England -- Social life and customs -- 20th century -- Fiction; Mate selection -- Fiction; Young women -- Fiction
As all antiquarians know, Upwell Castle consists of two wings and a kind
of centrepiece joining two civilizations and two divergent schools of
architecture. The right wing is Tudor, and ruined; the left is
Georgian, and habitable; the centre is nondescript and pseudo-Palladian.
It cost a great deal to keep up, and nothing could keep it from falling
down. Penelope’s mother fell in love with it on first sight, and fell
out with her husband about the price. Its value has fallen since then,
for landed property is the only stable thing which always falls. There
were pictures in it that connoisseurs gloated over, and some that
picture-cleaners had restored till they were as valuable as a Gothic
cathedral brought up to date by a resurrected Vandal. There were
carvings by Grinling Gibbons to be seen, and some that were not by
Grinling Gibbons. There were some rooms decorated by Adams that would
have made Adam ill. There was an oak staircase there that a thousand
intoxicated noblemen had fallen down; there was another that no sober
gentleman could go up. It was ruinous, romantic, and rat-haunted;
tapestry waved in its corridors, ghosts loved its precincts; there was a
room stained with something that the servants said was blood, and that
the skeptical averred to be port wine. The only thing against the
latter theory was that the dining-room was not stained, though some said
it had been so flooded all over that nothing showed. It was a
delightful place, and Penelope never stayed there. Miss Mackarness did,
but then she was a Scotchwoman, and didn’t count. Bob adored it, but
then Bob was Bob, and nothing could change him.
"I’ll fix this all up," said Bob, "and make her happy. She’s silly.
I’ll blow the gaff, as Baker says. She’s up-stairs now, crying her eyes
out, and making the baby bellow."
He wandered about the grounds, and wondered where Mary and Bunting and
Miss Mackarness were.
"Silly fools!" said Bob; "the idea of being afraid of going in a
motor-car. By Jove, I wonder what’s become of my man at Spilsborough!
I suppose those people in Regent Street think I’ve stolen the car. What
fun!"
He explored the ruined wing, and ruined it a little more, and came out
again into the Queen Anne garden.
"By Jove, I do wish I knew where they all were!" he said. "I wonder
what granny is doing. Is she having fits, and Dr. Lumsden Griff to look
after ’em? I think Griff’s a soft-soapy ass. He says, ’Well, how are
we this morning?’ By Jove, all the rest of ’em will have fits, too.
They will be sick. But I’m glad they’re out of it. I wonder where Lord
Bradstock is. He’ll pull my wig when he sees me. And the bishop!
Well, he’s not a bad old boy. I rather like bishops, but their legs are
queer. By Jove, but it’s fun having skipped and done them! If they
ever get to Spilsby and find us gone, they’ll be mad!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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