Adventure stories; Fantasy fiction, English; Quatermain, Allan (Fictitious character) -- Fiction
I remember the name, because it seemed to me that I had never seen
anyone who looked much less savage. In truth, his appearance was that
of a duke in disguise, as I imagine dukes to be, for I never set eyes
on one. His dress—he wore a black morning cut-away coat—was faultless.
His manners were exquisite, polite to the verge of irony, but with a
hint of haughty pride in the background. He was handsome also, with a
fine nose and a hawk-like eye, while a touch of baldness added to the
general effect. His age may have been anything between thirty-five and
forty, and the way he deprived me of my hat and stick, to which I
strove to cling, showed, I thought, resolution of character. Probably,
I reflected to myself, he considers me an unusual sort of person who
might damage the pictures and other objects of art with the stick, and
not seeing his way how to ask me to give it up without suggesting
suspicion, has hit upon the expedient of taking my hat also.
In after days Mr. Samuel Savage informed me that I was quite right in
this surmise. He said he thought that, judging from my somewhat
unconventional appearance, I might be one of the dangerous class of
whom he had been reading in the papers, namely, a “hanarchist.” I write
the word as he pronounced it, for here comes the curious thing. This
man, so flawless, so well instructed in some respects, had a fault
which gave everything away. His h’s were uncertain. Three of them would
come quite right, but the fourth, let us say, would be conspicuous
either by its utter absence or by its unwanted appearance. He could
speak, when describing the Ragnall pictures, in rotund and flowing
periods that would scarcely have disgraced the pen of Gibbon. Then
suddenly that “h” would appear or disappear, and the illusion was over.
It was like a sudden shock of cold water down the back. I never
discovered the origin of his family; it was a matter of which he did
not speak, perhaps because he was vague about it himself; but if an
earl of Norman blood had married a handsome Cockney kitchenmaid of
native ability, I can quite imagine that Samuel Savage might have been
a child of the union. For the rest he was a good man and a faithful
one, for whom I have a high respect.
On this occasion he conducted us round the castle, or, rather, its more
public rooms, showing us many treasures and, I should think, at least
two hundred pictures by eminent and departed artists, which gave him an
opportunity of exhibiting a peculiar, if somewhat erratic, knowledge of
history. To tell the truth, I began to wish that it were a little less
full in detail, since on a December day those large apartments felt
uncommonly cold. Scroope and Miss Manners seemed to keep warm, perhaps
with the inward fires of mutual admiration, but as I had no one to
admire except Mr. Savage, a temperature of about 35 degrees produced
its natural effect upon me.
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account