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The Poems and Prose of Ernest Dowson, With a Memoir by Arthur SymonsDowson, Ernest Christopher

General

The Poems and Prose of Ernest Dowson, With a Memoir by Arthur Symons

Name: The Poems and Prose of Ernest Dowson, With a Memoir by Arthur Symons
Author: Dowson, Ernest Christopher

Dowson, Ernest Christopher

Authors, English; English poetry

'What is to be done?' cried Lady Greville in perplexity. 'I cannot 
have the girl here as well, and I will not let my Phoenix go.'

'Send her to the Sœurs de la Misericorde,' said the young man 
carelessly; 'you have a nomination.'

'Have I?' said Lady Greville, with a laugh. 'I am sure I did not know 
it. It is an excellent idea; but do you think he will come without the 
other? I suppose they were like brother and sister?'

'Look at him now,' said Felix, pointing to where I stood caressing the 
precious wood; 'he would sell his soul for that fiddle.'

Lady Greville took the hint. 'Here, Anton,' said she, 'I cannot have 
Ninette here--you understand, once and for all. But I will see that 
she is sent to a kind home, where she will want for nothing and be 
trained up as a servant. You need not bother about her. You will live 
with me and be taught, and some day, if you are good and behave, you 
shall go and see Ninette.'

I was irresolute, but I only said doggedly, feeling what would be the 
end, 'I do not want to come, if Ninette may not.'

Then Lady Greville played her trump card.

'Look, Anton,' she said, 'you see that violin. I have no need, I see, 
to tell you its value. If you will come with me and make no scene, you 
shall have it for your very own. Ninette will be perfectly happy. Do 
you agree?'

I looked at my old fiddle, lying on the floor. How yellow and trashy 
it looked beside the grand old Cremona, bedded in its blue velvet.

'I will do what you like, Madame,' I said.

'Human nature is pretty much the same in geniuses and dullards,' said 
Felix. 'I congratulate you, Auntie.'

And so the bargain was struck, and the new life entered upon that very 
day. Lady Greville sought out Ninette at once, though I was not 
allowed to accompany her.

I never saw Ninette again. She made no opposition to Lady Greville's 
scheme. She let herself be taken to the Orphanage, and she never 
asked, so they said, to see me again.

'She's a stupid little thing,' said Lady Greville to her nephew, on 
her return, 'and as plain as possible; but I suppose she was kind to 
the boy. They will forget each other now I hope. It is not as if they 
were related.'

'In that case they would already be hating each other. However, I am 
quite sure your protégé will forget soon enough; and, after all, you 
have nothing to do with the girl.'

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

The Poems and Prose of Ernest Dowson, With a Memoir by Arthur SymonsDowson, Ernest Christopher

General

The Poems and Prose of Ernest Dowson, With a Memoir by Arthur Symons

Dowson, Ernest Christopher

Authors, English; English poetry

'What is to be done?' cried Lady Greville in perplexity. 'I cannot 
have the girl here as well, and I will not let my Phoenix go.'

'Send her to the Sœurs de la Misericorde,' said the young man 
carelessly; 'you have a nomination.'

'Have I?' said Lady Greville, with a laugh. 'I am sure I did not know 
it. It is an excellent idea; but do you think he will come without the 
other? I suppose they were like brother and sister?'

'Look at him now,' said Felix, pointing to where I stood caressing the 
precious wood; 'he would sell his soul for that fiddle.'

Lady Greville took the hint. 'Here, Anton,' said she, 'I cannot have 
Ninette here--you understand, once and for all. But I will see that 
she is sent to a kind home, where she will want for nothing and be 
trained up as a servant. You need not bother about her. You will live 
with me and be taught, and some day, if you are good and behave, you 
shall go and see Ninette.'

I was irresolute, but I only said doggedly, feeling what would be the 
end, 'I do not want to come, if Ninette may not.'

Then Lady Greville played her trump card.

'Look, Anton,' she said, 'you see that violin. I have no need, I see, 
to tell you its value. If you will come with me and make no scene, you 
shall have it for your very own. Ninette will be perfectly happy. Do 
you agree?'

I looked at my old fiddle, lying on the floor. How yellow and trashy 
it looked beside the grand old Cremona, bedded in its blue velvet.

'I will do what you like, Madame,' I said.

'Human nature is pretty much the same in geniuses and dullards,' said 
Felix. 'I congratulate you, Auntie.'

And so the bargain was struck, and the new life entered upon that very 
day. Lady Greville sought out Ninette at once, though I was not 
allowed to accompany her.

I never saw Ninette again. She made no opposition to Lady Greville's 
scheme. She let herself be taken to the Orphanage, and she never 
asked, so they said, to see me again.

'She's a stupid little thing,' said Lady Greville to her nephew, on 
her return, 'and as plain as possible; but I suppose she was kind to 
the boy. They will forget each other now I hope. It is not as if they 
were related.'

'In that case they would already be hating each other. However, I am 
quite sure your protégé will forget soon enough; and, after all, you 
have nothing to do with the girl.'

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

The Poems and Prose of Ernest Dowson, With a Memoir by Arthur Symons

The Poems and Prose of Ernest Dowson, With a Memoir by Arthur Symons

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