“I’m afraid most of the other houses with memories of him have been
pulled down, but before we leave Fleet Street let us go into the church
where Sunday after Sunday he worshipped. You know St. Clement Danes?
Here it is, standing in the middle of the road near to the Temple—one
of the seventeenth-century churches built after the Fire.”
They entered, and Betty followed her Godmother up into the gallery
where a tablet on a certain pew near the pulpit, marked Dr. Johnson’s
seat.
“It’s interesting to know just where he sat,” Betty said, as they left
the church. “Is the next place we’re going to, hidden away like Gough
Square, Godmother?”
“Far from it. I’m going to take you now to the Adelphi, to which
business people who have offices there, go every day.”
“The Adelphi? That’s a turning out of the Strand, isn’t it?”
“Yes. Have you ever asked what the name means?”
Betty shook her head.
“Does it sound to you like an English name?”
“_Adelphi_,” Betty repeated. “No, it doesn’t. What language is it?”
“Greek. It’s the Greek word for _brothers_.”
By this time the car had turned up a street near Charing Cross Station,
and was moving slowly past lines of houses which Betty recognized as
belonging to the eighteenth century.
“Look at the name of that street,” said Godmother, pointing to it.
“Durham House Street,” Betty read.
“Well now, remember the Strand as we saw it by magic about the time
of Elizabeth, when stately houses surrounded by gardens, stood facing
the river. Just here, where we are driving through these streets of
eighteenth-century houses, stood Durham House, where Lady Jane Grey was
born. We saw it, if you remember, when we were in Queen Elizabeth’s
reign. That accounts for the name _Durham House Street_ which you’ve
just seen. But it doesn’t account for names like Adam Street, and James
Street, does it?” As she spoke, Godmother was pointing to them as they
appeared written up on the walls of corner houses. “I’ll explain about
that in a minute, when you’ve looked at this beautiful place we’re
coming to, called Adelphi Terrace.”
They had turned into a broad road, open on one side to the river, and
lined on the other side by a row of stately houses with delicately
ornamented flat pillars, against the walls.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account