he knew not why caused him uneasiness a vague revision of ill was upon him as he read he had intended passing the day at alber home and on the morrow traveling to hollingford now he felt no inclination to hazard a call upon lady ogrum he would return to london forthwith no bad news i hope said his father when this purpose was announced mrs. woolstand wants me back sooner than i expected that's all his mother's lips curled disdainfully to be at the beck and call of a mrs. woolstand seemed to her an ignoble thing however she had learned the tenor of dice's discourse of the evening before and tried once more to see a radiance in his future in the chapter two chapter three of our friend the charlatan this is a libra vox recording all libra vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libra vox dot org our friend the charlatan by george gissing chapter three hair the hue of an autumn elm leaf eyes green or blue as the light fell upon them along them face faintly freckled over its creamy pallor with narrow arch of eyebrow indifferent nose childlike lips and a small pointed chin thus may one suggest the portrait of iris woolstand when dice lashmar stepped into her drawing room she had the air of one who has been impatiently expecting her eyes widened in a smile of nervous pleasure she sprang up and offered her hand before the visitor was near enough to take it so kind of you to come i was half afraid you might have gone out of town not that it would have mattered i did really want to see you as soon as possible but monday would have done just as well she spoke rapidly in a high but not real voice with a drawing in of the breath before and after her speech and a nervous little pant between the sentences her bosom fluttering like that of a frightened bird as a matter of fact cried lashmar with breast cordiality dropping into a chair before his hostess was seated i had gone out of town i got your letter at alvar home and came back again sooner than i intended oh oh panted mrs. woolstand on her highest note i shall never forgive myself why didn't you telegraph or just do nothing at all and come when you were ready oh when there wasn't the least hurry then why did you write as if something alarming had happened cried the other laughing as he crossed his legs and laid his silk hat aside oh did i i'm sure i didn't mean to there's nothing alarming at all at least that is to say well it's something troublesome and disagreeable and very unexpected and i'm rather afraid you won't like it but we've plenty of time to talk about it i'm at home to nobody else it was really unkind of you to come back in a hurry besides it's against your principles you wouldn't have done that if i had been a man a man would have said just what he meant replied dice smiling at her with kindly superiority he wouldn't have put me in doubt no no but did i really write like that i thought it was just a plain little business like note indeed i did it will be a lesson to me indeed it will and how did you find your people all well i hope well in one way in another but i'll tell you about that presently dice had known mrs will stand for about a couple of years it was in the second 12 month of their acquaintance that he matured his method with regard to women and since then he had not only practiced it freely but had often discussed it with her iris gave the method her entire approval and hailed it as the beginning of a new era for her sex she imagined that her own demeanor was no less direct and unconstrained than that of the philosopher himself in reality the difference was considerable those several years older than dice her age being 34 she showed nothing of the seniority in her manner towards him which for all its impulsiveness had a noticeable deference at moments something of subdued homage you don't mean to say you have bad news she exclaimed palpitating you too why then you have something of the same kind to tell me said dice gazing at her anxiously tell me yours first please do no it's nothing very important so say what you've got to say be quick about it come mrs will stands bosom rose and fell rapidly as she collected her thoughts unconventional as were the terms in which lashmar addressed her they carried no suggestion of an intimacy which passed the limits of friendship when his eyes turned to hurt their look was unemotional purely speculative and in general spoke without looking at her at all it's something about mr rye bolt iris began with a face of distress you know he is my trustee i told you didn't i i see him very seldom and we don't take much interest in each other he is nothing but a man of business the kind i detest he can't talk of anything but money and shares and wretched things of that sort but you know him you understand the name of rye bolt set before dice's mind a middle-aged man red-necked heavy of eyelid without rather punctilious bearing and authoritative mode of speech they had met only once here at mrs will stands house i'm sure i don't know why but just lately he's begun to make inquiries about len and to ask when i meant to send him to school of course i told him that len was doing very well indeed in that i didn't see the slightest necessity for making a change at all events just yet well yesterday he came and said he wanted to see the boy len was in bed he's in bed still though his cold is much better and mr rye bolt would go up to his room and talk to him when he came down again you know i'm going to tell you the whole truth and of course you won't mind it he began talking in a very nasty way he has a nasty way when he likes look here mrs will stand he said lenard doesn't seem to me to be doing well at all i asked him one or two questions in simple arithmetic and he couldn't answer well i said for one thing len isn't well and it isn't the right time to examine a boy and then arithmetic isn't his subject he hasn't that kind of mind but he wouldn't listen and the next thing he said was still nastier do you know he said that the boy is being taught atheism well what could i answer i got rather angry and said that len's religious teaching was my own affair and i couldn't see what he had to do with it and besides that len wasn't being taught atheism but that people who were not in the habit of thinking philosophically couldn't be expected to understand such things i think that was rather good wasn't it did not put it rather well iris panted in expectation of approval but merely a nod was vouched safe to her go on said dice dryly you're not dexter hope i'm going to be quite frank you know just as you like people to be well mr rybalt went on and would have it that len was badly taught and altogether led in the wrong way and that he'd grow up and immoral and an irreligious man you must remember mr rybalt i said rather severely that people's ideas about morality and religion differ very much and i can't thank you have sufficiently studied the subject to be capable of understanding my point of view it was rather severe wasn't it but i think it was rather well put go on said dice with another nod well now i'm quite sure you'll understand me we do generally understand each other you see i was put into a most difficult position mr rybalt is my trustee and he has to look after len though he's never given a thought to him till now and he's a man of influence that is to say in his own wretched vulgar world but unfortunately it's a kind of influence one's obliged to think about then you know is just 11 and one has to begin to think about his future and it isn't as if he was going to be rich and could do as he liked i'm sure you understand me with a man like mr rybalt not so many words interpose the listener smiling rather disdainfully i see the upshot of it all you promise to send len to school mrs woolstand panted and fluttered and regarded lashmar with eyes of agitated appeal if you think i ought to have held out please say just what you think let us be quite frank and comrade like with each other i can write to mr rybalt tell me plainly said dice leaning towards her what was your reason for giving way at once you really think don't you that it will be better for the boy oh how could i think so mr lashmar you know what a high opinion exactly i'm quite ready to believe all that but you will be easier in mind with len at school taught in the ordinary way now be honest make an effort i perhaps one has to think of a boy's future the pale face was suffused with rose and for a moment looked pretty in its half tearful embarrassment good that's all right we'll talk no more of it there was a brief silence dice gaze slowly about him his eyes fell on nothing of particular value nothing at all unusual in the drawing room of a small house of middle suburb type there were auto types and etchings and photographs there was good comfortable furniture the piano stood for more than mere ornament as mrs woolstand had some skill in music iris's widowhood was a five years duration at two and twenty she had married a government office clerk a man nearly twice her age exasperated by routine and lack of advancement on her part it was a marriage of generosity she did not love the man but was touched by his railing against fate and fancied she might be able to aid his ambitions woolstand talked about possible secretaries ship under the chief of his department he imagined himself gifted for diplomacy lacking only the chance to become a power in statecraft but when iris had given herself in her 600 a year she soon remarked a decline in her husband's aspiration presently woolstand began to complain of an ailment the result of arduous labor and of disillusion which might make it imperative for him to retire from the monotonous toil of the civil service before long he withdrew to a pleasant cottage in syria where he was to lead a studious life and compose a great political work the man had in fact an organic disorder which proved fatal to him before he could quite decide whether to write his book on fool's cap or on quarter paper mrs woolstand devoted herself to her child until when Leonard was nine she entrusted him to a tutor very highly spoken of by friends of hers a young oxford man capable not only of instructing the boy in the most efficient way but of training whatever force and originality his character might possess she paid 150 pounds a year for these invaluable services in itself not a large stipend but large in proportion to her income and iris had never grudged the expenditure for in dice lashmar she found not merely a tutor for her son but a director of her own mind and conscience under dice's influence she had read or tried to read many instructive books he had fostered guided elevated her native enthusiasm he had emancipated her soul these at all events were the terms in which iris herself was want to describe the result of their friendship and she was eminently a sincere woman ever striving to rise above the weakness the disingenuousness of her sex if you knew how it pains me she murmured stealing a glance at lashmar but of course it won't make any difference between us oh i hope not why should it said dice absently now i'll tell you something that has happened since i saw you last yes yes your own news oh i'm afraid it is something bad perhaps not i rather think i'm at a crisis in my life probably the crisis i shouldn't wonder if these things prove to have happened just at the right time my news is this things are going rather badly down at the vicarage there's serious diminution of income which i knew nothing about and the end of it is that i mustn't count on any more supplies they have no more money to spare for me you see i am thoroughly independent he laughed but mrs wool stan gazed at him in dismay oh oh how very serious what a dreadful thing poo not at all that's a very feminine way of talking i'm afraid it is i didn't mean to use such expressions but really what are you going to do that'll have to be thought about iris with fluttering bosom lean forward you'll talk it over with me you'll treat me as a real friend just like a man friend you know how often you have promised to i shall certainly ask your advice oh that's kind that's good of you we'll talk it over very seriously how many hours have they spent in what iris deemed serious conversation when dice stated through luncheon as he did about once a week the talk was often prolonged to tea time subjects of transcendent importance were discussed with the most hopeful amplitude mrs wool stan could not be satisfied with personal culture her conscience was uneasy about the destinies of mankind she took to herself the sorrows of the race and burned with zeal for the great causes of civilization vast theories were tossed about between them they surveyed the universe from the origin to the end of all things of course it was dice who led the way in speculation iris carded everything he propounded with breathless fervor and a resolute liberality of mind determined to be afraid of no hypothesis over the afternoons of endless talk iris felt that this was indeed to live the higher light by the by fell from lash mar musingly did you ever hear about lady ogrum i seem to know the name answered mrs wool stan's keenly attentive ogrum yes of course i've heard mrs top lady speaker for but i know nothing more who is she what about her a maid servant entered with the tea tray dice laid back in his chair gazing vacantly until his hostess offered him a cup of tea as he bent forward to take it his eyes for a moment dwelt with unusual intentness on the face and figure of iris wool stan then as he sipped he again grew absent minded iris too was absorbed in thought he was speaking of lady ogrum she resumed gently yes a friend of mine down at alvar home knows her very well and thought i might like to meet her i have think i should she lives at hollandford a rich old woman going in a good deal for social questions a widow no children who knows he added raising his eyebrows and looking straight at iris she might interest herself in in my view of things she might reply the listener as if overcoming a slight reluctance of course it all depends on her own views to be sure i know very little about her it's the vegas suggestion but you see i'm at the moment when any suggestion however vague has a possible value one point is certain i shan't take any more pupils without meaning it you have decided this question for me it's time i looked to other things i felt that exclaim as is wool stan her eyes brightening that was what decided me i see now that it was though perhaps i hardly understood myself at the time no more pupils it is time that your serious career began lashmar smiled nodding in reflective approval his eyes wandered with an upward tendency his lips twitched opportunity opportunity he murmured of course it will come i'm not afraid oh it will come chanted his companion only make yourself known to people of influence who can appreciate you that's it dice nodded again i must move about for the present i've read and thought enough now i have to make myself felt as a force mrs. wool stan gazed at him in a rapture of faith his countenance wore its transforming light he had passed into a dream of conquest by constitution very tempered in the matter of physical indulgence lashmar found exciting stimulus even in a cup of tea for the grosser drinks he had no palette wine easily overcame him tea and coffee were the chosen aids of his imagination yes i think i shall go down to hollingford who asked iris is the friend who promised to introduce you there was a scarcely perceptible pause before his reply a parson once my father's cure it he added vaguely a liberal minded man as so many parson's are nowadays iris was satisfied she gave the project her full approval and launched into forecast of possible issues but it's certain she said presently in a lower voice said after this i shall see very little of you you won't have time to come here if you think you are going to get quite rid of me so easily answered dice laughing his laugh seldom sounded altogether natural you're much mistaken but come now let us talk about len where are you going to send him has rybalt chosen a school during the conversation that father dice was but half attentive once and again his eyes fell upon mrs. wool stan with peculiar observancy not for the first time he was asking himself what might be the actual nature and extent of her pecuniary resources for he had never been definitely informed on that subject he did not face the question crudely but like a civilized man and a philosopher there were reasons why it should interest him just now he mused to on the question of mrs. wool stan's age regarding which he could arrive at but a vague conclusion sometimes he had taken her for hardly more than 30 sometimes he suspected her of all but 10 years more but after all what were these things to him the future beckoned and he persuaded himself that his promise was such as is set only before fortune's favorites before leaving he promised to come and lunch in a day or two for the purpose of saying goodbye to lenard yet what in truth did he care about the boy none it was a rather precocious child inclined to work his brain more than was good for a body often ailing now and then dice have been surprised into a feeling of kindly interest when len showed himself peculiarly bright but on the whole he was tired of his tutorial duties and not for a moment would regret the parting i'm sorry he said in a moved voice i hope to make a man of him after my own idea well well we shall often see each other again and who knows whether i may be of use to him someday what a fine sensibility he has together with his great intelligence was iris woolstand's comment in her own heart and she reproached herself for not having stood out against ryebolt as he walked away from the house dice wondered why he had told that lie about the friend at alva home would it not have been better from every point of view to speak plainly of conny bribe where was the harm he recognized in himself our torturous tendency not to be overcome by reflection and more or utilitarian resolve he could not much as he desired it be an entirely honest man his idea was honesty even as he had a strong prejudice in favor of personal cleanliness but occasionally he shirked the cold tub and in the same way he found it difficult at times to tell the truth end of chapter three chapter four of our friend the charlatan this is a libra vox recording all libra vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libra vox.org our friend the charlatan by george gissing chapter four in the morning he had a letter from mrs woolstand opening it hurriedly he was pleased but not surprised to discover a check folded in the note paper iris wrote that as a matter of course she wished to pay what was owing to him in respect of his tutorial engagement so abruptly brought to an end even between friends one must be business like you ought to have received out quarters notice and as it is now nearly the end of april you must allow me to reckon my debt as up to the quarter day in september if you say a word about it i shall be angry so no nonsense please the phrase underlined was a quotation from dice himself who often used it in serio joking tone when he had occasion to reprove mrs woolstand for some actor word which jarred with his system he was glad to have the check and knew quite well that he should keep it but a certain uneasiness hung about his mind all the morning dice had his ideal of manly independence it annoyed him that circumstances made the noble line of conduct so difficult he believed himself strong virile yet so often it happened that he was constrained to act in what seemed rather a feeble and undignified way but after all it was temporary the day of his emancipation from paltry necessities which surely come and all the great qualities latent in him would have ample scope plainly he must do something he could live for the next few months but after that had no resources to count upon such hopes as he had tried to connect with the name of lady ogrum might be the various dream but for the moment no suggestion offered in any other quarter it would be better perhaps to write to connie bride before going down to holling ford yes he would write to connie having breakfasted he stood idly at the window of his sitting room his lodgings were in upper woeburn place nearly opposite the church of st pancreas he had read he knew not where that the crowning portion of that remarkable edifice was modeled on the temple of the winds at Athens and as he gazed at it this morning he suffered from the thought of his narrow experience in travel a glimpse of the Netherlands a france of switzerland was all he could boast his income had only just covered his expenditure the holiday season always found him more or less embarrassed and unable to go far afield what can one do on a paltry 300 a year yet he regretted that he had not used a stricter economy he might have managed in cheaper rooms he might have done without this and the other little luxury to have traveled widely would now be of some use to him he gave a man a certain freedom in society added an octave to the compass of his discourse acquaintance with books did not serve the same end and though he read a good deal dice was tolerably aware that not by force of erudition could he look for advancement he began to perceive it as a misfortune that he had not earlier in life become clear as to the nature of his ambition until a couple of years ago he has scarcely been conscious of any aim at all for the literary impulses which used to inspire his talk with Connie Bride were merely such as stir in every youth of our time they had never got beyond talk and on fading away left him without intellectual motive now that he knew whether his desires and his abilities tended he was harassed by consciousness of imperfect equipment even academically he had not distinguished himself he had made no attempt at journalism he had not brought himself into useful contact with any political group all he could claim for encouragement was a personal something which drew attention especially the attention of women in circles of the liberal minded that is to say among people fond of talking more or less vaguely about very large subjects for talk he never found himself at a loss and his faculty in this direction certainly grew but as yet he had not discovered the sphere which was wholly sympathetic and at the same time fertile of opportunity among the many possibilities of life which lie before a young and intelligent man one never presented itself to Dice lash mars meditation that thought of simply earning his living by conscientious and useful work satisfied with whatever distinction might come to him in the natural order of things had never entered his mind every project he formed took for granted his unlaborious preeminence in a toiling world his natural superiority to mankind at large was with dice axiomatic if he used any other tone about himself he affected it merely to illicit contradiction if in a depressed mood he thought otherwise the reflection was so at conflict with his nature that it served only to strengthen his self-esteem when the shadow had passed the lodgings he occupied were just like any other for which a man pays 30 shillings a week though he had lived here for two or three years there was very little to show that the rooms did not belong to some quite ordinary person dice spent as little time at home as possible and always feeling that his abode in such poor quarters must be transitory he never troubled himself to increase their comfort or in any way to give character to his surroundings his library consisted only of some 50 volumes for he had never felt himself able to purchase books moody and the shelves of his club generally supplied him with all he needed the club of course was an indispensable luxury it gave him a west end address enabled him to have a friend to lunch or dine in decent circumstances without undue expense and supplied him with very good stationary for his correspondence moreover it pleasantly enlarged his acquaintance at the club he had got to know Lord dim church a month or two ago and this connection he did not undervalue his fellow members it is true were not for the most part men of the kind with whom dice greatly cared to talk as yet they did not seem much impressed with his conversational powers but Lord dim church promised to be an exception and of him dice had already a very high opinion after an hour or so of smoking amusing and mental vacillation he sat down to write his letter dear miss connie he began it was the name by which he addressed miss bright in the old days and it seemed good to him to preserve their former relations as far as possible for constants though a strange sort of girl nowadays decidedly cold and dry undeniably had brains and might still be capable of appreciating him yesterday i had to come back to town in a hurry owing to the receipt of some disagreeable news so of necessity i postponed my visit to hollingford it occurs to me that i had better ask whether you were serious in your suggestion that lady ogrum might be glad to make my acquaintance i know nothing whatever about her except what you told me on our walk to the station so cannot be sure whether she is likely to take any real interest in my ideas our time together was too short for me to explain my standpoint perhaps i'd better say a word or two about it now i am a socialist but not a social democrat democracy which for the rest has never existed i look upon as an absurdity condemned by all the teachings of modern science i am a socialist for i believe that the principle of association is the only principle of progress here he paused his pen suspended he was on the point of referring to the french book which he had read with so much profit of late in which now lay on the table before him it might interest constants she might like to know of it amused for some moments dipped his pen and wrote on but association means division of labor and that labor may be efficient there must be someone capable of directing it what the true socialism has to keep in view is a principle of justice in the balance of rights and duties between the few who lead in the multitude who follow in the history of the world hitherto the multitude has had less than its share the ruling classes have tyrannized at present it's pretty obvious that we're in danger of just the opposite excess demos begins to roar alarmingly and there'll be a poor look out for us if he gets all he wants what we need above all things is a reform in education we are teaching the people too much and too little the first duty of the state is to make citizens and that can only be done by making children understand from the beginning what is meant by citizenship when every child grows up in the knowledge that neither can the state exist without him nor he without the state that no individual can live for himself alone that every demand one makes upon one's fellow men carries with it a reciprocal obligation in other words when the principle of association of solidarity becomes a part of the very conscience we shall see a true state and a really progressive civilization i could point out to you the scientific biological and zoological facts which support this view but very likely your own knowledge will supply them he paused to smile that was a death touch constants he knew took pride in her scientific studies we shall talk all this over together i hope enough but present to show you where i stand is this attitude likely to recommend itself to lady ogrum do you think she would care to hear more about it write as soon as you have time and let me know your opinion on rereading his letter dice was troubled by only one reflection he had committed himself to a definite theory and should it jar with lady ogrum's way of thinking there would probably be little use in his going down to hollingford might he not have left the matter vague was it not enough to describe himself as a student of sociology in which case he did not follow out the argument neither did he care to dwell upon the fact that the views he had been summarizing were all taken straight from a book which he had just read he had thoroughly adopted them they exactly suited his temper and his mind always promising that he spoke as one of those called by his author lay elite and by no means as one of la fool indeed he was beginning to forget that he was not himself the originator of the biosociological theory of civilization economy being henceforth imposed upon him he lunched at home on a chop and a glass of ale in the early afternoon not knowing exactly how to spend his time he walked towards the busy streets and at length entered his club in the library said only one man sunk in an easy chair busyed with a book it was lord dim church at last march approach he looked up smiled and rose to take the offered hand i disturb you said dice there's no denying it was the pleasant answer but i am quite ready to be disturbed you know this of course he showed spences the man versus the state yes answered dice and i think is a mistake from beginning to end how so lord dim church was about 30 slight and build rather languid in his movements conventionally dressed but without any gloss or scrupulous finish and in manners peculiarly gentle his countenance naturally grave expressed the man of thought rather than of action its traits at the same time preserved curious youthfulness enhanced by the fact of his wearing neither mustache nor beard when he smiled it was with an almost boyish frankness irresistible in its appeal to the goodwill of the beholder yet the corners of his eyes were touched with the crow's foot and his hair began to be brindled tokens which had their confirmation on brow and lip as often as he lost himself in musing he had a soft voice habitually subdued his way of talking inclined to the quietly humorous and was as little self-assertive as man's talk can be but he kept his eyes fixed on anyone who conversed with him and that clear kindly gaze offered no encouragement to pretentiousness or any other idle characteristic dice lashmar it might have been noticed betrayed a certain deference before lord dim church and was not wholly at his ease however decidedly he spoke his accent lacked the imperturbable confidence which usually distinguished it the title itself i take to be meaningless but as replied to the others question how can there possibly be antagonism between the individual and the aggregate in which he is involved what rights or interests can a man possibly have which are apart from the rights and interests of the body politic without which he could not exist one might just as well suppose one of the cells which make up an organic body asserting himself against the body as a whole lord dim church reflected playing as he commonly did with a seal upon his watchguard that's suggestive he said dice might have gone on to say that the suggestion with reference to this very book of herbert spencers came from a french sociologist he had been reading but it did not seem to him worthwhile you look upon the state as an organism pursued lord dim church a mere analogy i suppose a scientific fact it's the final stage of evolution just as cells combine to form the physiological unit so do human beings combine to form the social political unit the state did it ever occur to you that the science of biology throws entirely new light on sociological questions the laws operating are precisely the same in one region as in the other a cell in itself is blind motion an aggregate of cells is a living creature a man by himself is only an animal with superior possibilities men associated produce reason civilization the body politic could reason ever have come to birth in a man alone lord dim church nodded amused from his look it was plain that lashmar interested in at the same time puzzled him in their previous conversations dice had talked more or less vaguely throwing out a suggestion here a criticism there and though with the error of one who had made up his mind on most subjects preserving an attitude of liberal skepticism today he seemed in the mood for precision and the coherence of his arguments did not fail to impress the listener his manner in reasoning had a directness an eagerness which seemed to declare fervid conviction as he went on from point to point his eyes gleamed and his chin quivered the unremarkable physiognomy was transformed as though from within illumined by unexpected radiance and invested with the beauty of intellectual ardor very apt for the contagion of such enthusiasm lord dim church showed in his smile that he was listening with pleasure yet he did not wholly yield himself to the speaker's influence one objection occurs to me he remarked averting his eyes for a moment the organic body is a thing finished and perfect granted that evolution goes on in the same way to form the body politic the process evidently is far from complete as you began by admitting won't the result depend on the nature and tendency of each being that goes to make up the whole and if that be so isn't it the business of the individual to assert his individuality so as to make the state that he's going to belong to the kind of state he would wish it to be i express myself very awkwardly not at all not at all in that sense individualism is no doubt part of the evolutionary scheme i quite agree with you what i object to is the idea conveyed in spencer's title that the man as a man can have interests or rights opposed to those of the state as a state your thorough individualist seems to me to lose sight of the fact that but for the existing degree of human association he simply wouldn't be here at all he speaks as if he had made himself and had the right to dispose of himself whereas it is society civilization the state call it what you will that has given him everything he possesses except his physical organs take a philosopher who prides himself on his detachment from vulgar cares and desires duties and troubles and looks down upon the world with pity or contempt suppose the world that is to say he is humankind revenged itself by refusing to have anything whatever to do with him however indirectly the philosopher would soon find himself detached with a vengeance and suppose it possible to go further than that suppose the despised world could demand back from him all it had given him through the course of ages to his ancestors in him behold mr philosopher literally up a tree a naked anthropoid with a brain just capable of supplying his stomach and perhaps of saving him from wild beasts lord dim church indulged a quiet mirth you've got hold of a very serviceable weapon he said stretching his legs before him and clasping his hands behind his head ifo one would gladly be convinced against individualism i'm afraid it's my natural point of view and i've been trying for a long time to get rid of that old atom go on with your idea about the organization of society what ultimate form do you suppose nature to be aiming at dice seemed to reflect for a moment he asked himself in fact whether lord dim church was at all likely to come upon that french work which pretty certainly he had not yet read the probability seems slight in any case cannot a theory be originated independently by two minds is i lighting up with the joy of clear demonstration to dice it was a veritable joy is narrow but acute mind ever tending to sharp cut system he displayed the biosociological fear in its whole scope more than interested and not a little surprised lord dim church followed carefully from point to point now and then approving with smile or not at the end he was leaning forward his hands grasping his ankles in his head nearly between his knees and so he remained for a minute when dice had ceased i like that he exclaimed at length the smile of voyage pleasure sunny upon his face there's something satisfying about it it sounds helpful help amid the confusing problems of life was what lord dim church continually sought in his private relations one of the most blameless of men he bore about with him a troubled conscience for he felt that he was living to himself alone whereas as a man and still more as a member of a privileged order he should have been justifying his existence and his position by some useful effort at three and twenty he had succeeded to the title and to very little else the family had long been in decline a lord dim church who died in the early part of the 19th century practically completed the ruin of his house by an attempt to form a utopia in canada and since then a rapid succession of ineffectual peers fruge cum sumer nati had steadily reduced the dignity of the name the present lord walter urban dirt gurney fallowfield found himself the inheritor of one small farm in the county of kent and a funded capital which produced less than a thousand a year his ancestral possessions are passed into other hands and accepting the kentish farmhouse lord dim church had not even a dwelling he could call his own two sisters were his surviving kin their portions being barely sufficient to keep them alive he applied to their use a great part of his own income unmarried and little likely to change their condition these ladies live together very quietly at our country house in summer set where their brother spent some months of every year with them for himself he had rooms at high gate grove not unpleasant lodgings in a picturesque old house where he kept the books which were indispensable to him and a few pictures which he had loved from boyhood all else that remained from the slow dim church rec was down in summer set he saw himself as one of the most useless of mortals for his sister's sake he would have been glad to make money and one way of doing so was always open to him he had but to lend his name to company promoters who again and again had sought him out with tempting proposals this however lord dim church disdained he was fastidious in matters of honor as on some points of taste for the same reason he remained unmarried a panelist peer in the attitude of wooing seemed to him ridiculous and in much danger of becoming contemptible loving the life of the country studious reserved he would have liked best of all to withdraw into some rustic hermitage and leave the world aside but this he looked upon as a temptation to be resisted there must be duties for him to discharge if only he could discover them so he kept up his old acquaintances and the rarely made new he strove to interest himself in practical things if perchance his opportunity might meet him by the way and always he did his best to obtain an insight into the pressing questions of the time though in truth of a very liberal mind he imagined himself a mass of prejudices his Norman blood considerably diluted it is true sometimes appeared to him as a hereditary taint constituting an intellectual perhaps a moral disability in certain moods he felt hopelessly out of touch with his age to anyone who spoke confidently and hopefully concerning human affairs lord dim church gave willing attention with dice last more he could not feel that he had much in common but this rather locationist young men certainly possessed brains and might have an inkling of truths not easily arrived at today at all events last Mars talk seemed full of matter and it was nonetheless acceptable to Lord dim church because of its anti-democratic tenor not long ago he remarked quietly I was reading Marcus Aurelius you will remember that the idea of the community of human interest runs through all his thought you often insist that a man is nothing apart from the society belongs to and that the common good should be our first rule in conduct when you were speaking about individualism a sentence of his came into my mind what is not good for the be hide cannot be good for the be yes yes cried dicey glee thank you very much for reminding me I'd quite forgotten it they were no longer alone in the library two other men had strolled in and were seated reading on this account lord dim church subdued his voice even more than usual for he had a horror of appearing to talk potentially or of talking at all when his words might fall upon in different years respectful of this recognized characteristic lash mark turned the conversation for a minute to lighter themes then rose and moved away he felt that he had made an impression that Lord dim church thought more of him than hitherto and this sent him forth in buoyant mood that evening economy disregarded he dined well at a favorite restaurant on the third day after posting his letter to Constance bright he received her reply it was much longer than he had expected beginning with a rather formal expression of interest in dice's views Constance went on to say that she had already spoken of him to lady ogrum who would be very glad to make his acquaintance he might call it ribbon oak whenever he liked lady ogrum generally had a short drive in the morning but in the afternoon she was always at home the state of her health did not allow her to move much her eyes for bad much reading consequently talk with interesting people was one of her chief resources i say with interesting people and use the word advisedly anything that does not interest her she will not endure being frankness itself she says exactly what she thinks without the least regard for others feelings if talk is or seems to her doll she declares that she has had enough of it i don't think there is any need to warn you of this but it may be as well that you should know it whilst i am writing i had better mention one or two other peculiarities of lady ogrum at the first glance you will see that she is an invalid but woe to you if you show that you see it she insists on being treated by everyone i suppose her doctor accepted but i'm not sure as if she were in perfect health you will probably hear her make plans for drives rides even long walks about the country and something more than mere good breeding must rule your features as you listen occasionally her speech is indistinct you must manage never to miss a word she says she is slightly very slightly deaf you must speak in your natural voice yet never obliged her to be in doubt as to what you say she likes her respectful manner but if it is overdone the indiscretion soon receives a startling reproof be as easy as you like in her presence provided that your ease is natural if it strikes lady ogrum as a self assertion beware the lash from time to time she will permit herself a phrase or an exclamation which reminds one that her birth was not precisely aristocratic but don't imagine that anyone else is allowed to use a too racy vernacular you must guard your expressions and the choice they are the better she is pleased as you may wish to speak of politics i will tell you that until a year or two ago lady ogrum was a strong conservative she is now on the liberal side perhaps for the simple reason that she has quarreled with the conservative member of hollandford mr rob a need not go into the details of the affair sufficient that the name of rob excites her fury and that it is better to say nothing about the man at all unless you know something distinctly to his disadvantage and in that case you must take your chance of being dealt with as a culminator or a sycophant all depends on lady ogrum's mood of the moment detesting mr rob she naturally aims at ousting him from his parliamentary seat and no news could be more acceptable to her than that of a possible change in the political temper of hollandford the town is Tory from of old mr rob is sitting in his second parliament and doubtless hopes to enter a third but he is nearly 70 years old and we hear that his constituents would not be sorry if he gave place to a more active man the hope that hollandford may turn liberal does not seem to me to be very well founded and yet i don't regard the thing as an impossibility lady ogrum has persuaded herself that a thoroughly good man might carry the seat that man she is continually seeking and she carries on a correspondence on the subject with party leaders whips caucus directors in all manner of such folk if she lives until the next general election heaven and earth will be moved against mr rob and i believe she would give a half of her substance to anyone who defeated him this epistle calls the commotion in lash mar's mind the last paragraph opened before him a vista of brilliant imaginings he read at times innumerable day and night he could think of nothing else was not here the occasion for which he had been waiting had not fortune turned a shining face upon him if only he had still been in enjoyment of his 300 a year there indeed was a troublesome reflection he thought of writing to his father of laying before him the facts of his position and asking seriously whether some financial arrangement could not be made which would render him independent for a year or two another thought occurred to him but he did not care to dwell upon it for the present 24 hours consideration decided him to go down to hollandford without delay when he had talked with lady ogrum he would be in a better position for making up his mind as to the practical difficulty which beset him he esteemed it very friendly on connie bryde's part to have written such a letter of advice why had she taken the trouble notwithstanding the coldness of her language connie plainly had his interests at heart and gave no little thought to him this was agreeable but no matter of surprise it never surprised lash mar that anyone should regard him as a man of importance and he felt the pleasant conviction that the boyish landering of years ago would stand him in good stead now that he understood what was due to women and to himself end of chapter four