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290
Zuleika Dobson; Or, An Oxford Love Story
·
Sir Max Beerbohm
107
The
moment
had
come
for
the
removal
of
the
table-cloth.
The
mahogany
of
the
Junta
was
laid
bare--a
clear
dark
lake,
anon
to
reflect
in
its
still
and
ruddy
depths
the
candelabras
and
the
fruit-cradles,
the
slender
glasses
and
the
stout
old
decanters,
the
forfeit-box
and
the
snuff-box,
and
other
paraphernalia
of
the
dignity
of
dessert.
Lucidly,
and
unwaveringly
inverted
in
the
depths
these
good
things
stood;
and,
so
soon
as
the
wine
had
made
its
circuit,
the
Duke
rose
and
with
uplifted
glass
proposed
the
first
of
the
two
toasts
traditional
to
the
Junta.
“Gentlemen,
I
give
you
Church
and
State.”
The
toast
having
been
honoured
by
all--and
by
none
with
a
richer
reverence
than
by
Oover,
despite
his
passionate
mental
reservation
in
favour
of
Pittsburg-Anabaptism
and
the
Republican
Ideal--the
snuff-box
was
handed
round,
and
fruit
was
eaten.
Presently,
when
the
wine
had
gone
round
again,
the
Duke
rose
and
with
uplifted
glass
said
“Gentlemen,
I
give
you--”
and
there
halted.
Silent,
frowning,
flushed,
he
stood
for
a
few
moments,
and
then,
with
a
deliberate
gesture,
tilted
his
glass
and
let
fall
the
wine
to
the
carpet.
“No,”
he
said,
looking
round
the
table,
“I
cannot
give
you
Nellie
O’Mora.”
“Why
not?”
gasped
Sir
John
Marraby.
“You
have
a
right
to
ask
that,”
said
the
Duke,
still
standing.
“I
can
only
say
that
my
conscience
is
stronger
than
my
sense
of
what
is
due
to
the
customs
of
the
club.
Nellie
O’Mora,”
he
said,
passing
his
hand
over
his
brow,
“may
have
been
in
her
day
the
fairest
witch
that
ever
was--so
fair
that
our
founder
had
good
reason
to
suppose
her
the
fairest
witch
that
ever
would
be.
But
his
prediction
was
a
false
one.
So
at
least
it
seems
to
me.
Of
course
I
cannot
both
hold
this
view
and
remain
President
of
this
club.
MacQuern--Marraby--which
of
you
is
Vice-President?”
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