The master of St. Benedict's, Vol. 1 (of 2) — John Shaqi
The master of St. Benedict's, Vol. 1 (of 2)St. Aubyn, Alan
General
The master of St. Benedict's, Vol. 1 (of 2)
St. Aubyn, Alan
Cambridge (England) -- Fiction; School principals -- Fiction; Students -- Fiction
'I saw the Master as I came up,' he said, speaking to Mary; 'he had
just finished his nap. He asked me to tell you that he was quite ready
to take a turn in the garden, if you would put on your hat. I think you
should go at once to catch the sunshine. You'll get it on the broad
walk if you go now.'
Mary rose at once.
'It is lucky I have finished my work,' she said, glancing down at the
little pile of letters, sealed and stamped ready for the post, that lay
on the table. 'Poor little Lucy here was telling me about her plans.
If you can spare time, Mr. Colville, sit down and talk them over with
her, and advise her what she ought to do, while I am in the garden.'
The Senior Tutor could spare time; and after he had opened the door for
Mary, he came back to the window that overlooked the garden and sat
down.
He did not belong to the old school of Cambridge Dons. He belonged
to that newer school that came in a quarter of a century ago with
athletics. He was not lean and hollow-eyed, and wrinkled and yellow,
like a musty old parchment, and he hadn't a stoop in his shoulders,
and he didn't drag one of his legs behind him. He had rowed 'five'
in his college boat, and his shoulders were as square now as ever.
His shoulders were square, and his forehead was square, and his
iron-gray hair was closely cut--it was only iron-gray still--and he had
tremendous bushy eyebrows that, Lucy thought, made him look like an
ogre, and that frightened the undergraduates dreadfully, and close-cut
iron-gray whiskers, and a big red throat like a bull. His throat had
not always been red; he had been mild-looking enough in his youth;
but he was now a portly, pompous Don of middle age, with a florid
countenance and fierce aspect.
'Well,' he said in his easy, patronizing way, as if he were speaking to
a freshman who had just come up, 'and what do you propose to do, Miss
Lucy?'
The colour went out of the girl's cheeks, and the long eyelashes
drooped over her eager eyes, and her pretty little slender figure grew
limp, and she didn't look the least like making a speech now.
'I am sure I don't know,' she said meekly, and she went back and sat on
her old seat in the window on the opposite side to the Senior Tutor. It
was a big bay-window, and there was a table between them littered with
pamphlets and manuscripts in Semitic languages. The girl tossed them
over as she sat there with a gesture of impatience. They were sealed
books to her.
'What were you discussing with your cousin Ma--ry when I came in?'
He lingered over the name, and prolonged the last syllable. He seemed
loath to let it go.
'I was telling her that I should like to go to a woman's college--to
Newnham or Girton.'
'Exactly.'
The Tutor nodded his head. He was listening to the girl, but he was
looking out of the window.
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