‘Were you going to see Harriet?’ John Robert was controlling himself, Tom could hear his slow deep breathing and the expulsion of his breath between his teeth.
Tom hesitated, then said, ‘Yes - but — ’
‘So late at night? Had she invited you?’
‘No - it wasn’t all that late - I mean — ’
‘The Green Man closes at ten, ten-thirty?’
‘Well, all right, I wasn’t going to call on her like, I just wanted to - to go there — ’
‘To go there?’
‘I don’t know what I wanted, I was drunk.’
‘I see.’
‘Then all the others followed, they thought there was a party.’
‘Had you arranged a party?’
‘No— ’
‘Why did they think there was a party?’
‘Because I said so — ’
‘You said so — ’
‘Yes, but only sort of to put them off, to get away - I pretended I had to go to a party - and then - well, then there was a party - I didn’t intend it - and once they were there I couldn’t get them to leave. It wasn’t my fault. I’m very sorry indeed about it all. I’ve been writing a letter of apology to Miss Meynell — ’
‘Why are you apologizing if it wasn’t your fault?’
‘Well, I suppose it was my fault because it was offensive but not intentionally — ’ Awful unclarified feelings of guilt had been confusing Tom’s mind. He seemed somehow to have brought about, and yet how, an absolute mountain of complicated events. He had wanted to run to see Hattie but did not dare to. He had been trying to compose a letter to her but found it too difficult. He was indeed only at that very moment realizing the full enormity of the situation.
The familiar process of question and answer had made Rozanov less agitated. At first he had hardly been able to speak. He said, ‘You brought George there, you introduced him into the house.’
‘I didn’t, I swear it! I don’t know how George came into it, he must have arrived by accident.’
‘Were you in the house?’
‘No.’
‘But he was.’
‘Yes, but I don’t know how he got in - then we - we shouted at him and made him go.’
‘And were all those people there, Mrs Sedleigh and men dressed as women?’
‘Yes, well, one anyway, but it was just a lark — ’
‘A lark? Are you in your right mind?’
‘I know it’s awful but it wasn’t my fault, all that other stuff was made up by the paper.’
‘Are you suggesting that they simply invented the idea that — ’ John Robert leaned back against the door and opened his wet frothy mouth like an animal.
Tom was now almost crying with fear and distress. He said, wailing it out, ‘I did nothing wrong!’
Rozanov said with difficulty, ‘Are you suggesting that the newspapers invented the idea that I had - said that you might - that you and Harriet might - that I wanted you to be together?’
There was something pitifully awfully sad in the utterance of those words; and it was only at that moment that Tom fully realized what a terrible position he was in. He had been facing the philosopher, but now lowered his head. He mumbled, ‘I don’t know what made them say that.’
‘Don’t you? You told somebody - what I told you not to tell — ’
‘No-’
‘You told somebody.’
‘Well, yes I told one person.’
‘Who?’
‘My friend Scarlett-Taylor, but — ’
‘You said - you promised - not to tell anyone — ’
‘I’m sorry, I’m very very sorry, if you knew how sorry you would be less angry with me - I don’t know how it got around - it can’t have been him - perhaps they really did make it up — ’
‘Do you realize the terrible harm you have done to Harriet and to me, terrible irreparable harm?’
‘Surely not,’ said Tom. ‘This is some stupid impertinent rubbish in a local paper, people will laugh at it.’
‘Do you imagine that I like being laughed at? Do you think that I lightly ignore the fact that you have made a fool of me, a laughing stock? That something so very private has been made into a vulgar joke —?’
Rozanov took a step forward and Tom flinched toward the corner of the room - standing in the corner, he leaned back against the wall. He said, ‘I am very sorry, I’ve said that. What more can I say? It’s a piece of nonsense.’
‘My grand-daughter’s name dishonoured in public and you call it nonsense?’
‘I don’t see that it can harm Hattie in any way.’
‘Do not call her Hattie!’
‘Well, Harriet, Miss Meynell, whatever you like, I dare say it hurts you - your - your self-esteem - but you’ll soon recover - and it needn’t bother her, it’s all temporary — ’
John Robert lunged out one hand, picked up a small china dog from the sideboard and smashed it with tremendous force into the grate. The fragments flew about the floor. He said, ‘Have you read those two articles?’
In fact Tom had not seen the article in The Swimmer at all and had not read the Gazette article with close attention. He had read it through with horror and disgust and then torn it up in case he should be tempted to distress himself further by looking at it again. He said, ‘I sort of read that, not carefully - I haven’t seen the other one — ’
‘Well, read them now please. Sit down at the table and read them. Sit down.’
Tom sat down on a chair beside the table. He read the Gazette article. It took him some time to do so because he found that he could not see, the print was fuzzy and unclear and he had to keep blinking his eyes and reading each sentence twice over. He then read the article in The Swimmer which Rozanov had spread out beside him. When he had first read the Gazette Tom’s eye had passed over the bit about ‘professorial prompting’ and he had vaguely understood it but without taking in the accompanying innuendo. His appalled reaction had been to the account of ‘a drunken riot’ and he had winced at the connection of his own name with those of Hattie and Rozanov. But even on that he had not reflected fully. He had thought, it’s only a piece of blatantly shameless gossip in a local paper, no one will take it in or understand it, they’ll simply think it’s crazy, and I don’t imagine John Robert will even see it. His thoughts had fled at once to Hattie and what on earth he was to say to her after that horrid scene. But now … He read the other article. He put his hands up to his blazing hot face. He said, ‘I hadn’t fully taken it in. I see now. But it’s all a lot of lies and inventions. It’s such awful stuff - can’t one do anything, can’t we make them say it isn’t true —?’
While he was reading, John Robert had sat down opposite him at the table, watching him. ‘No, of course we can’t do anything. I hope you see now the extent of what your treachery has done, to her, and to me, what hurt, what distress, what irrevocable damage you have brought about.’
Tom said feebly, not looking up, ‘I do assure you nothing was given away through me. They must have invented it all. Of course it’s horrible - but no one will believe it - and later on it’ll all blow away and be forgotten - nobody cares these days about things like that anyway.’
‘You speak with a foul tongue,’ said Rozanov. ‘I should have realized that you are like your brother, a filthy-minded self-obsessed cynic and a pitiful idiot. And you appear to be his drinking companion and lieutenant.’