Alice saw her blunder. She saw that she had insulted his ambition; and yet, though she now understood the ferocities of that ambition, it filled her with a definite hostility which made her want to fight and fight and fight it with all the strength she had. At the same time, as his surprise collapsed, his own antagonism rose up. He felt a sudden hatred, not for the girl, but for the forces which somehow he knew she was bringing to oppose him. They faced each other, their eyes bright with challenge, their breasts heaving with a stormier, earthlier emotionand the white flame of antagonism which divided them seemed at the same time to fuse them, melt them into each other.
It made her blood boil to think of Robert and Albert in their exile. Robert had now been released from gaol, and had been sent by a charitable society to Australia. Reuben had refused to move a hand to help him. As for Albert, a few months ago a piteous letter had arrived, begging for money. He had, through Mr. Hedges, found work on a small Radical paper which soon came to grief, and since then had been practically starving, having had no success as a freelance. A friend of his wanted to start a weekly reviewTory this time, for Albert's politics were subservient to occasionand only required funds. Did Reuben feel prepared to make an investment? Thus poor Albert cloaked and trimmed his begging.For the first time since his father's death he gave suppers at Odiam; once more he spent money on French wines which nobody wanted to drink, and worked his mother and daughters to tears making puddings and pies. He bought a new giga smart turnout, with a sleek, well-bred horse between the shaftsand he refused to let Harry fiddle any more at Fairs and weddings; it was prestige rather than profit that he wanted now.
"For what purpose, then?"But it was useless to expect either Mrs. Backfield or Naomi to appreciate the momentousness of his task. Were women always, he wondered, without ambition?[Pg 56] However, though they did not sympathise, they would not oppose himNaomi because she was not skilful at opposition, his mother because he was gradually taking the place of Harry in her heart."Because you gave those things up of your free willthey were made to give them up by force. You've no right to starve and deny other people as you have to starve and deny yourself."It was her father's fault, he had kept her to work for him, he had starved her purposely of men's societyand now her youth was departing, she was twenty-nine, and she had never heard a man speak words of love, or felt his arms about her, or the sweetness of his lips on hers.The boys were now sixteen and eighteen, fine, manly young fellows, working cheerfully on Odiam and rejoicing their father's heart. Reuben watched over them sometimes with an odd kind of anxietythey were so satisfactory that he felt it could not last. He remembered that conversation he had overheard in the trap on the way home from Rye, and though nothing had happened since to remind him of it or cause him fresh alarm, he could never quite shake off the cold thrills it had given him.
FORE:"And he expects us to care for nothing but his vulgar ambitions. Oh Lord! I wish I was out of it!"