看完了「the remains of the day」

我花了一个周末的时间把这本书读完,本来只是为了完成阅读而进行的阅读,周末也没有特别的事情要做,没有电影要看。此前曾尝试读这本书,但是看了开头无奈放下,只是觉得辞藻过于华丽。而这次重拾,则放下成见,愿意去代入角色的立场,也能理解butler的语言习惯。文章只有到最后几章节,才让我突然觉得这是一本文学巨著,一下子就升华起来了,原来我前面80%的阅读都是在给这个做铺垫啊。

我在阅读完此书后,再挑了几个读后评论看下来才恍然大悟般地对这里的人和事做出了评价,能对自己说一声,哦,原来作者是为了要这样写啊。

我以为这本书写的时间也就是这十几年吧,原来 The Remains of the Day is a 1989 novel by the Nobel Prize-winning British author Kazuo Ishiguro(石黑一雄).然后在1993年由安东尼霍普金斯主演了同名电影,那时候超人扮演者Reed还未瘫痪。找时间看看电影吧。

结尾部分让我觉得这书没有白读。整本书从头到尾都充满着Stevens和Kenton的若有若无的感情,在最后的章节,在两人生命的最后几年,明确提到了,我们以后可能也没有机会再见面了的前提下,Kenton总算挑明了说,我常常在想,如果我那时候选择了和你在一起过日子的话,这生活会是怎么样。就这一句话,让我觉得好可惜,情节好精彩。只有这样的缺憾才能显得感情的珍贵,才能让我觉得任何一种抉择,不管开始时候是多么小,做决定是多么无脑,一定都是影响一生的。也是这么一句话,让我觉得好遗憾啊。可惜的是,直到这个时候,Stevens都要维护自己的脸面,带了一辈子的面具真的好难摘下,他也许顾及到Kenton的颜面,顾及到她的婚姻,也没有多说一句,没有附和,只是客气的语句维持了表面体面。

我看这本书时候,采用了新的做法。就是看一段,有感而发就写一段,洋洋洒洒也写了这么多。

The evening is the most enjoyable part of the day. 就像这本书的阅读,也像这本书的主人公,劳碌了一辈子,也该休息,也该享受了,放下面具,不顾及他人,为了自己。

  1. 炫技派,这英语用得拗口而华丽,但,你要是从主人公butler的身份出发,加上不列颠的角色,还真有可能是一个这种啰嗦的感觉。我希望这本书随着阅读的展开可以有更多的故事性

  2. 这本书合适听,不过我不大会选择这种方式,一来我没有audible会员;二来听书特别容易入睡

  3. 之前写的被清掉了。现在看到了主人公父亲的故事,写他的professionalism。一是写他父亲一直在休闲时候讲一个故事,butler在晚餐开始前看到餐桌下面有只老虎,不动声色地告诉主人后,开了3枪,在给客人添茶时,说晚餐可以正常开始,不会受到任何影响;第二个故事,主人公父亲开车带三位客人游览附近的景点,客人说主人坏话,butler停车开车门啥话也不说,让客人自己觉得羞愧;第三个故事,主人公还有个兄弟在一个将军手下不必要的死了。这个将军后来成了他父亲雇主的客人,不管有多痛苦和难受,这个butler还是圆满完成任务,这个将军甚至留了一大笔小费,人没收,让捐给慈善机构了。

  4. 主人公和Ms. Kenton的故事和许多电视剧一样,一开始都是互相看不顺眼挑刺的。相爱相杀放在这里形容开始时候双方的互动是恰如其分的。

  5. 看了四分一的书,作为一名butler,书里推崇的是butler的dignity。这也许就是日本人不停提到的道,我又延伸联想到即使把这个主题拍成动画片可能也很有的说吧。心里另一个声音,马上就说,当然,作者本来就是日裔。愕然和哦。

  6. 这本书开始有点意思了。在主人公的回忆里面,渐渐插入了一些一次世界大战后的外教调停工作和主人公交叉的事件,接着他的眼睛把一些小说希望呈现的故事说出来。融入了历史感,创造了一些历史沉浸感,挺有趣的。我的思维就是开始条约,是不是百年孤独这本书也有类似的感觉呢?

  7. 不列颠的butler有多牛逼呢?在butler世家,父亲在病榻上合眼了,儿子butler在楼下照顾客人。弥留之际也没时间上去道别,客人问他你没事吧。我没事,只是今天是个忙碌的一天。professionism dignity 这些词汇都浓缩到这个故事里。我是无法理解的,因为这东西反人性。

  8. 我都不知道该如何评论英国人的虚伪或是精神胜利般的自我解释了。路人问起主人公是否有给Lord Darlington工作过,尽管主人公为他工作过35年,他也直白说没有,也不认识。这睁眼说瞎话。我真的很好奇,所以我read on。后面解释是说,这些人都是远不如Lord的存在,迎合他们的non sense就是把Lord拉低了,还不如一开始就否认,把要打开的话匣子关上。主人公还自我套用说,英国人不喜欢谈论过去的工作历史就如同二婚的人不喜欢谈上一段婚姻。扯淡,当你被问一个fact的问题,答案只有是或者不是,你否定了事实,就是撒谎。哪怕你说这是善意的white lies。一边很搞笑地否定自己和Lord Darlington认识,一边以日记形式,出版成书(我知道作者和主人公不是同一个人),把Lord做的事情全部公开了。

  9. 书里并没有统一的故事线。东一榔头西一棒槌的。下一个章节就讲到了Butler对银器的polish,已经通过观察访客对银器的评论或动作获得成就感。可以,这很butler。但也可能就是这些碎片可以profile butler这个职业,让我了解了世界上有这样的职业,有这样的butler会这样或那样的方式做事情。挺好。

  10. 书里有主动提起了anti-semitism 的情绪。不禁让我想起,是不是一定要写这种政治正确的东西才能让你拿到诺贝尔奖呢?这又何尝不算是道德绑架。

  11. 也就是在这个章节里面,Ms Kenton说到如果你解雇这两个女仆,那我也辞职。最后这事被主人公嘲笑了一年多,因为她一直没有辞职。提到这个的理由不是要说butler的嘲笑不厚道,而是要说Kenton不辞职背后的理由让我有种共鸣。她说,我承认这是cowardice。但是在我冷静下来,我辞职之后就什么也做不了了,我不知道要做什么…我帮她脑补一句,我也不知道我能做什么。这是每一个要辞职人都要经历的delimma自问自答,过去是,现在也是啊。

  12. 主人公的motor trip因为汽车油耗光了,暂停在半路上,彼时天色已黑,半天没有一辆来车,butler只能沿着山脊往小村庄行进就带上简单行李和一个自行车灯。然后我的思绪马上就扩展开来,哈哈哈。我碰到过类似情况,不止一次。第一个想起的事件是我骑自行车环大理的洱海。骑到大理对岸天色已经黑了,我还真有些担心晚上的着落,好在都是人烟密集地区,不用多久就找到了解决方式,那时候睡哪倒是不大记得了,应该是有一路下坡吧,车还是借青旅的。第二次是在喀纳斯徒步,刚才哈萨克族的山顶帐篷出来,走着走着就和大部队断了联系,我能听见远处的狼叫,那时候是下午两三点的辰光,阳光洒在草原上有种不真实虚幻的美。我差不多离开帐篷四个小时步行路程,相信往回走的话,可以在天黑时候回到早上出发的地方,晚上是一定很冷的,因为早起地上都是带着雪。和我一起的朋友早就骑着马先行离开了。我需要做一个决定,往前走或是返回。虽然不打游戏,那时候就一句话想起来,兽人永不为奴。然后就义无反顾地向前走去。接下来没有碰到任何人和动物,景色还是那么漂亮,下午的草原冰也化了,很多地方变成沼泽般粘稠。所幸的是我能看到马走过的痕迹,跟着马道,也就走进到了树林,下午四五点吧。然后我就碰到了人,我知道我活下来了。

  13. 毫无疑问,主人公是个叨逼和话痨。以及不愿直面自己感情的闷骚,补充多一句评论。

  14. 论英国人的含蓄。说一个人是农民,是这么说的, who has spent the day engaged in agricultural work.

  15. 之前还说,拒绝说自己给Lord Darlington干活过,我以为是低调啥的。结果一个人在motor trip时候,住到了乡民家里,嘴巴一大就说自己见过邱吉尔,自己更希望讨论国际事务啥的。只能说,表里不一啊,这主人公真是真实。

  16. 书的尾声是butler在为主人,邱吉尔,德国大使服务时候的回忆,好巧不巧,Ms Kenton也在这时候外出会见约会对象,回来就和Butler说,有人给我求婚了。按这剧情,基本就是Butler站出来说和我在一起就完美结局了;但Butler为维持自己的尊严,不停地说现在有很重要的事情去服务,我没法和你说话啥的。这段回忆写得非常紧凑,我是一路朗读下来的,都觉得仆人的这些事情都起伏跌宕,个人和国家命运就慢慢缠绕起来。重点还是,Butler有无数的机会和Kenton在一起,也是不停找各种理由错过,没有勇气呗。

Kindle 读书笔记

“You realize, Stevens, I don’t expect you to be locked up here in this house all the time I'm away. Why don't you take the car and drive off somewhere for a few days? You look like you could make good use of a break."

As you might expect, I did not take Mr Farraday's suggestion at all seriously that afternoon, regarding it as just another instance of an American gentleman's unfamiliarity with what was and what was not commonly done in England.

But he would be much obliged, he repeated, if I could "give it a go with four".

Whenever I believed I had come up with something, I probed it for every sort of oversight, tested it through from all angles.

bantering

'foot the bill for the gas'.

foliage

The Hayes Society claimed to admit butlers of 'only the very first rank'. Much of the power and prestige it went on to gain derived from the fact that unlike other such organizations which have come and gone, it managed to keep its numbers extremely low, thus giving this claim some credibility. Membership, it was said, never at any point rose above thirty and much of the time remained closer to nine or ten. This, and the fact that the Hayes Society tended to be a rather secretive body, lent it much mystique for a time, ensuring that the pronouncements it occasionally issued on professional matters were received as though hewn' on tablets of stone.

'the most crucial criterion is that the applicant be possessed of a dignity in keeping with his position. No applicant will satisfy requirements, whatever his level of accomplishments otherwise, if seen to fall short in this respect.'

it had become an established sport in the house for guests to ring for the butler and put to him random questions of the order of, say, who had won the Derby in such and such a year, rather as one might to a Memory Man at the music hall.

And according to legend, a few minutes later, the employer and his guests heard three gun shots. When the butler reappeared in the drawing room some time afterwards to refresh the teapots, the employer had inquired if all was well. "Perfectly fine, thank you, sir," had come the reply. "Dinner will be served at the usual time and I am pleased to say there will be no discernible traces left of the recent occurrence by that time." This last phrase - 'no discernible traces left of the recent occurrence by that time' - my father would repeat with a laugh and shake his head admiringly.

countenance,

sullied

My father thus replied to the effect that while he was most grateful that his feelings had been taken in to account, Mr Silvers could be assured that service would be provided to the usual standards.

Yet so well did my father hide his feelings, so professionally did he carry out his duties, that on his departure the General had actually complimented Mr John Silvers on the excellence of his butler and had left an unusually large tip in appreciation - which my father without hesitation asked his employer to donate to a charity.

We may now understand better, too, why my father was so fond of the story of the butler who failed to panic on discovering a tiger under the dining table; it was because he knew instinctively that somewhere in this story lay the kernel of what true 'dignity' is. And

We may now understand better, too, why my father was so fond of the story of the butler who failed to panic on discovering a tiger under the dining table; it was because he knew instinctively that somewhere in this story lay the kernel of what true 'dignity' is. And let me now posit this: 'dignity' has to do crucially with a butler's ability not to abandon the professional being he inhabits.

Lesser butlers will abandon their professional being for the private one at the least provocation. For such persons, being a butler is like playing some pantomime role; a small push, a slight stumble, and the facade will drop off to reveal the actor underneath. The great butlers are great by virtue of their ability to inhabit their professional role and inhabit it to the utmost; they will not be shaken out by external events, however surprising, alarming or vexing. They wear their professionalism as a decent gentleman will wear his suit: he will not let ruffians or circumstance tear it off him in the public gaze;

It is, as I say, a matter of 'dignity'.

If I may return to my earlier metaphor - you will excuse my putting it so coarsely - they are like a man who will, at the slightest provocation, tear off his suit and his shirt and run about screaming.

In a word, 'dignity' is beyond such persons. We English have an important advantage over foreigners in this respect and it is for this reason that when you think of a great butler, he is bound, almost by definition, to be an Englishman.

This sort of person is a blight on good professionalism.

"Miss Kenton, if you are under the impression you have already at your age perfected yourself, you will never rise to the heights you are no doubt capable

"Miss Kenton, if you are under the impression you have already at your age perfected yourself, you will never rise to the heights you are no doubt capable

"Miss Kenton, if you are under the impression you have already at your age perfected yourself, you will never rise to the heights you are no doubt capable of.

billiard

"I can see you will be finished very shortly, Mr Stevens. I will await you outside so that this matter may be finalized when you come out."

I believe you are according this matter an urgency it hardly merits."

"Whatever your father was once, Mr Stevens, his powers are now greatly diminished. This is what these 'trivial errors' as you call them really signify and if you do not heed them, it will not be long before your father commits an error of major proportions."

It was a ploy of Lord Darlington's to stand at this shelf studying the spines of the encyclopedias as I came down the staircase, and sometimes, to increase the effect of an accidental meeting, he would actually pull out a volume and pretend to be engrossed as I completed my descent. Then, as I passed him, he would say: 'Oh, Stevens, there was something I meant to say to you.' And with that, he would wander back into his study, to all appearances still thoroughly engrossed in the volume held open in his hands.

Really need to use this trick to talk to an employee ?

"Look here, Stevens, have there been any well - signs at all? I mean signs to tell us your father may be wishing his burden lightened somewhat? Apart from this business of him falling, I mean."

"But none of us wish to see anything of that sort happen ever again, do we? I mean, your father collapsing and all that."

"These errors may be trivial in themselves, Stevens, but you must yourself realize their larger significance. Your father's days of dependability are now passing. He must not be asked to perform tasks in any area where an error might jeopardize the success of our forthcoming conference.

"Good. I'll leave you to think about it then, Stevens."

"In that case, Father, I will come straight to the point." "Come to the point then and be done with it.

My father's face, in the half-light, betrayed no emotion whatsoever.

"Furthermore, it has been decided that Father should not carry laden trays of any sort for even the shortest distances. In view of these limitations, and knowing Father's esteem for conciseness, I have listed here the revised round of duties he will from now on be expected to perform."

Not a father son thing, more like a work relationship

The shadows of the poplar trees had fallen across much of the lawn, but the sun was still lighting up the far corner where the grass sloped up to the Summerhouse.

Eventually, he climbed them a second time, very deliberately. This time he continued on across the grass until he had almost reached the summerhouse, then turned and came walking slowly back, his eyes never leaving the ground. In fact, I can describe his manner at that moment no better than the way Miss Kenton puts it in her letter; it was indeed 'as though he hoped to find some precious jewel he had dropped there.'

It is important to be reminded, moreover, that although Darlington Hall was to witness many more events of equal gravity over the fifteen or so years that followed, that conference of March 1923 was the first of them;

"He was my enemy," he was saying, "but he always behaved like a gentleman. We treated each other decently over six months of shelling each other. He was a gentleman doing his job and I bore him no malice. I said to him: 'Look here, we're enemies now and I'll fight you with all I've got. But when this wretched business is over, we shan't have to be enemies any more and we'll have a drink together.'

It was not long after that evening there came the sad news that Herr Bremann had shot himself in a train between Hamburg and Berlin. Naturally, his lordship was greatly distressed and immediately made plans to dispatch funds and commiserations to Frau Bremann. However, after several days of endeavour, in which I myself did my best to assist, his lordship was not able to discover the whereabouts of any of Herr Bremann's family. He had, it seemed, been homeless for some time and his family dispersed. It

In fact, as the great challenge of the conference drew nearer, an astonishing change seemed to come over my father. It was almost as though some supernatural force possessed him, causing him to shed twenty years;

"Miss Kenton, if you for one moment believe I have time on my hands, that displays more clearly than ever your great inexperience. I trust that in years to come, you will gain a clearer picture of what occurs in a house like this."

hindsight

foliage,

monocle.

"I'm proud of you. A good son. I hope I've been a good father to you. I suppose I haven't." "I'm afraid we're extremely busy now, but we can talk again in the morning." My father was still looking at ,his hands as though he were faintly irritated by them.

"In that case, Mr Stevens, will you permit me to close his eyes?" "I would be most grateful if you would, Miss Kenton." She began to climb the staircase, but I stopped her, saying: "Miss Kenton, please don't think me unduly improper in not ascending to see my father in his deceased condition just at this moment. You see, I know my father would have wished me to carryon just now." "Of course, Mr Stevens." "To do otherwise, I feel, would be to let him down."

I had expected the room to smell of death, but on account of Mrs Mortimer - or else her apron – the room was dominated by the smell of roasting.

"You mean you actually worked for that Lord Darlington?" and I had given an answer which could mean little other than that I had not. It could simply be that a meaningless whim had suddenly overtaken me at that moment - but that is hardly a convincing way to account for such distinctly odd behaviour.

"I mean to say, sir, that it is not customary in England for an employee to discuss his past employers." "OK, Stevens, so you don't wish to divulge past confidences. But does that extend to you actually denying having worked for anyone other than me?" "It does seem a little extreme when you put it that way, sir. But it has often been considered desirable for employees to give such an impression. If I may put it this way, sir, it is a little akin to the custom as regards marriages. If a divorced lady were present in the company of her second husband, it is often thought desirable not to allude to the original marriage at all. There is a similar custom as regards our profession, sir."

The great majority of what one hears said about his lordship today is, in any case, utter nonsense, based on an almost complete ignorance of the facts. Indeed, it seems to me that my odd conduct can be very plausibly explained in terms of my wish to avoid any possibility of hearing any further such nonsense concerning his lordship; that is to say, I have chosen to tell white lies in both instances as the simplest means of avoiding unpleasantness.

perturbed

abreast

that it was Hitler's plan throughout those years to deceive England for as long as possible concerning his true intentions, and that Herr Ribbentrop's sole mission in our country was to orchestrate this deception.

But I drift.

fulcrum

'It was cowardice, Mr Stevens. Simple cowardice. Where could I have gone? I have no family. Only my aunt. I love her dearly, but I can't live with her for a day without feeling my whole life is wasting away. I did tell myself, of course, I would soon find some new situation. But I was so frightened, Mr Stevens. Whenever I thought of leaving, I just saw myself going out there and finding nobody who knew or cared about me. There, that's all my high principles amount to. I feel so ashamed of myself. But I just couldn't leave, Mr Stevens. I just couldn't bring myself to leave."

"Do you realize, Mr Stevens, how much it would have meant to me if you had thought to share your feelings last year? You knew how upset I was when my girls were dismissed. Do you realize how much it would have helped me? Why, Mr Stevens, why, why, why do you always have to pretend?"

Despite the letter being three pages long, there was no mention of any gratitude towards Miss Kenton for the great care she had given the girl, nor was there any note of regret at letting all of us down. Miss Kenton was noticeably upset.

So many young women like her throwaway their chances, and all for what?"

pantry

whether or not you discover the title of this volume is in itself not of the slightest importance to me.

And that, Mr Stevens, is really the long and short of it."

"It occurs to me you must be a well-contented man, Mr Stevens. Here you are, after all, at the top of your profession, every aspect of your domain well under control. I really cannot imagine what more you might wish for in life."

~once and for all, I was perhaps not entirely aware of the full implications of what I was doing.

them. I only speculate over this now because in the light of subsequent events, it could well be argued that in making my decision to end those evening meetings ~once and for all, I was perhaps not entirely aware of the full implications of what I was doing. Indeed, it might even be said that this small decision of mine constituted something of a key turning point; that that decision set things on an inevitable course towards what eventually happened.

But then, I suppose, when with the benefit of hindsight one begins to search one's past for such 'turning points', one is apt to start seeing them everywhere. Not only my decision in respect of our evening meetings, but also that episode in my pantry, if one felt so inclined, could be seen as such a 'turning point'.

made my exit, and "it was not until after I had done so that it occurred to me I had not actually offered her my condolences. I could well imagine the blow the news would be to her, her aunt having been, to all intents and purposes, like a mother to her, and I paused out in the corridor, wondering if I should go back, knock and make good my omission. But then it occurred to me that if I were to do so, I might easily intrude upon her private grief.

alcove

"It's not as though we don't have electricity out here, sir," Mr Taylor remarked to me at one point, nodding towards the lamp. "But something went wrong with the circuit and we've been without it now for almost two months. To tell you the truth, we don't miss it so much. There's a few houses in the village that's never had electricity at all. Oil gives a warmer light."

spent the day engaged in agricultural work.

procrastinate.

In fact, every now and then, when she was not speaking, when her face was in repose, I thought I glimpsed something like sadness in her expression. But then again, I may well have been mistaken about this.

Really, Mrs Benn, afterwards, well, his lordship was virtually an invalid. And the house became so quiet. I would take him tea in the drawing room and, well ... It really was most tragic to see."

"Oh ... You must excuse me, Mrs Benn, but I was just recalling certain things you wrote in your letter. I was a little worried when I read them, but I see now I had little reason to be." "Oh? What things in particular do you mean, Mr Stevens?" "Oh,nothing in particular, Mrs Benn." "Oh, Mr Stevens, you really must tell me." "Well, for instance, Mrs Benn," I said with a laugh, "at one point in your letter, you write - now let me see - 'the rest of my life stretches out like an emptiness before me'. Some words to that effect." "Really, Mr Stevens," she said, also laughing a little. "I couldn't have written any such thing."

"I suppose, Mr Stevens, you're asking whether or not I love my husband."

"I feel I should answer you, Mr Stevens. As you say, we may not meet again for many years.

I believe I thought of it as simply another ruse, Mr Stevens, to annoy you.

It was a shock to come out here and find myself 'J married. For a long time, I was very unhappy, very unhappy indeed. But then year after year went by, there was the war, Catherine grew up, and one day I realized I loved my husband. You spend so much time with someone, you find you get used to him. He's a kind, steady man, and yes, Mr Stevens, I've grown to love him."

And you get to thinking about a different life, a better life you might have had. For instance, I get to thinking about a life I may have had with you, Mr Stevens.

"Now, Mrs Benn, you must take good care of yourself. Many say retirement is the best part of life for a married couple. You must do all you can to make these years· happy ones for yourself and your husband. We may never meet again, Mrs Benn, so I would ask you to take good heed of what I am saying." "I will, Mr Stevens, thank you. And thank you for the lift. It was so very kind of you. It was so nice to see you again." "It was a great pleasure to see you again, Mrs Benn."

ailments,

At this point, I thought it appropriate to reveal my identity, and although I am not sure 'Darlington Hall' meant anything to him, my companion seemed suitably impressed.

"Since my new employer Mr Farraday arrived, I've tried very hard, very hard indeed, to provide the sort of service I would like him to have. I've tried and tried, but whatever I do I find I am far from reaching the standards I once set myself. More and more errors are appearing in my work. Quite trivial in themselves - at least so far. But they're of the sort I would never have made before, and I know what they signify. Goodness knows, I've tried and tried, but it's no use. I've given what I had to give. I gave it all to Lord Darlington."

"Oh dear, no, thank you, it's quite all right. I'm very sorry, I'm afraid the travelling has tired me. I'm very sorry."

"Lord Darlington wasn't a bad man. He wasn't a bad man at all. And at least he had the privilege of being able to say at the end of his life that he made his own mistakes. His lordship was a courageous man. He chose a certain path in life, it proved to be a misguided one, but there, he chose it, he can say that at least. As for myself, I cannot even claim that. You see, I trusted. I trusted in his lordship's wisdom. All those years I served him, I trusted I was doing something worthwhile. I can't even say I made my own mistakes. Really - one has to ask oneself - what dignity is there in that?"

"Now, look, mate, I'm not sure I follow everything you're saying. But if you ask me, your attitude's all wrong, see? Don't keep looking back all the time, you're bound to get depressed. And all right, you can't do your job as well as you used to. But it's the same for all of us, see? We've all got to put our feet up at some point. Look at me. Been happy as a lark since the day I retired. All right, so neither of us are exactly in our first flush of youth, but you've got to keep looking forward."

"You've got to enjoy yourself. The evening's the best part of the day. You've done your day's work. Now you can put your feet up and enjoy it. That's how I look at it. Ask anybody, they'll all tell you. The evening's the best part of the day."

the evening is the most enjoyable part of the day.

that I should adopt a more positive outlook and try to make the best of what remains of my day.

What is the point in worrying oneself too much about what one could or could not have done to control the course one's life took?

Surely it is enough that the likes of you and I at least try to make our small contribution count for something true and worthy. And if some of us are prepared to sacrifice much in life in order to pursue such aspirations, surely that is in itself, whatever the outcome, cause for pride and contentment.

Perhaps, then, when I return to Darlington Hall tomorrow - Mr Farraday will not himself be back for a further week - I will begin practising with renewed effort. I should hope, then, that by the time of my employer's return, I shall be in a position to pleasantly surprise him.