Page 215 - lady-chatterlys-lover

Chapter 11

onnie was sorting out one of the Wragby lumber rooms.
CThere were several: the house was a warren, and the
family never sold anything. Sir Geoffery’s father had liked
pictures and Sir Geoffery’s mother had liked CINQUECEN-
TO furniture. Sir Geoffery himself had liked old carved oak
chests, vestry chests. So it went on through the generations.
Clifford collected very modern pictures, at very moderate
prices.
So in the lumber room there were bad Sir Edwin Land-
seers and pathetic William Henry Hunt birds’ nests: and
other Academy stuff, enough to frighten the daughter of an
R.A. She determined to look through it one day, and clear it
all. And the grotesque furniture interested her.
Wrapped up carefully to preserve it from damage and
dry-rot was the old family cradle, of rosewood. She had to
unwrap it, to look at it. It had a certain charm: she looked
at it a longtime.
’It’s thousand pities it won’t be called for,’ sighed Mrs
Bolton, who was helping. ‘Though cradles like that are out
of date nowadays.’
’It might be called for. I might have a child,’ said Connie
casually, as if saying she might have a new hat.
’You mean if anything happened to Sir Clifford!’ stam-
mered Mrs Bolton.

1 Lady Chatterly’s Lover