Pearson Choate

“ The throbbing car rushed on, through the outer suburbs, on past the last clusters of decorous, red-tiled villas, on through the area of market gardens, where the town first meets, and mingles with the country, on the north side of London, and so out, at last, on to the Great North Road, unchecked, and unchallenged.
The broad high road stretched ahead, empty and deserted, in the brilliant noon sunshine, as far as eye could see.
The car leapt at the road like a live thing—
At last, the familiar, white-painted signpost, the Paradise-Hades post, flashed into view on the left of the road. ”

“ Could he hope that Judith would allow him to ignore what had happened? Or had the time come when he must reveal his real identity to Judith at last? Would she believe him? If she believed him, would she be able to forgive his deception? And, even if she forgave him, would not the shadow thrown by his Royal rank irretrievably injure his intimacy with her, with the Imps, and with Uncle Bond? All the spontaneity, the ease, and the naturalness of their relationship would be at an end. ”

“ To be 'a sailor, not a Prince,' was always my idea. Do people, do these people, who are coming out on strike, and hope to run up the Red Flag, imagine that I get any pleasure, that I get anything but weariness, out of—my place in the procession? If I followed my own wishes now—I should strike, too! I should be the reddest revolutionary of them all. Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity is their war cry, isn't it? Those are the very things I want!"
The Duke smiled grimly.
"Where will you remove the Court, sir?" he asked. "To Windsor? Or to Sandringham?" ”

“ Outside, in the palace garden, the brilliant morning sunshine lay golden on the green of the grass, and on the darker green of the trees.
The whistling of a thrush, perched on a tree near the windows, seemed stridently audible.
Behind him, beside the writing table, the Duke stood, motionless, silent, expectant.
The magnetism for which the veteran Prime Minister was notorious, the magnetism which he seemed to be able to invoke at will, had not failed him, whilst he talked. For the time being, he had completely dominated the King. ”

“ The night air was heavy with the scent of the night-blossoming stock, in the flowerbed, immediately below the verandah rail. The nightingales sang as if at the climax of their rivalry for mastery. A huge owl lumbered, rather than flew, across the shadowy garden.
For a moment, it seemed to the King, as if the verandah, the house, the garden, and even the night sky, stood away from them, receded, and that he and Judith were alone, together, in infinite space. ”

“ It was Judith who, greatly daring, had penetrated into the jealously guarded, literary night seclusion of Uncle Bond, on the upper floor of the silent, darkened house, and had compelled the little man to leave his latest business girl heroine, in the middle of the next instalment of his new serial, although that instalment was, as usual, already overdue, and come downstairs, urbane and chuckling, his round, double-chinned, and spectacled face wreathed in smiles, to entertain an unknown, and youthful stranger, as if his midnight intrusion was the most natural thing in the world. ”

“ From the first he had known that Judith, and Uncle Bond, could never be as other people to him. It was this knowledge which had warned him not to betray his real identity. From the first, it had seemed of vital importance to him, that no shadow of his Royal rank should be allowed to mar the delightful spontaneity of his intercourse with these charming, unconventional people, who, looking upon him as merely a young, naval officer in trouble, had at once placed all their resources at his disposal, as if he had been an old and intimate friend. ”

“ He would take Uncle Bond at his word.
"I have stepped out of my place in the procession, and come to join you at your window, here in the quiet old inn of 'Content.' I want to forget the fight in the market-place. Help me to forget it! Let us forget the past, avoid looking at the future—what the future will bring who can say?—and live, for the time being, in the present."
Uncle Bond, and Judith—their astonishment at his real identity once over, and their astonishment would be amusing!—would not refuse such an appeal. ”

“ How did the Duke contrive that you should come here, in the present crisis—they told me downstairs that Martial Law has been proclaimed!—without betraying the fact that he had been here himself?"
All the King's senses had been numbed by the rapid succession of surprises with which Uncle Bond had attacked him. His capacity for wonder had long since been exhausted. It seemed to him now that nothing would ever surprise him again. A feeling of utter helplessness oppressed him. It seemed to him that he was in the grip, that he had been made the plaything, of an implacable, an irresistible power. ”

“ The Imps' laughter rang out, blithe and free, through the garden, and about the house. Whenever their interest, or their energy failed, Judith was quick with some delectable proposal, unlimited in resource. With all their unspoilt imagination, Button and Bill were hard put to it, at times, to keep pace with the whims of their radiant, laughing mother. Judith played with all the abandon of a child, directed by the intellect of an adult. ”

“ The rushing, throbbing car, the motionless figure of the Duke at his side, the broad, winding road, the sunlit, peaceful, countryside, his own thoughts—all these things were the very stuff of dreams, fantastic, unbelievable, unreal. His deadness of feeling, his heaviness of thought, were dream. His lost youth was dream. This silence? No one ever spoke in dreams—
At last the throbbing car slowed down suddenly; then stopped.
The Duke was up, and out of the car, in a moment.
The King followed the old statesman out on to the road more leisurely. ”

“ But we have helped you, Uncle Bond, and I, and the Imps, haven't we! It has been good for you to come here, to us, in Paradise, for rest, and quiet, and peace, hasn't it? There is an old fairy story about a man who was haunted by his shadow, that the Imps are very fond of, that I have always connected with you, in my own mind. You are haunted by your shadow, aren't you? You are haunted by the shadow of your rank, of your position, of your responsibility. ”

“ As the carriage moved forward, the Duke dropped his left hand on to the seat, between the King and himself.
"Take my hand. Grip it, sir!" he said. "I am real! Do not hesitate, sir. We are quite unobserved. A time comes in most men's lives when they need—the grip of the hand of a friend. I am an old man, sir; old enough to be your father. When you take my hand, it is as if you reached out and gripped your father's hand—
"I would have spared you all this, I would have spared you the ordeal of the wild enthusiasm which awaits you, a little further on, if it had been possible, sir. ”

“ The Duke was there—
Always the crowd grew, and the cheering increased in volume.
In the inner suburbs, the flags were thicker than ever. Every window was open, and full of flushed, excited, smiling faces. Many of the roofs of the shops and houses were black with people. Down below, in the road, as the carriage moved slowly forward, the crowd swayed to and fro, in a frenzy of enthusiasm. Flowers fell, thick and fast, in a multi-coloured rain, in front of the carriage. ”

“ It is not Judith's place. Her place is in the background, the best place, the place that the best women always choose, in life. 'Cynthia' again! Pure 'Cynthia'! Welcome, you minx! If you ever attempt to take Judith out of the background, out of the background which she has chosen for herself, you will encounter inevitable disappointment, and cause yourself, and so her, pain. And you will spoil the—friendship—between you and Judith, which I have found so much—pleasure in watching. That is not 'Cynthia.' It is myself, plain James Bond. ”

“ It is—an acknowledgment—that I shall never forget, as long as I live—
"I will give you—a pledge—in return. Whatever happens, you will always be welcome here. Whatever happens, you will always find the same welcome here. You will never find—any changes here. I don't think Alfred, the sailor, is dead. I don't think he will ever die—as long as you live! For us, here, at any rate, you will always be—our friend Alfred!"
Once again, the King was conscious that Judith understood him better than he understood himself. ”

“ The cheers of the crowds, in the parks, and in the streets, rose with the rockets, in a regular, muffled roar. Overhead, above the lights, above the rockets, a score or more of illuminated aeroplanes hummed, diving, nose-spinning, side-slipping, and looping the loop, with the agility, the grace, and the breathless swiftness of the aerial acrobats who know not fear.
"God Save the King," and "God Save King Alfred the Second." ”

“ Well, it's one night in a lifetime, as you might say, isn't it, sir? And, beyond holding up the traffic, there's no harm in the people—they're just lively, that's all. There'll be a good many of them will lie in late, when they do get to bed, in the morning, I'm thinking. But the tiredest man, in all London, this night, and in the whole Empire, too, if it comes to that, I should think must be the King himself, God bless him! Did you get a good view of him, yourself, sir? I was in duty in Whitehall for the procession, and barring a yard or two, I was as close to him then, as I am, now, to you. ”

“ This decision of his to tackle the Family, to get to know them personally, was his own decision. It was an expression of his own individuality, the exercise of his own will. The thought gave him a little thrill of pride, and pleasure. Perhaps, after all, there was going to be some scope, some freedom, for his own personality, in his place in the procession, more scope, more freedom than he had been inclined to think. His own shoulders, directed by his own brain, might make a difference in the jostling in the market-place. ”

“ Not with the special, personal meaning, the special, personal affection, with which Judith and Uncle Bond had drunk it. That was outside the question. The toast was a bigger thing than any personal affection, than any personal feeling. It was a bigger thing than—any King—
"The King!"
Had not his own pulse quickened, had not his blood flowed more quickly through his veins, at the words? They had acted upon him like the call of a trumpet. To what?
"The King!"
What did the words stand for? For the biggest things. For England, loyalty, patriotism, for ideals of service, personal, and national. ”

“ He has come to fill a large place in all our lives. It has been a strange episode. That he should have wandered, by chance, into our quiet backwater; that we should have become implicated, through him, in great issues—that is strange. But it is only an episode. And it is nearly over now. And we—and you—would not have it otherwise?"
"I would not have it otherwise," Judith whispered.
Then she drew in her breath, sharply, as if in pain.
"But I have so much, and he has so little," she said.
"He has—England," Uncle Bond said gravely.
"And I have the Imps, and you," Judith replied. ”

“ All the crowded events of the long, tense, and exhausting Coronation Day which was, at last, happily at an end had seemed strangely unreal to the King. The slow and stately progress to the Abbey in the morning, the huge gilt state coach, the team of cream horses, the gold-coated powdered footmen, the bodyguard of plumed Household Cavalry, the decorated streets, the crowds, the wild cheering, the thousand faces, the thousand eyes, his own mechanical bowing, his own mechanical smile ”

“ The brilliant summer sunshine shone full on the familiar, formidable, massive features, deathly white, now.
The eyes were closed.
The King knelt down at the old statesman's side.
Some obscure instinct prompted him to take the old man's hand—the hand which had done so much for him, the hand which had never failed him,—the hand which had saved him, from himself—
The Duke responded to his touch. Feebly he returned his pressure. ”

“ An obtuser man than Uncle Bond must have become quickly conscious that something was wrong. From the mischievous twinkle which shone in the little man's sparkling eyes, the King judged that Uncle Bond was only too well aware of the tension that had sprung up, so unexpectedly, between Judith and himself. ”

“ But a greater man than I, the Duke of Northborough, lies dying in the room behind me. He gave his life for mine." His voice shook a little. "From this moment, I hold my life, a sacred trust, at his hands.
"I will say nothing, now, of the madman, whose madness has been used as the instrument to strike down an old man, whose long and noble life has been devoted wholly to the best interests of our country. Death has already closed that madman's account. Nor will I speak, now, of the men, whose wild and reckless talk makes such madness possible. ”

“ Busy putting on the thick leather motor coat, and adjusting the goggles, which he kept stored in the car, the King listened to the constable's garrulous, friendly talk with rich amusement, not untouched by a more serious interest. He almost wished that he could reveal his real identity to the man, and then shake hands with him. Surely the loyalty of the people had been underestimated? This garrulous police constable had a juster appreciation, and a more sympathetic understanding, of the difficulties and the dangers of his position, than he had ever imagined possible. ”