The big man gave me a big hand, which felt hot and
damp.
Hes only mad in so far as all genius is mad. Theyre
the devil, those ancestors,always trying to get you back into their own rut. He was
lookingat us all this morning with the queerest appraising eyes. This is going to be
a very peaceful party.
He was the son of aparson in Northumberland, poor
as a church mouse, so he had toeducate himself.
Such was the result of theresearches to which he
had dedicated the last ten years of hislife.
So have I, said the other, and we shook
hands.
Are you afraid that hell die on yourhands? He had
been given the Nobel Prize years ago, and wasundoubtedly the greatest mathematician
alive. But aswe reached the brink a nightingale began in the next thicket. I changed
into breeches, cut afew sandwiches, and set out for the high Downs. Our host, for
example, andthe boys and girls who are now dancing.
Hes very ill, but I dont think hell diejust
yet.
But Iwant you to be guided by me, and if I think
the thing fishy to callit off.
His company might prove the tonic I required. In
the stillness thefaint echo of music drifted to us from the house.
Itwasnt your beaux yeux, Ned, that he fell for, but
your reputationas a lawyer. Bob,she said, this is Sir Edward Leithen. You havenot
understood my exposition, he said.
Thank God, I could still get back when I pleased
tothe ancient world of pastoral. I asked him what form his experiment would take.
She insists, that gracious one, that I must go tobed, for I am still weary. He had
been given the Nobel Prize years ago, and wasundoubtedly the greatest mathematician
alive.
His life was so padded and cosseted and
bovine.
Sally was speaking again, as she collected
eyes.
And he quoted Wordsworths line about
Voyagingthrough strange seas of thought alone. Icaught a glimpse of Pamela patting
her hair as she passed a mirror,slim and swift as a dryad. Theres a moon of sorts,
andthe nightingales will soon begin.
Sally was speaking again, as she collected
eyes.
He has publishedand presented me with several works
which I found totallyincomprehensible.
III did not have a good night; I rarely do when I
have beenoverworking.
He had still his spurs to win, whereas I had won
mine, and I didntlike the fit of them. I must say that this rather impressed me.
There must be a certain physical preparation.