A Man Could Stand Up - Ford Madox Ford [95]
She felt...nakedish, at her left side. Sure enough Tietjens was gone. He had taken McKechnie to shave. The man with the eyeglass looked critically round the shouting room. He fixed her and bore towards her. He stood over, his legs wide apart. He said:
'Hullo! Who'd have thought of seeing you here? Met you at the Prinsep's. Friend of friend Hun's, aren't you?'
He said:
'Hullo, Aranjuez Better?'
It was like a whale speaking to a shrimp: but still more like an uncle speaking to a favourite nephew! Aranjuez blushed with sheer pleasure. He faded away as if in awe before tremendous eminences. For him she too was an eminence. His life-hero's...woman!
The V.C. was in the mood to argue about politics. He always was. She had met him twice during evenings at friends' called Prinsep. She had not known him because of his eyeglasses: he must have put that up along with his ribbon. It took your breath away: like a drop of blood illuminated by a light that never was.
He said:
'They say you're receiving for Tietjens! Who'd have thought it? you a pro-German, and he such a sound Tory. Squire of Groby and all, eh what?'
He said:
'Know Groby?' He squinted through his glasses round the room. 'Looks like a mess this...Only needs the Vie Parisienne and the Pink Un...Suppose he has moved his stuff to Groby. He'll be going to live at Groby, now. The war's over!'
He said:
'But you and old Tory Tietjens in the same room...By Jove the war's over...The lion lying down with the lamb's nothing...' he exclaimed 'Oh, damn! Oh, damn, damn, damn...I say...I didn't mean it...Don't cry. My dear little girl. My dear Miss Wannop. One of the best I always thought you. You don't suppose...'
She said:
'I'm crying because of Groby...It's a day to cry on anyhow...You're quite a good sort, really!'
He said:
'Thank you! Thank you! Drink some more port! He's a good fat old beggar, old Tietjens. A good officer!' He added: 'Drink a lot more port!'
He had been the most asinine, creaking, 'what about your king and country', shocked, outraged and speechless creature of all the many who for years had objected to her objecting to men being unable to stand up...Now he was a rather kind brother!
They were all yelling.
'Good old Tietjens! Good old Fat Man! Pre-war Hooch! He'd be the one to get it.' No one like Fat Man Tietjens! He lounged at the door; easy; benevolent. In uniform now. That was better. An officer, yelling like an enraged Redskin, dealt him an immense blow behind the shoulder blades. He staggered, smiling, into the centre of the room. An officer pushed her into the centre of the room. She was against him. Khaki encircled them. They began to yell and to prance, joining hands. Others waved the bottles and smashed underfoot the glasses. Gipsies break glasses at their weddings. The bed was against the wall. She did not like the bed to be against the wall. It had been brushed by...
They were going round them: yelling in unison: 'Over here! Porn Pom! Over here! Porn Porn! That's the word, that's the word. Over here...
At least they weren't over there! They were prancing. The whole world round them was yelling and prancing round. They were the centre of unending roaring circles. The man with the eyeglass had stuck a half-crown in his other eye. He was well-meaning. A brother. She had a brother with the V.C. All in the family.
Tietjens was stretching out his two hands from the waist. It was incomprehensible. His right hand was behind her back, his left in her right hand. She was frightened. She was amazed. Did you ever! He was swaying slowly. The elephant! They were dancing! Aranjuez was hanging on to the tall woman like a kid on a telegraph pole. The officer who had said he had picked up a little bit of fluff...well, he had! He had run out and fetched it. It wore white cotton gloves and