mantelshelf, and it had brought Lionel screwing round in his chair, asking now, 'You sold your stones, I mean your pieces? Who to? The marble merchant in
90Gateshead? When was this? What were they?''One was the boy fishing, the other was the angel.''What did you get for them?' This question came from his father.'A hundred and twenty for the angel and eighty-five guineas for the boy.''Good God!' His father was smiling. 'By! you are a sly cuss.
You never let on. We could have drunk to it. What did you do with the money? Have you got it? Was it in cash?''Yes, it was in cash, but I've spent it.'The expressions on the two faces slipped now, and it was Lionel who asked, 'What did you spend it on?''On good stone. I've got three more orders.'Again his father's face was expanding. And now, throwing his big florid and grizzled head back, he seemed to speak to the decorated ceiling as he said, 'I'll be buggered. The runt of the litter earning a living.' Then looking at this second son, for whom he had never had much use, mainly because he looked a weed and, what was more, he
91had no conversation, and seemingly no interests except as a boy whittling away at wood, then later chiselling stone, and making it apparent that the money being spent on his education was a waste, verified by school reports which were always the same: he didn't work; he was absent-minded; he was a dreamer. Well, by the look of it his dreams had gone into stone and they were actually making money.
And more orders ahead, he said. Well, it wasn't a fortune, nothing like what he expected his elder son to capture in order to keep a roof over their heads, but it promised one of them a living. Yes, indeed.He stared at his son. There was more to this thin, undersized individual than met the eye. Indeed, indeed. He asked now, 'Where are your pieces going to?''London, I think. I'm not sure. Anyway, the man does business there. He was a monumental mason himself.''Monumental mason! Gravestones and crosses!'
His brother's tone was scathing.'Yes, yes, I suppose so; but he's got a sideline, too. And that, he says, is where I come in. He will take all I can turn out.'Lionel, pulling himself to his feet, now 92said, 'A few hundred pounds isn't going to save the city.''No, it won't save the city.' Douglas, too, had risen to his feet, and as he passed between his father and his brother he added tersely, 'But it will provide me with a living when this part of the city falls.'The two men watched the slight figure walk down the room with his loose shambling gait. And when the door banged behind him his father, throwing his halfsmoked cigar into the fireplace, remarked, There goes a dark horse. But he's right, you know. Oh yes, he's right, because if your deal doesn't come off, how do you think you're going to exist? I've asked you this before. On your wits? But they won't take you far at cards. And I've said this before an' all. So what is for you? Kitty Porter, you know, won't allow you back into her nest again to pluck her chicken.
And so it would mean America. Or you could resort to what some of your type have done before, escorting rich dames around watering places. It's quite the done thing, I hear.'Facing his father now, Lionel said with some bitterness, 'You don't like me, do you?
93You've never had any use for me, or for Doug, for that matter. And I'll say this, if there were prizes given for looking after number one, you'd be top of the list. And know something, the things you don't like about me are what are very prominent in yourself. What pattern did you set for me? horing was the first that came to my notice, and under Mama's nose at that. Drink was next; followed by gaming, and that not Jail straight either, else you wouldn't have had to sell up the London house and resort to this end of the country, which you hate.' 'Get out of my sight!' 'Yes, I'll do that, Father, for the present. [But just one more thing: what if I marry her? "And oh, I'll marry her all right
90Gateshead? When was this? What were they?''One was the boy fishing, the other was the angel.''What did you get for them?' This question came from his father.'A hundred and twenty for the angel and eighty-five guineas for the boy.''Good God!' His father was smiling. 'By! you are a sly cuss.
You never let on. We could have drunk to it. What did you do with the money? Have you got it? Was it in cash?''Yes, it was in cash, but I've spent it.'The expressions on the two faces slipped now, and it was Lionel who asked, 'What did you spend it on?''On good stone. I've got three more orders.'Again his father's face was expanding. And now, throwing his big florid and grizzled head back, he seemed to speak to the decorated ceiling as he said, 'I'll be buggered. The runt of the litter earning a living.' Then looking at this second son, for whom he had never had much use, mainly because he looked a weed and, what was more, he
91had no conversation, and seemingly no interests except as a boy whittling away at wood, then later chiselling stone, and making it apparent that the money being spent on his education was a waste, verified by school reports which were always the same: he didn't work; he was absent-minded; he was a dreamer. Well, by the look of it his dreams had gone into stone and they were actually making money.
And more orders ahead, he said. Well, it wasn't a fortune, nothing like what he expected his elder son to capture in order to keep a roof over their heads, but it promised one of them a living. Yes, indeed.He stared at his son. There was more to this thin, undersized individual than met the eye. Indeed, indeed. He asked now, 'Where are your pieces going to?''London, I think. I'm not sure. Anyway, the man does business there. He was a monumental mason himself.''Monumental mason! Gravestones and crosses!'
His brother's tone was scathing.'Yes, yes, I suppose so; but he's got a sideline, too. And that, he says, is where I come in. He will take all I can turn out.'Lionel, pulling himself to his feet, now 92said, 'A few hundred pounds isn't going to save the city.''No, it won't save the city.' Douglas, too, had risen to his feet, and as he passed between his father and his brother he added tersely, 'But it will provide me with a living when this part of the city falls.'The two men watched the slight figure walk down the room with his loose shambling gait. And when the door banged behind him his father, throwing his halfsmoked cigar into the fireplace, remarked, There goes a dark horse. But he's right, you know. Oh yes, he's right, because if your deal doesn't come off, how do you think you're going to exist? I've asked you this before. On your wits? But they won't take you far at cards. And I've said this before an' all. So what is for you? Kitty Porter, you know, won't allow you back into her nest again to pluck her chicken.
And so it would mean America. Or you could resort to what some of your type have done before, escorting rich dames around watering places. It's quite the done thing, I hear.'Facing his father now, Lionel said with some bitterness, 'You don't like me, do you?
93You've never had any use for me, or for Doug, for that matter. And I'll say this, if there were prizes given for looking after number one, you'd be top of the list. And know something, the things you don't like about me are what are very prominent in yourself. What pattern did you set for me? horing was the first that came to my notice, and under Mama's nose at that. Drink was next; followed by gaming, and that not Jail straight either, else you wouldn't have had to sell up the London house and resort to this end of the country, which you hate.' 'Get out of my sight!' 'Yes, I'll do that, Father, for the present. [But just one more thing: what if I marry her? "And oh, I'll marry her all right
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