Of Human Bondage (105 page)

  Next day Philip began work again, but the end which
he expected within a few weeks did not come. The weeks passed into
months. The winter wore away, and in the parks the trees burst into
bud and into leaf. A terrible lassitude settled upon Philip. Time
was passing, though it went with such heavy feet, and he thought
that his youth was going and soon he would have lost it and nothing
would have been accomplished. His work seemed more aimless now that
there was the certainty of his leaving it. He became skilful in the
designing of costumes, and though he had no inventive faculty
acquired quickness in the adaptation of French fashions to the
English market. Sometimes he was not displeased with his drawings,
but they always bungled them in the execution. He was amused to
notice that he suffered from a lively irritation when his ideas
were not adequately carried out. He had to walk warily. Whenever he
suggested something original Mr. Sampson turned it down: their
customers did not want anything outre, it was a very respectable
class of business, and when you had a connection of that sort it
wasn't worth while taking liberties with it. Once or twice he spoke
sharply to Philip; he thought the young man was getting a bit above
himself, because Philip's ideas did not always coincide with his
own.

  "You jolly well take care, my fine young fellow, or
one of these days you'll find yourself in the street."

  Philip longed to give him a punch on the nose, but
he restrained himself. After all it could not possibly last much
longer, and then he would he done with all these people for ever.
Sometimes in comic desperation he cried out that his uncle must be
made of iron. What a constitution! The ills he suffered from would
have killed any decent person twelve months before. When at last
the news came that the Vicar was dying Philip, who had been
thinking of other things, was taken by surprise. It was in July,
and in another fortnight he was to have gone for his holiday. He
received a letter from Mrs. Foster to say the doctor did not give
Mr. Carey many days to live, and if Philip wished to see him again
he must come at once. Philip went to the buyer and told him he
wanted to leave. Mr. Sampson was a decent fellow, and when he knew
the circumstances made no difficulties. Philip said good-bye to the
people in his department; the reason of his leaving had spread
among them in an exaggerated form, and they thought he had come
into a fortune. Mrs. Hodges had tears in her eyes when she shook
hands with him.

  "I suppose we shan't often see you again," she
said.

  "I'm glad to get away from Lynn's," he answered.

  It was strange, but he was actually sorry to leave
these people whom he thought he had loathed, and when he drove away
from the house in Harrington Street it was with no exultation. He
had so anticipated the emotions he would experience on this
occasion that now he felt nothing: he was as unconcerned as though
he were going for a few days' holiday.

  "I've got a rotten nature," he said to himself. "I
look forward to things awfully, and then when they come I'm always
disappointed."

  He reached Blackstable early in the afternoon. Mrs.
Foster met him at the door, and her face told him that his uncle
was not yet dead.

  "He's a little better today," she said. "He's got a
wonderful constitution."

  She led him into the bed-room where Mr. Carey lay on
his back. He gave Philip a slight smile, in which was a trace of
satisfied cunning at having circumvented his enemy once more.

  "I thought it was all up with me yesterday," he
said, in an exhausted voice. "They'd all given me up, hadn't you,
Mrs. Foster?"

  "You've got a wonderful constitution, there's no
denying that."

  "There's life in the old dog yet."

  Mrs. Foster said that the Vicar must not talk, it
would tire him; she treated him like a child, with kindly
despotism; and there was something childish in the old man's
satisfaction at having cheated all their expectations. It struck
him at once that Philip had been sent for, and he was amused that
he had been brought on a fool's errand. If he could only avoid
another of his heart attacks he would get well enough in a week or
two; and he had had the attacks several times before; he always
felt as if he were going to die, but he never did. They all talked
of his constitution, but they none of them knew how strong it
was.

  "Are you going to stay a day or two?" He asked
Philip, pretending to believe he had come down for a holiday.

  "I was thinking of it," Philip answered
cheerfully.

  "A breath of sea-air will do you good."

  Presently Dr. Wigram came, and after he had seen the
Vicar talked with Philip. He adopted an appropriate manner.

  "I'm afraid it is the end this time, Philip," he
said. "It'll be a great loss to all of us. I've known him for
five-and-thirty years."

  "He seems well enough now," said Philip.

  "I'm keeping him alive on drugs, but it can't last.
It was dreadful these last two days, I thought he was dead half a
dozen times."

  The doctor was silent for a minute or two, but at
the gate he said suddenly to Philip:

  "Has Mrs. Foster said anything to you?"

  "What d'you mean?"

  "They're very superstitious, these people: she's got
hold of an idea that he's got something on his mind, and he can't
die till he gets rid of it; and he can't bring himself to confess
it."

  Philip did not answer, and the doctor went on.

  "Of course it's nonsense. He's led a very good life,
he's done his duty, he's been a good parish priest, and I'm sure we
shall all miss him; he can't have anything to reproach himself
with. I very much doubt whether the next vicar will suit us half so
well."

  For several days Mr. Carey continued without change.
His appetite which had been excellent left him, and he could eat
little. Dr. Wigram did not hesitate now to still the pain of the
neuritis which tormented him; and that, with the constant shaking
of his palsied limbs, was gradually exhausting him. His mind
remained clear. Philip and Mrs. Foster nursed him between them. She
was so tired by the many months during which she had been attentive
to all his wants that Philip insisted on sitting up with the
patient so that she might have her night's rest. He passed the long
hours in an arm-chair so that he should not sleep soundly, and read
by the light of shaded candles The Thousand and One Nights. He had
not read them since he was a little boy, and they brought back his
childhood to him. Sometimes he sat and listened to the silence of
the night. When the effects of the opiate wore off Mr. Carey grew
restless and kept him constantly busy.

  At last, early one morning, when the birds were
chattering noisily in the trees, he heard his name called. He went
up to the bed. Mr. Carey was lying on his back, with his eyes
looking at the ceiling; he did not turn them on Philip. Philip saw
that sweat was on his forehead, and he took a towel and wiped
it.

  "Is that you, Philip?" the old man asked.

  Philip was startled because the voice was suddenly
changed. It was hoarse and low. So would a man speak if he was cold
with fear.

  "Yes, d'you want anything?"

  There was a pause, and still the unseeing eyes
stared at the ceiling. Then a twitch passed over the face.

  "I think I'm going to die," he said.

  "Oh, what nonsense!" cried Philip. "You're not going
to die for years."

  Two tears were wrung from the old man's eyes. They
moved Philip horribly. His uncle had never betrayed any particular
emotion in the affairs of life; and it was dreadful to see them
now, for they signified a terror that was unspeakable.

  "Send for Mr. Simmonds," he said. "I want to take
the Communion."

  Mr. Simmonds was the curate.

  "Now?" asked Philip.

  "Soon, or else it'll be too late."

  Philip went to awake Mrs. Foster, but it was later
than he thought and she was up already. He told her to send the
gardener with a message, and he went back to his uncle's room.

  "Have you sent for Mr. Simmonds?"

  "Yes."

  There was a silence. Philip sat by the bed-side, and
occasionally wiped the sweating forehead.

  "Let me hold your hand, Philip," the old man said at
last.

  Philip gave him his hand and he clung to it as to
life, for comfort in his extremity. Perhaps he had never really
loved anyone in all his days, but now he turned instinctively to a
human being. His hand was wet and cold. It grasped Philip's with
feeble, despairing energy. The old man was fighting with the fear
of death. And Philip thought that all must go through that. Oh, how
monstrous it was, and they could believe in a God that allowed his
creatures to suffer such a cruel torture! He had never cared for
his uncle, and for two years he had longed every day for his death;
but now he could not overcome the compassion that filled his heart.
What a price it was to pay for being other than the beasts!

  They remained in silence broken only once by a low
inquiry from Mr. Carey.

  "Hasn't he come yet?"

  At last the housekeeper came in softly to say that
Mr. Simmonds was there. He carried a bag in which were his surplice
and his hood. Mrs. Foster brought the communion plate. Mr. Simmonds
shook hands silently with Philip, and then with professional
gravity went to the sick man's side. Philip and the maid went out
of the room.

  Philip walked round the garden all fresh and dewy in
the morning. The birds were singing gaily. The sky was blue, but
the air, salt-laden, was sweet and cool. The roses were in full
bloom. The green of the trees, the green of the lawns, was eager
and brilliant. Philip walked, and as he walked he thought of the
mystery which was proceeding in that bedroom. It gave him a
peculiar emotion. Presently Mrs. Foster came out to him and said
that his uncle wished to see him. The curate was putting his things
back into the black bag. The sick man turned his head a little and
greeted him with a smile. Philip was astonished, for there was a
change in him, an extraordinary change; his eyes had no longer the
terror-stricken look, and the pinching of his face had gone: he
looked happy and serene.

  "I'm quite prepared now," he said, and his voice had
a different tone in it. "When the Lord sees fit to call me I am
ready to give my soul into his hands."

  Philip did not speak. He could see that his uncle
was sincere. It was almost a miracle. He had taken the body and
blood of his Savior, and they had given him strength so that he no
longer feared the inevitable passage into the night. He knew he was
going to die: he was resigned. He only said one thing more:

  "I shall rejoin my dear wife."

  It startled Philip. He remembered with what a
callous selfishness his uncle had treated her, how obtuse he had
been to her humble, devoted love. The curate, deeply moved, went
away and Mrs. Foster, weeping, accompanied him to the door. Mr.
Carey, exhausted by his effort, fell into a light doze, and Philip
sat down by the bed and waited for the end. The morning wore on,
and the old man's breathing grew stertorous. The doctor came and
said he was dying. He was unconscious and he pecked feebly at the
sheets; he was restless and he cried out. Dr. Wigram gave him a
hypodermic injection.

  "It can't do any good now, he may die at any
moment."

  The doctor looked at his watch and then at the
patient. Philip saw that it was one o'clock. Dr. Wigram was
thinking of his dinner.

  "It's no use your waiting," he said.

  "There's nothing I can do," said the doctor.

  When he was gone Mrs. Foster asked Philip if he
would go to the carpenter, who was also the undertaker, and tell
him to send up a woman to lay out the body.

  "You want a little fresh air," she said, "it'll do
you good."

  The undertaker lived half a mile away. When Philip
gave him his message, he said:

  "When did the poor old gentleman die?"

  Philip hesitated. It occurred to him that it would
seem brutal to fetch a woman to wash the body while his uncle still
lived, and he wondered why Mrs. Foster had asked him to come. They
would think he was in a great hurry to kill the old man off. He
thought the undertaker looked at him oddly. He repeated the
question. It irritated Philip. It was no business of his.

  "When did the Vicar pass away?"

  Philip's first impulse was to say that it had just
happened, but then it would seem inexplicable if the sick man
lingered for several hours. He reddened and answered awkwardly.

  "Oh, he isn't exactly dead yet."

  The undertaker looked at him in perplexity, and he
hurried to explain.

  "Mrs. Foster is all alone and she wants a woman
there. You understood, don't you? He may be dead by now."