Page:The Works of H G Wells Volume 1.pdf/258

Rh "Not a bit of it," said Mrs. Pirbright.

The Vicar woke up again and stared round the saloon. Did other people see these visions, or were they confined to him alone? Surely they must all see&hellip; and have a wonderful command of their feelings. It was incredible that such music should not affect them. "He's a trifle gauche," said Lady Hammergallow, jumping upon the Vicar's attention. "He neither bows nor smiles. He must cultivate oddities like that. Every successful executant is more or less gauche."

"Did you really make that up yourself?" said Mrs. Jehoram, sparkling her eyes at him, "as you went along. Really, it is wonderful! Nothing less than wonderful."

"A little amateurish," said the Curate from Iping Hanger to Mr. Rathbone Slater. "A great gift, undoubtedly, but a certain lack of sustained training. There were one or two little things&hellip; I would like to talk to him."

"His trousers look like concertinas," said Mr. Rathbone Slater. "He ought to be told that. It's scarcely decent."

"Can you do Imitations, Mr. Angel?" said Lady Hammergallow.

"Oh, do do some Imitations!" said Mrs. Jehoram. "I adore Imitations."

"It was a fantastic thing," said the Curate of Iping Hanger, waving his long indisputably musical hands as he spoke; "a little involved, to my mind. I have heard it before somewhere—I forget where. He has genius undoubtedly, but occasionally he is—loose. 226