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Authors: Pamela Christie
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Bunny,” said she, “let us go out and catch our first glimpse of Naples.”
The Perseverance was just now on the point of docking, and Mr. Kendrick strolled ebulliently over to join the ladies.
“I believe I shall write a poem about that xebec!” he exclaimed.
“What xebec?”
“The one which has borne Elliot off. Such sleek lines! Such a trim little ship! She was a bonny little brig, was she not?”
But of course, Kendrick had liked her for quite another reason. A reason that was rather odd, when you came to look at it, for he had never been jealous of the men who actually slept with Arabella.
“O heavenly, harmonious ship!” he intoned, waxing ecstatic. “O vision of loveliness, most sublime!”
Arabella lowered her eyes to the dock, where a venerable old gentleman stood, waiting patiently and holding a sign that said BOWMENT .
“Quite,” she remarked. “And thus pass we, with scarcely a pause, from the sublime to the ridiculous.”
Chapter 10
R ELICS , H UMAN AND U RBAN
J ohn Soane’s ancient friend had come to meet them himself, clad in scholar’s robes, which made it all the more preposterous that he should be standing on the dock and holding up his little sign amidst a sea of touts and riotous shills. From where she was standing, Arabella could see that the hair had melted away from the crown of his head, leaving the top as naked as a baby bird’s behind, but along the sides it fell almost to his shoulders in brittle, gray locks of differing lengths. Or would have done, had the wind not been whipping it across his face and straight up in the air. A hat would doubtless have been a great improvement. She could not quite picture him in a hat though, save, perhaps, the type worn by wizards.
Once the voyagers disembarked and had the chance to see him up close, the professor appeared to be in his seventies, with strong features and deep furrows extending from the sides of his nose to the corners of his mouth. But one could only notice these details later, owing to the immediate and horrific impression produced by his eyes. Professor Bergamini wore spectacles over them, tinted so dark a green that Arabella and Belinda could not see his actual eyes at all. On their approaching him, he had produced a hat from somewhere and clapped it on, when, of course, the usual thing when meeting ladies for the first, or any, time, was to take one’s hat off . Arabella had been quite wrong about the style of it. This hat was the very opposite of a wizard’s brimless cone, if anything as complex as a hat can be said to have an opposite. The crown was low, and a wide, loose brim cast the wearer’s face in perpetual shadow. Staring out from beneath this generous awning, the tinted spectacles looked spectral, indeed, like the ocular holes in a skull.
Still, except for donning his hat, the professor was cordial enough. He had even arranged to have three carriages waiting at the dock to convey the Beaumonts and their luggage to the hotel . . . and Mr. Kendrick, too, of course.
“Bell,” whispered Belinda. “He keeps . . . staring at me!”
“Does he? How can you tell?”
“I . . . I do not know! But I can! And I am all over gooseflesh! Look!” She drew back her glove, exposing the little, raised bumps on her forearm.
“Dear me!” said her sister. “Yet, I am not surprised.”
“I cannot share a carriage with that . . . monster! You must do something!”
“All right, darling. I shall tend to it.” Arabella detached herself from Belinda’s clutches and approached the others. “Gentlemen, you will greatly oblige us by riding together in the first coach, where you will be free to discuss your manly plans without our tiresome interference.”
Although they had no manly plans, so far as they were aware, Kendrick and Charles were happy enough to comply with her wishes—apparently tinted spectacles held no horrors for them—and so the party started off to everyone’s satisfaction. Five minutes
The Perseverance was just now on the point of docking, and Mr. Kendrick strolled ebulliently over to join the ladies.
“I believe I shall write a poem about that xebec!” he exclaimed.
“What xebec?”
“The one which has borne Elliot off. Such sleek lines! Such a trim little ship! She was a bonny little brig, was she not?”
But of course, Kendrick had liked her for quite another reason. A reason that was rather odd, when you came to look at it, for he had never been jealous of the men who actually slept with Arabella.
“O heavenly, harmonious ship!” he intoned, waxing ecstatic. “O vision of loveliness, most sublime!”
Arabella lowered her eyes to the dock, where a venerable old gentleman stood, waiting patiently and holding a sign that said BOWMENT .
“Quite,” she remarked. “And thus pass we, with scarcely a pause, from the sublime to the ridiculous.”
Chapter 10
R ELICS , H UMAN AND U RBAN
J ohn Soane’s ancient friend had come to meet them himself, clad in scholar’s robes, which made it all the more preposterous that he should be standing on the dock and holding up his little sign amidst a sea of touts and riotous shills. From where she was standing, Arabella could see that the hair had melted away from the crown of his head, leaving the top as naked as a baby bird’s behind, but along the sides it fell almost to his shoulders in brittle, gray locks of differing lengths. Or would have done, had the wind not been whipping it across his face and straight up in the air. A hat would doubtless have been a great improvement. She could not quite picture him in a hat though, save, perhaps, the type worn by wizards.
Once the voyagers disembarked and had the chance to see him up close, the professor appeared to be in his seventies, with strong features and deep furrows extending from the sides of his nose to the corners of his mouth. But one could only notice these details later, owing to the immediate and horrific impression produced by his eyes. Professor Bergamini wore spectacles over them, tinted so dark a green that Arabella and Belinda could not see his actual eyes at all. On their approaching him, he had produced a hat from somewhere and clapped it on, when, of course, the usual thing when meeting ladies for the first, or any, time, was to take one’s hat off . Arabella had been quite wrong about the style of it. This hat was the very opposite of a wizard’s brimless cone, if anything as complex as a hat can be said to have an opposite. The crown was low, and a wide, loose brim cast the wearer’s face in perpetual shadow. Staring out from beneath this generous awning, the tinted spectacles looked spectral, indeed, like the ocular holes in a skull.
Still, except for donning his hat, the professor was cordial enough. He had even arranged to have three carriages waiting at the dock to convey the Beaumonts and their luggage to the hotel . . . and Mr. Kendrick, too, of course.
“Bell,” whispered Belinda. “He keeps . . . staring at me!”
“Does he? How can you tell?”
“I . . . I do not know! But I can! And I am all over gooseflesh! Look!” She drew back her glove, exposing the little, raised bumps on her forearm.
“Dear me!” said her sister. “Yet, I am not surprised.”
“I cannot share a carriage with that . . . monster! You must do something!”
“All right, darling. I shall tend to it.” Arabella detached herself from Belinda’s clutches and approached the others. “Gentlemen, you will greatly oblige us by riding together in the first coach, where you will be free to discuss your manly plans without our tiresome interference.”
Although they had no manly plans, so far as they were aware, Kendrick and Charles were happy enough to comply with her wishes—apparently tinted spectacles held no horrors for them—and so the party started off to everyone’s satisfaction. Five minutes
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