Page 381 - lady-chatterlys-lover

Their host was a heavy, rather coarse Scotchman who
had made a good fortune in Italy before the war, and had
been knighted for his ultrapatriotism during the war. His
wife was a thin, pale, sharp kind of person with no fortune
of her own, and the misfortune of having to regulate her
husband’s rather sordid amorous exploits. He was terribly
tiresome with the servants. But having had a slight stroke
during the winter, he was now more manageable.
The house was pretty full. Besides Sir Malcolm and his
two daughters, there were seven more people, a Scotch cou-
ple, again with two daughters; a young Italian Contessa, a
widow; a young Georgian prince, and a youngish English
clergyman who had had pneumonia and was being chaplain
to Sir Alexander for his health’s sake. The prince was penni-
less, good-looking, would make an excellent chauffeur, with
the necessary impudence, and basta! The Contessa was a
quiet little puss with a game on somewhere. The clergyman
was a raw simple fellow from a Bucks vicarage: luckily he
had left his wife and two children at home. And the Guth-
ries, the family of four, were good solid Edinburgh middle
class, enjoying everything in a solid fashion, and daring ev-
erything while risking nothing.
Connie and Hilda ruled out the prince at once. The
Guthries were more or less their own sort, substantial, hut
boring: and the girls wanted husbands. The chaplain was
not a had fellow, but too deferential. Sir Alexander, after
his slight stroke, had a terrible heaviness his joviality, but
he was still thrilled at the presence of so many handsome
young women. Lady Cooper was a quiet, catty person who

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