Читать книгу Любовник леди Чаттерлей / Lady Chatterley's Lover онлайн | страница 68

She was kind to Connie, and tried to worm into her woman’s soul with the sharp gimlet of her well-born observations.

“You’re quite wonderful, in my opinion,” she said to Connie. “You’ve done wonders for Clifford. I never saw any budding genius myself, and there he is, all the rage.” Aunt Eva was quite complacently proud of Clifford’s success. Another feather in the family cap! She didn’t care a straw about his books, but why should she?

“Oh, I don’t think it’s my doing,” said Connie.

“It must be! Can’t be anybody else’s. And it seems to me you don’t get enough out of it.”

“How?”

“Look at the way you are shut up here. I said to Clifford: If that child rebels one day you’ll have yourself to thank!”

“But Clifford never denies me anything,” said Connie.

“Look here, my dear child’ – and Lady Bennerley laid her thin hand on Connie’s arm. “A woman has to live her life, or live to repent not having lived it. Believe me!” And she took another sip of brandy, which maybe was her form of repentance.

“But I do live my life, don’t I?”

“Not in my idea! Clifford should bring you to London, and let you go about. His sort of friends are all right for him, but what are they for you? If I were you I should think it wasn’t good enough. You’ll let your youth slip by, and you’ll spend your old age, and your middle age too, repenting it.”

Her ladyship lapsed into contemplative silence, soothed by the brandy.

But Connie was not keen on going to London, and being steered into the smart world by Lady Bennerley. She didn’t feel really smart, it wasn’t interesting. And she did feel the peculiar, withering coldness under it all; like the soil of Labrador, which his gay little flowers on its surface, and a foot down is frozen.

Tommy Dukes was at Wragby, and another man, Harry Winterslow, and Jack Strangeways with his wife Olive. The talk was much more desultory than when only the cronies were there, and everybody was a bit bored, for the weather was bad, and there was only billiards, and the pianola to dance to.