Next to it was an antique-shop. I looked at all the worthless little things and then walked on. I was almost light-hearted. I had no problem to solve before night came. I knew where I was going to sleep.
I did not go back until tea-time. My cousin was in the drawingroom. She handed me a cup and I sat down on the sofa. Queen Alexandra had sat on it, I had been told when I first came to visit my cousin. I remembered it now and thought of the Queen’s high jewelled collars and her complexion, perfect as one of her own imitation roses.
My cousin was asking me what I wanted to do in life. I said that I was interested in history and architecture, and that I liked drawing and painting. The words made me feel embarrassed.
She listened quietly, then said: “Tomorrow we’ll get Miss Billings to drive us to some of the art schools.”
I felt very grateful; my cousin seemed to be taking it for granted that I should not go back to school.
We began to talk about the things in her room. She despised the white marble mantelpiece, saying that the carved plants were ugly and unnatural. In a rosewood cabinet there were Dresden cups and saucers, but they were not very old; they had been used by her mother. On one side of the fireplace was a signed photograph of Queen Alexandra, and on the other a pretty, old engraving of Queen Victoria with roses in her hair. She looked like a ballet dancer with her wide eyes, pointed chin and bare shoulders.
I was told that Wills would make up a bed for me here, in the drawing-room, as the spare room was being used by my cousin’s brother Stanley.
I was glad; I thought how comfortable it would be by the fire, amongst all the drawing-room things.
I tried not to think of tomorrow when my aunt and brother would arrive.
I went upstairs to wash, and spent a little time trying to make myself as clean as possible. I had worn my clothes for nearly a week now and felt very dirty. When I came down again to wait for dinner there was another man in the drawing-room. I had never met Stanley before, he was a soldier in India. He was very polite but he did not understand why I was there. I sat down, not knowing what to say, while he drank whisky-and-soda.
My cousin May arrived, and being much too kind and tactful to explain in front of me, only said, “Stanley, this is Denton; he’s come to spend a few days with us.”
Dinner was constrained. We none of us knew what to talk about. Afterwards I retreated upstairs and hoped that my cousin would tell her brother about me. ,
When I came down again I heard him laughing softly. I hated it. I knew he was laughing at me. It was like laughing at someone who had tried to commit suicide, I thought.
Wills woke me in the morning, bringing with her a cup of weak tea.
“It’s eight o’clock, Master Denton, the bath is quite free and I shall want to do this room,” she said, all in one breath. I could not ignore such a hint. I drank the tea quickly and got up.
Stanley’s pyjamas dragged on the floor and I had drooping sleeves, like a Chinese court lady, but I liked the fine pale blue wool and the dark red initials on the pocket.
The drawing-room was looking rather outraged. A heap of tousled bed-clothes on Queen Alexandra’s sofa seemed somehow insulting. I left it and walked up the white stairs. The bathroom was still steaming from someone else’s bath.
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