The Present and the Past Read Online Free Page A

latter’s eyes, and he ate industriously.
    â€˜Very good boy,’ he said, appealing to Bennet.
    â€˜Yes, if you eat your dinner.’
    Toby returned to his plate, but misliking the scraps left upon it, took it in both hands and threw it after the spoon. It broke and he fell into mirth.
    â€˜Dear, dear, what a naughty thing to do!’ said Eliza.
    Toby was lost in his emotion.
    Henry and Megan picked up the pieces and broke them, to divert him further. The method succeeded too well, and he showed signs of hysteria and exhaustion.
    â€˜No, no, go back to your seats,’ said Bennet. ‘He will be upset.’
    Henry threw down the last fragment, and Toby’s mirth brought a look of perplexity to his own face as to its pleasurable nature.
    â€˜Now look at the plate all in pieces,’ said Eliza. ‘It was unkind of Toby.’
    â€˜It likes it,’ said the latter after a moment’s inspection. ‘Only one plate. Now three, five, sixteen.’
    â€˜No, it does not like it. How would Toby like to be broken?’
    â€˜Toby little boy.’
    â€˜Will he eat that pudding?’ said Bennet. ‘It will be safer not to try.’
    â€˜After all that,’ said Eliza.
    Toby looked up in a frowning manner, and after a minute of watching the pudding disappear, made signs of peremptory demand. He was given a portion and ate it without help, scraping his plate and setting down his spoon with precision. Then he gave a reminiscent giggle.
    â€˜Another plate.’
    â€˜You have one in front of you,’ said Henry.
    â€˜Oh, no,’ said Toby.
    â€˜You are a good boy not to throw it,’ said Eliza.
    â€˜Not throw it. Oh, no. Poor plate.’
    â€˜You are too big to be so naughty,’ said Bennet to Henry. ‘Toby sets you an example.’
    â€˜You always tell us to amuse him,’ said Megan, ‘and nothing has ever amused him so much.’
    â€˜Amuse him,’ said Toby. ‘Toby laugh, didn’t he?’
    â€˜Why did he think it was so funny?’ said Megan.
    Toby looked up as if interested in the response.
    â€˜He has a sense of humour like a savage,’ said Henry.
    â€˜No,’ said his brother.
    â€˜Savages laugh when the others’ heads are blown off, even when their own are just going to be. Their minds are like Toby’s.’
    â€˜Or like yours, when you told him about the plate,’ said Eliza, with simply disparaging intent.
    â€˜Henry,’ said Toby, in agreement with this criticism. ‘Dear Toby!’
    â€˜Now, you must be ready to go downstairs,’ said Bennet, rising and laying hands on Megan.
    â€˜Can’t we send down word that I am not very well?’
    Bennet continued her ministrations without reply.
    â€˜Dear Toby!’ said the latter, leaning towards Bennet in insistence on this point of view.
    â€˜Yes, yes, dear Toby!’
    Toby relapsed into his own pursuits, and wrapping his bib round his mug, rocked it to and fro.
    â€˜The mug would break, if you threw it down,’ said Henry. Toby raised a warning finger and hushed the mug in his arms.

Chapter 2
    â€˜Another meal!’ said Cassius Clare, coming to the luncheon table. ‘The same faces, the same voices, the same things said. I daresay the same food.’
    â€˜You should provide another voice and face,’ said his father. ‘You set the example of always bringing your own.’
    â€˜I wonder if we could dispense with meals,’ said Cassius, using a sincere tone.
    â€˜And what is your conclusion?’
    â€˜We might perhaps dispense with luncheon. The children have it upstairs, and older people do not need so much to eat.’
    â€˜Any arrangement you wish could be made in your case.’
    â€˜Perhaps you are too old to go so long without food.’
    â€˜I could have a tray in my room. That would be in accordance with my age.’
    â€˜And then there would only be your own face,’