John Oliver Hobbes

“ His nose and chin suit the rest of him well enough, and there may be a sort of—well, classic grace about his head."
"I didn't notice all that," said Agatha, softly.
"I was sitting next to him, you must remember," said Cynthia, with a cold voice and hot cheeks.
"Well," said Lady Theodosia, "at any rate he seems a pleasant, gentlemanly man, and, I should say, very easy to amuse. It is an immense comfort to find that he is an ordinary mortal with the usual tastes. I wonder if he likes marrow-bones—we might have them for luncheon to-morrow." ”

“ Agatha opened her china-blue eyes and wondered whether she ought not to mention the French poodle and the bishop.
"I don't think I like him," said Cynthia; "he has a way of speaking meekly and looking aggressive. I wonder if he is conceited."
"My dear," said the Rector, " I never saw a man—a man, that is to say, of his ability—who was less of the egoist."
"At all events," said Cynthia, "you must own he is hard to get at. I believe he has a pasha-like contempt for women." ”

“ In Cynthia's case he began to fear that this bewitching characteristic was entirely absent.
"I see you are a cynic," he said.
"Oh no," she said, quickly, "I haven't got a label. I'm afraid I'm too much guided by what somebody—I forget who—calls a 'feeling in the bones,' to make a pretence to the feeblest kind of philosophy." Then she sighed. "Don't you think," she said, with an expression of touching simplicity, "it would be much easier to be good if we left everything to our instincts? Reason—what learned people call reason—seems so much more artificial." ”

“ In common with many who are wise by profession and not a few who are similarly gifted by nature, Provence's wisdom was of far greater service to his friends—when they would avail themselves of it—than to himself. His discernment in reading character, which belonged rather to an almost feminine instinct than to academic logic, and was part of his literary faculty, was completely overbalanced in the case of Cynthia by the strong personal magnetism she had possessed for him from the first. ”

“ The Rector looked confused, and dipped his pen with immense energy into the ink-pot. "But Aunt Theodosia has asked me to tell you that she has heard from Lady Cargill, and they are all coming."
"What on earth shall I wear?" said Cynthia. "I wonder whether I can make something between now and seven."
"Your clothes are always in such sad need of repair," said Agatha. "If you remember, I begged you to get a new dinner-dress weeks ago. I think, though, we need not trouble papa with these small matters." ”

“ I should never call you a good judge of faces, Agatha. He probably feels too much— not too little. There is a feminine sensitiveness about his mouth."
"I understood you to say his mouth was weak, when we were talking after dinner." Cynthia was certainly provoking.
"Is not feminine sensitiveness something like weakness in a man?" said Cynthia. ”

“ To begin with, she, too, had idiosyncrasies, and it is assuredly more difficult to maintain one's equanimity in argument with a young woman whose chief aim in discussion is to prove that somebody, though not herself, must be a fool, than with an intelligent, well-read lady who squeaks musically with touching self-effacement under the colossal mask of Carlyle or Browning.
"That Provence is a very decent fellow," said the Rector, when the Cargills had departed, Provence had been shown to his room, and Lady Theodosia had retired to her bed; "he is a great improvement on his father." ”

“ In case he's a trifle dull, I have asked the Cargills to come as well."
"Edward is so dull himself," said Cynthia.
"I don't know so much about that," said the Rector. "Edward is a man of sound common sense and good-wearing, everyday ability. I have always thought you were too severe in your judgment of Edward."
Mr. Heathcote, in spite of his touch for Chopin and fine eye for water-colours, was sufficiently of this world to see that it would not be altogether amiss if Cynthia could be brought to regard with some kindness the son of his neighbour Sir James Cargill. ”

“ What a thing it is to be an unlearned woman!" Lady Theodosia had many methods in conversation; the artless and ignorant style she found most useful for the subjection of Elderly Science. Provence was not elderly—she was not altogether certain that he was scientific, but she classed him among abnormals, and from her point of view it came to the same thing. "One point," she said to herself, "is a blessing. Neither of the girls could fancy a man who wore such shoes," so she left him with Cynthia and turned to Lady Cargill. ”

“ In despair he left them together and turned to Agatha, who certainly looked extremely well in black lace and yellow roses.
"I feel I ought to ask you," she said, "whether you found your journey down very tiresome. Our train-service is so bad, and I always think that unnecessary waste of time almost amounts to physical suffering if one has an active mind. I hope you provided yourself with books." She had gathered from Cynthia's random remarks made in the intervals of dressing for dinner that Mr. Provence was a writer and probably learned. ”

“ Her skin—for a woman who owned to two and forty—was remarkably clear and fine.
"Who is the man?" said Cynthia.
"His name is Provence. I have heard of the creature—he is an Egyptologist [1] , or a Dissenter [2] , or something equally disagreeable. Heaven knows what the wretch talks about! I wonder if your father has a short, condensed sort of thing about Egypt in his library—one of those convenient books you can get up in half an hour. I cannot imagine what Percival sees in these learned, uncomfortable people—one never knows what to give them for dinner, they have such miserable digestions.... ”

“ A man of strong will would have struggled longer against her fascination. The mischief in her eyes died away—she felt dissatisfied with human nature. But as she approached Provence she saw that his expression was cold, even stern ”

“ Life to her was a series of situations in which she invariably figured as the heroine—a heroine who was always charming and graceful, with feeling enough to be interesting but not enough to be tiresome. ”

“ And Lady Theodosia had carefully mentioned in her note that the new man was an Egyptologist. Egypt was plainly the topic of all others for general discussion. He commenced with a loud cough: "Now as to the Egyptians!" he began. The company looked bewildered but attentive. "Now as to the Egyptians. They are an interesting race, if you like." Here he looked at Provence and smiled encouragingly. "I can fully understand a man devoting his life and energy to a close study of their immense Past. ”

“ Notes ↑ An Egyptologist is any archaeologist, historian, linguist, or art historian who specializes in the scientific study of Ancient Egypt and its antiquities. ↑ English Dissenters were Christians who separated from the Church of England in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. ↑ A rector is one type of parish priest.↑ A sermon is an oration by a member of the clergy.↑ In the Bible, Jesus is referred to as a shepherd, and his followers are compared to a flock of sheep or lambs. ”

“ In the third century, Plotinus fused Platonism with mysticism, and proposed that the One or the Good is the source of all things, and that the soul longs to return to this source. ↑ In philosophy, Idealists assert that reality as we can know it is mentally constructed and immaterial. ”

“ On this particular morning the Rector had taken his chair as usual, arranged his blotting-pad at precisely the right angle, drawn six sheets of writing paper from his desk, dipped his pen into the ink, and—looked through the open window and beyond the green lawn, and beyond that again to a garden seat where Cynthia—Cynthia in a cotton gown and a surprising hat, which the Rector, in his innocence, supposed was the fashion—sat with her aunt. He sighed, dipped his pen in the ink once more, and wrote his text very neatly at the top of his first sheet—"It is the spirit that quickeneth ”

“ Matthew 18:12-14) .↑ (John 6:63) .↑ The Chopin nocturnes constitute 21 short pieces for solo piano written by Frédéric Chopin between 1827 and 1846. ↑ A parish is a church territorial unit constituting a division of a diocese.↑ Heathen are individuals who do not adhere to a widely held religion, especially those who do not acknowledge the God of the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) . ↑ Savant is French for "knowing" and refers to a wise person or expert. ”