driven to the house in a two-wheeled carriage. The manservant, who had come from London with Lord Spenton, was supercilious and spoke little to Michael in the course of the journey, though he strove to give the impression that he was fully conversant with his master’s wishes and knew the reason for the summons.
Michael had never been to this house before, and a certain awe descended on him as the trap proceeded smartly up the broad driveway and drew up before the great stone façade. He was handed over to another servant, conducted to a sitting room and told to wait. He spent a quarter of an hour in company with furniture of a grandness never before seen. There was an imposing table surmounted by a mirror with lamps on either side fixed on a brass rail and drawers below with lions’ heads carved on them, each lion with a brass ring through its jaws, by means of which, as he supposed, the drawers could be pulled open. There was a smaller table, for which he could see no need, two easy chairs set facing each other with a stool between them so one could either sit or lie, a settee of a type he could scarcely have imagined, specially designed to fit into a corner of a room. The armchair he sat in was deep; the back and sides were thickly padded, and the wings cut off his vision, making him feel strangely enclosed and imprisoned. On the walls were pictures of hills and lakes. The abundance and elaboration and uselessness of the objects in this room made a deep and abiding impression on him.
The servant who had led him here came now to inform him that Lord Spenton was ready to see him. He followed this man down a carpeted corridor, through a small anteroom and then into what he thought must be his lordship’s study, as the walls were lined with books. Spenton was at his desk and without rising waved him to a seat opposite. “Well, young man,” he said, “perhaps you would care for a glass of wine?” Without waiting for an answer he spoke to the servant, who had remained at the door, and asked him to bring a bottle of the white and two glasses.
While they waited for this, Spenton contemplated his guest in silence for some moments, noting the stiffness of his posture as he sat bolt upright in his chair, turning his cap in his hands. “I asked you to come here so I could thank you,” he said. “You played a splendid game yesterday—all who saw you thought so. I was delighted with our win over Pemberton—over Northfield colliery, I mean to say—and I am resolved you shall be our champion again next year.”
Michael uttered thanks for this praise, but the stiffness of his bearing was not relaxed, and Spenton, in an effort to set him more at his ease, began to question him about his family. The intention of kindness was obvious, and Michael was emboldened by it. He spoke about his parents and his brothers, especially Percy, the youngest, who was soon to be going down the mine. “We dinna know how old the lad is, not to the day,” he said. “The births are not written, nor the deaths neither. So my father says come mid-August he shall gan doon.”
Spenton nodded. “Are you walking out with someone?” he said.
“Yes, sir, Elsie Foster. We are plannin’ to wed.”
“You will be getting a barrowman’s pay?”
“Two shillin’ for shiftin’ the stint, sir. It is nay so much to start a family on, but a’m gannin on for twenty-two, a can hope to be cuttin’ the coal soon, an’ then a’ll be on six shillin’.”
“You will make your way, I have no doubt of that. But I would like to help you on a little. I have felt that it would be a fitting way to mark the occasion of our win yesterday.”
At this point the wine was brought in. The servant waited for some moments, but Spenton dismissed him, rose to pour the wine himself and brought Michael’s glass to him, setting it down on the small table beside his guest’s chair. “Here’s to our victory!” he said, raising his glass.
Michael drank and found the taste distinctly agreeable—he had never drunk wine before. He was puzzled by this repetition of “our,” not really seeing how it could be thought of as Lord Spenton’s victory, though of course his lordship had