It was to be an amiable and
brotherly relation, with a frank confidence and an outspoken
affection. He lost his old tranquil spirits in these reveries. It
was painful to him to find how difficult it was becoming to talk to
the undergraduates; his mild and jocose ironies seemed to have
deserted him. He saw little of Jack; they were elaborately
unaffected with each other, but each felt that there had been a
sort of exposure, and it seemed impossible to regain the old
relation.
One morning he had an unpleasant surprise. The Dean of the College,
Mr. Gretton, a tall, rather grimly handsome man, who was immensely
conscientious and laborious, and did his work as well as a virtuous
man could, who was not interested in education, and frankly bored
by the irresponsibility of undergraduates, walked into his rooms
one morning and said, "I hope I don't interrupt you? I want to have
a word with you about Sandys, as he is your cousin. There was a
dinner in College last night--a club, I think--Guthrie and that
lot--and Sandys got undeniably drunk. They were making a horrible
row about two o'clock, and I went down and dispersed them. There
were some outside men there whose names I took; but Sandys was
quite out of control, and spoke very impertinently to me. He must
come and apologise, or I shall ask that he may be sent down. He is
a respectable man on the whole, so I shall not push it to extremes.
But he will be gated, of course, and I shall write to his father.
Pages:
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149