第21章

”No；Idon’tknowthatIwanttohunt。Itmustbeawfullyexciting，ofcourse；butit’scruel，isn’tit?Junesaysso。””Cruel?”ejaculatedVal。”Oh！that’sallrot。Who’sJune?””Mysister——myhalf-sister，youknow——mucholderthanme。”ShehadputherhandsuptobothcheeksofJolly’shorse，andwasrubbinghernoseagainstitsnosewithagentlesnufflingnoisewhichseemedtohaveanhypnoticeffectontheanimal。Valcontemplatedhercheekrestingagainstthehorse’snose，andhereyesgleamingroundathim。’She’sreallyaduck，’hethought。Theyreturnedtothehouselesstalkative，followedthistimebythedogBalthasar，walkingmoreslowlythananythingonearth，andclearlyexpectingthemnottoexceedhisspeedlimit。”Thisisarippingplace，”saidValfromundertheoaktree，wheretheyhadpausedtoallowthedogBalthasartocomeup。”Yes，”saidHolly，andsighed。”OfcourseIwanttogoeverywhere。

IwishIwereagipsy。””Yes，gipsiesarejolly，”repliedVal，withaconvictionwhichhadjustcometohim；”you’reratherlikeone，youknow。”

Holly’sfaceshonesuddenlyanddeeply，likedarkleavesgildedbythesun。”Togomad-rabbitingeverywhereandseeeverything，andliveintheopen——oh！wouldn’titbefun?””Let’sdoit！”saidVal。”Ohyes，let’s！””It’dbegrandsport，justyouandI。”

ThenHollyperceivedthequaintnessandgushed。”Well，we’vegottodoit，”saidValobstinately，butreddeningtoo。”Ibelieveindoingthingsyouwanttodo。What’sdownthere?””Thekitchen-garden，andthepondandthecoppice，andthefarm。””Let’sgodown！”

Hollyglancedbackatthehouse。”It’stea-time，Iexpect；there’sDadbeckoning。”

Val，utteringagrowlysound，followedhertowardsthehouse。

Whentheyre-enteredthehallgallerythesightoftwomiddle-agedForsytesdrinkingteatogetherhaditsmagicaleffect，andtheybecamequitesilent。Itwas，indeed，animpressivespectacle。Thetwowereseatedsidebysideonanarrangementinmarqueteriewhichlookedlikethreesilverypinkchairsmadeone，withalowtea-tableinfrontofthem。Theyseemedtohavetakenupthatposition，asfarapartastheseatwouldpermit，sothattheyneednotlookateachothertoomuch；andtheywereeatinganddrinkingratherthantalking——Soameswithhisairofdespisingthetea-cakeasitdisappeared，Jolyonoffindinghimselfslightlyamusing。Tothecasualeyeneitherwouldhaveseemedgreedy，butbothweregettingthroughagooddealofsustenance。Thetwoyoungoneshavingbeensuppliedwithfood，theprocesswentonsilentandabsorbative，till，withtheadventofcigarettes，JolyonsaidtoSoames：”Andhow’sUncleJames?””Thanks，veryshaky。””We’reawonderfulfamily，aren’twe?TheotherdayIwascalculatingtheaverageageofthetenoldForsytesfrommyfather’s

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