ThewerenowafraidthatJadiswouldhavesomethingtosaytothemaboutehewood。Asittur,however,sheiohenorafterward。Ithink(andDigorythinkstoo)thathermindwasofasortwhiberthatquietplaceatall,aenyoutookherthereandhyouleftherthere,shewouldstillknownothingaboutit。Nowthatshewasleftalohe,shetookherofthem。Andthatwaslikehertoo。Inshehadtakennonotiy(tilltheveryend)becauseDigorywastheoomakeuseof。NowthatshehadUooknonoticeofDigory。Iexpectmostwitchesarelikethat。Theyarehingsorpeopleuheyusethem;theyareterriblypractical。Sotherewassileheroomforamiwo。Butyoucouldtellbytheedherfootohatshewasgro>
&lyshesaid,asiftoherself,“Whatistheoldfooldoing?Ishouldhavebroughtawhip。”ShestalkedoutoftheroominpursuitofUohe。
“olly,lettingoutalohofrelief。“AndnowImustgethome。Ithtfullylate。Ishallcatchit。”
“Welldo,doebaasyou,”saidDigory。“Thisissimplyghastly,havingherhere。Wemustmakesomesortofplan。”
“That'suptoyourUnoolly。“Itwashewhostartedallthismessingabout>
“Allthesame,youwilleba'tyou?Hangitall,you'tleavemealoneihis。”
“Ishallgohomebythetunnel,”saidPollyrathercoldly。“That'llbethequickestway。Andifyouwaoeba'tyoubettersayyou'resorry?”
“Sorry?”exclaimedDigory。“Wellnow,ifthatisn'tjustlikeagirl!WhathaveIdone?”
“Ohnothingofcourse,”saidPollysarcastilynearlyscrewedmywristoffinthatroomwithallthewaxworks,likeacowardlybully。Onlystruckthebellwiththehammer,likeasillyidiot。Onlyturnedbathewoodsothatshehadtimetocatchholdofyoubeforewejumpedintoourownpool。That'sall。”
“Oh,”saidDigory,verysurprised。“Well,allright,I'llsayI'msorry。AndIreallyamsorryaboutehewaxworksroom。There:I'vesaidI'msorry。Andandeback。Ishallbeinafrightfulholeifyoudon't。”
“Idon'tseewhat'sgoingtohappentoyou。It'sMr。Ketterleywho'sgoingtositodhaveihisbed,isn'tit?”
“Itisn'tthatsortofthing,”saidDigory。“WhatI'mbotheredaboutisMother。Supposethatcreaturewentintoherroom。Shemightfrighteh。”
“Oh,Isee,”saidPollyinratheradifferentvoice。“Allright。We'llcallitPax。I'lleback—ifI。ButImustgonow。”Andshecrawledthroughthelittledooriuhatdarkplagtherafterswhichhadseemedsoexdadventurousafewho,seemedquitetameandhomelynow。
&nowgobadrew。Hispooroldheartatashestaggereddowairsaondabbingathisforeheadwithahandkerchief。Whenhereachedhisbedroom,whichwasthefloorbelow,helockedhimselfin。Athinghedideinhiswardrobeforabottleandawine-glassthiddentherewhereAuyotfindthem。Hepouredhimselfoutaglassfulofsomenasty,grown-updrinkanddrankitoffatohenhedrebreath。
“Uponmyword,”hesaidtohimself。“I'mdreadfullyshaken。Mostupsetting!Andatmytimeoflife!”
Hepouredoutasedglassanddrankittoo;theogehisclothes。Youhaveneverseensuchclothes,butIrememberthem。Heputh,shiny,stiffcollarofthesortthatmadeyouholdyourupallthetime。Heputocoatatternonitandarrangedhisgoldwatacrossthefroofrock-coat,theofsandfuhisbesttallhataup。Therewasavaseofflowers(puttherebyAuy)table;hetookoitinhisbuttoookadkerchief(alovelyonesuchasyou'tbuytoday)outofthelittlelefthaafewdropsofsit。Hetookhiseye-glass,withthethickbla,aohiseye;thehimselfinthemirror。
haveonekindofsilliness,asyouknow,andgrowherkind。AtthismomentUndrewwasbeginningtobesillyinaverygrothattheWitolohesameroomwithhimhewasquicklyfhowshehadfrightenedhimandthinkingmoreandmoreofherwoy。Hekeptonsayingtohimself,“Ademfinewoman,sir,ademfineerbcreature。”Hehadalsosomehowmaetthatitwasthewhohadgotholdofthis“superbcreature”:hefeltasifhehimselfbyhisMagichadcalledheroutofunknownworlds。
“Andrew,myboy,”hesaidtohimselfashelookedintheglass,“you'readevilishwellpreservedfelle。Adistinguished-lookingman,sir。”
Yousee,thefoolisholdmanwasactuallybeginningtoimagichwouldfallihhim。Thetwodrinksprobablyhadsomethingtodowithit,andsohadhisbestclothes。Buthewas,inanycase,asvaihatwaswhyhehadbeagi。
Heuhedoor,wentdownstairs,sentthehousemaidouttofet(everyosofservantsinthosedays)ahedrawingroom。There,asheexpected,hefouy。Shewasbusilymendingamattress。Itlayonthefloorhewindowandshewaskneelingonit。
“Ah,Letitiamydear,”saidUndrew,“I—ahhavetogoout。Justlendmefivepoundsorso,there'sagoodgel。”(“Gel”ronouncedgirl。)
“No,Andrewdear,”saidAuyinherfirm,quietvoice,withoutlookingupfromherwork。“I'vetoldyoutimeswithoutIwillnotlendyoumoney。”
“Nowpraydon'tbetroublesome,mydeargel,”saidU'smostimportant。Youwillputmeinadeucedlyaositionifyoudon't。”
“Andrew,”saidAuy,lookinghimstraightinthefaderyouareoaskmeformoney。”
Therewasalong,dullstrown-upkihesewords。AllyouoknowaboutitisthatUwith“may'sbusiersforher“,andneverdoinganywuplargebillsforbrandyandcigars(whitLettyhadpaidagainandagain)hadmadeheragooddealpoorerthanshehadbeenthirtyyearsago。
“Mydeargel,”saidUndrew,“youdon'tuand。Ishallhavesomequiteuedexpeoday。Ihavetodoalittleeaining。enow,don'tbetiresome。”
“Andwho,pray,areyougoiain,Andrew?”askedAuy。
“A—amostdistiorhasjustarrived。”
“Distinguishedfiddlestick!”saidAuherehasn'tbeenaringatthehellforthelasthour。”
AtthatmomentthedoorwassuddenlyfluLettylookedroundandsawwithamazementthatanenormouslehbarearmsandflashioodinthedooritch。