Boarding schools -- England -- Fiction; University of Oxford -- Fiction
Games were a success because they were taken seriously. Mr Berrisford
asserted that if he must waste time in that particular way he meant to
do it properly. So they all exercised great ardour and ingenuity,
composed pretty rhymes, and drew the strangest pictures. At the end he
insisted, however, that instead of taking famous men beginning with C,
they should have infamous people. The test of infamy was to be a
referendum. The game began well enough, because no opposition was
raised to such people as Cicero or Christopher Columbus. But the
inclusion of both Cromwell and Charles I. caused a heated argument and
Cartmell was sure that they couldn't both be on one black list.
But Mr Berrisford exposed the crimes of both at great length. Crippen
and Calvin both had defenders and the game at last broke up in
confusion.
Martin enjoyed the evening, partly from vanity (he had done some quite
clever things), and partly because he could watch Viola Cartmell
without being noticed. To watch her was heavenly. There was nothing
subtle or analytic in his adoration: for him there was just an
indivisible whole called Viola. And that was perfect.
At eleven Robert declared that he still had some of the Ethics left and
retired to find out about the contemplative life. Mr Berrisford took
Godfrey Cartmell to smoke a cigar in his study and the rest prepared to
go to bed.
Martin went to his room and then came back and lingered by the
staircase window. As he looked out he could see a solid line of
fir-trees standing out with black severity against the moonlit sky, and
farther away was the long shoulder of the moor--he could see the ridge
they had climbed together and the rough peak which broke its symmetry
and made its splendour.
Someone was coming up. It could only be Viola: the Berrisfords slept
on the other side of the house.
It was she. Trembling, he heard the rustling of her skirts, the
creaking of the stairs, her voice by his side.
"Hullo!" she said. "Star-gazing?"
"It's a great night," he answered.
She came and stood at the window. The closeness of her thrilled him.
"I wish those owls wouldn't hoot," she said. "Is that the ridge we
climbed?"
"Yes. I did enjoy the walk."
"So did I! The air up there is so splendid. And it's all so
gorgeously empty."
"I've been up before. But I enjoyed it much more this time."
Naturally she did not take it as he meant it.
"One doesn't often get such a perfect day, I suppose," was her answer.
Martin was at a loss. He wanted to say all sorts of things:
fortunately they stuck.
She turned to go: "I'm sure you'll have a good time at Oxford and make
the most of it!"
"Thank you very much. Everyone does seem to enjoy it."
"Good-night!" she said, and left him to go to her room. The door
closed behind with a sharpness that hurt.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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