other, Mr William de Burgh Cokane, is probably over 40, possibly
50:
an ill-nourished, scanty-haired gentleman, with affected manners: fidgety, touchy, and constitutionally ridiculous in uncompassionate eyes
.
COKANE [
on the threshold of the hotel, calling peremptorily to the waiter
] Two beers for us out here. [
The waiter goes for the beer. Cokane comes into the garden
]. We have secured the room with the best view in the hotel, Harry, thanks to my tact. Weâll leave in the morning, and do Mainz and Frankfurt. There is a very graceful female statue in the private house of a nobleman in Frankfurt. Also a zoo. Next day, Nuremberg! finest collection of instruments of torture in the world.
TRENCH . All right. You look out the trains, will you? [
He takes a Continental Bradshaw from his pocket, and tosses it on one of the tables
].
COKANE [
baulking himself in the act of sitting down
] Pah! the seat is all dusty. These foreigners are deplorably unclean in their habits.
TRENCH [
buoyantly
] Never mind: it dont matter, old chappie. Buck up, Billy, buck up. Enjoy yourself. [
He throws Cokaneinto the chair, and sits down opposite him, taking out his pipe, and singing noisily
]
Pour out the Rhine wine: let it flow
Like a free and bounding river â
COKANE [
scandalized
] In the name of common decency, Harry, will you remember that you are a Gentleman, and not a coster on Hampstead Heath on Bank Holiday? Would you dream of behaving like this in London?
TRENCH . Oh, rot! Ive come abroad to enjoy myself. So would you if youd just passed an examination after four years in the medical school and walking the hospital. [
He again bursts into song
].
COKANE [
rising
] Trench: either you travel as a gentleman, or you travel alone. This is what makes Englishmen unpopular on the Continent. It may not matter before the natives; but the people who came on board the steamer at Bonn are English. I have been uneasy all the afternoon about what they must think of us. Look at our appearance.
TRENCH . Whats wrong with our appearance?
COKANE . Négligé, my dear fellow, négligé. On the steamboat a little négligé was quite en règle; but here, in this hotel, some of them are sure to dress for dinner; and you have nothing but that Norfolk jacket. How are they to know that you are well connected if you do not shew it by your costume?
TRENCH . Pooh! the steamboat people were the scum of the earth: Americans and all sorts. They may go hang themselves, Billy. I shall not bother about them. [
He strikes a match, and proceeds to light his pipe
].
COKANE . Do drop calling me Billy in public, Trench. My name is Cokane. I am sure they were persons of consequence: you were struck with the distinguished appearance of the father yourself.
TRENCH [
sobered at once
] What! those people? [
He blows out the match and puts up his pipe
].
COKANE [
following up his advantage triumphantly
] Here, Harry, here: at this hotel. I recognised the fatherâs umbrella in the hall.
TRENCH [
with a touch of genuine shame
] I suppose I ought to have brought a change. But a lot of luggage is such a nuisance; and [
rising abruptly
] at all events we can go and have a wash. [
He turns to go into the hotel, but stops in consternation, seeing some people coming up to the riverside gate
]. Oh, I say! Here they are.
A lady and gentleman, followed by a porter with some light parcels, not luggage, but shop purchases, come into the garden. They are apparently father and daughter. The gentleman is
50,
tall, well preserved, and of upright carriage. His incisive, domineering utterance and imposing style, with his strong aquiline nose and resolute clean-shaven mouth, give him an air of importance. He wears a light grey frock-coat with silk linings, a white hat, and a field-glass slung in a new leather case. A self-made man, formidable to servants, not easily accessible to anyone. His daughter is a well-dressed, well-fed, good-looking, strongminded young
50:
an ill-nourished, scanty-haired gentleman, with affected manners: fidgety, touchy, and constitutionally ridiculous in uncompassionate eyes
.
COKANE [
on the threshold of the hotel, calling peremptorily to the waiter
] Two beers for us out here. [
The waiter goes for the beer. Cokane comes into the garden
]. We have secured the room with the best view in the hotel, Harry, thanks to my tact. Weâll leave in the morning, and do Mainz and Frankfurt. There is a very graceful female statue in the private house of a nobleman in Frankfurt. Also a zoo. Next day, Nuremberg! finest collection of instruments of torture in the world.
TRENCH . All right. You look out the trains, will you? [
He takes a Continental Bradshaw from his pocket, and tosses it on one of the tables
].
COKANE [
baulking himself in the act of sitting down
] Pah! the seat is all dusty. These foreigners are deplorably unclean in their habits.
TRENCH [
buoyantly
] Never mind: it dont matter, old chappie. Buck up, Billy, buck up. Enjoy yourself. [
He throws Cokaneinto the chair, and sits down opposite him, taking out his pipe, and singing noisily
]
Pour out the Rhine wine: let it flow
Like a free and bounding river â
COKANE [
scandalized
] In the name of common decency, Harry, will you remember that you are a Gentleman, and not a coster on Hampstead Heath on Bank Holiday? Would you dream of behaving like this in London?
TRENCH . Oh, rot! Ive come abroad to enjoy myself. So would you if youd just passed an examination after four years in the medical school and walking the hospital. [
He again bursts into song
].
COKANE [
rising
] Trench: either you travel as a gentleman, or you travel alone. This is what makes Englishmen unpopular on the Continent. It may not matter before the natives; but the people who came on board the steamer at Bonn are English. I have been uneasy all the afternoon about what they must think of us. Look at our appearance.
TRENCH . Whats wrong with our appearance?
COKANE . Négligé, my dear fellow, négligé. On the steamboat a little négligé was quite en règle; but here, in this hotel, some of them are sure to dress for dinner; and you have nothing but that Norfolk jacket. How are they to know that you are well connected if you do not shew it by your costume?
TRENCH . Pooh! the steamboat people were the scum of the earth: Americans and all sorts. They may go hang themselves, Billy. I shall not bother about them. [
He strikes a match, and proceeds to light his pipe
].
COKANE . Do drop calling me Billy in public, Trench. My name is Cokane. I am sure they were persons of consequence: you were struck with the distinguished appearance of the father yourself.
TRENCH [
sobered at once
] What! those people? [
He blows out the match and puts up his pipe
].
COKANE [
following up his advantage triumphantly
] Here, Harry, here: at this hotel. I recognised the fatherâs umbrella in the hall.
TRENCH [
with a touch of genuine shame
] I suppose I ought to have brought a change. But a lot of luggage is such a nuisance; and [
rising abruptly
] at all events we can go and have a wash. [
He turns to go into the hotel, but stops in consternation, seeing some people coming up to the riverside gate
]. Oh, I say! Here they are.
A lady and gentleman, followed by a porter with some light parcels, not luggage, but shop purchases, come into the garden. They are apparently father and daughter. The gentleman is
50,
tall, well preserved, and of upright carriage. His incisive, domineering utterance and imposing style, with his strong aquiline nose and resolute clean-shaven mouth, give him an air of importance. He wears a light grey frock-coat with silk linings, a white hat, and a field-glass slung in a new leather case. A self-made man, formidable to servants, not easily accessible to anyone. His daughter is a well-dressed, well-fed, good-looking, strongminded young
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