The old man was silent, and she saw that so much talk had exhausted him. “Shall we call a cab?” she asked.
But he was looking at her curiously; and now, disregarding her question, he spoke in a new tone. “I have sometimes wondered – wondered, here in my isolated situation – whether anybody knew, or guessed. Will you forgive me if I put that question to you, who have so profound a knowledge, it is clear, of modern literature? Had you guessed?”
She shook her head, smiling. “If I had, Garth and Anthea would have been spared something. But I had, of course, wondered.”
“Wondered?”
“Rather as Henry James does, in a letter you may know, when Mark Lambert’s The Cosmopolitans comes at him out of the blue. Looked at closely, Lambert’s golden decade is a decidedly odd piece of literary history.”
He shook his head, puzzled. “I must accept what you say. But I don’t know why it should be so. Mark so evidently possessed genius. Everybody saw it in him.”
“Perhaps so. But there’s another thing. Have you ever studied the last few pages of the Settignano Memorandum Book? They are full of projects still. Nobody will ever be able to deny Mark Lambert those. But here at the end of his life the projects nearly all involve writers or artists. And a surprising number of them touch upon literary or artistic deception.”
Wendell Dauncey made a swift gesture of distress. “But please! That is not a word—”
“I am sorry.” Miss Bave felt real compunction. “But what most interests me is what I have called the fable. It illustrates—does it not?—a simple truth. The artist who would see life whole must always distance it. That is what, at the close of The End of It All, you were failing to do. There are things in Lucia’s Changeling that remind me of Shakespeare’s sonnets. But in The End of It All you run into feelings that are immediate and therefore intractable. What I thought of as I read it was Meredith’s Modern Love.”
“Ah, Meredith!”
He had wonderfully smiled. It was as if a cloud had drifted away from before some mild radiance – and she thought, oddly, of Galileo, waiting in these valleys for just such a moment, patient beside his glass.
“Meredith was the favourite poet of my later boyhood – and how strange, how pleasing, to hear any one speak of him now. On Modern Love I agree with you. But what shall we say of The Woods of Westermain?’
When Anthea and Garth returned from San Miniato it was to find two old people placidly talking outmoded poetry. They stood for a moment, disregarded; then they glanced at each other comically and stole away. They ran down the steps together, making for the river. At the bottom Anthea came to a sudden halt, and turned to him. “Garth,” she said, “shall we really go to Rome?”
He looked at her seriously. “Indeed we will. Isn’t it the eternal city?”
Endnotes
[1] Lambert’s return to Settignano appears to have been on the twenty-eighth of August. — C.S.
[2] The ninth of September—and the day immediately following the visit by “D”. — C.S.
Works of J.I.M. Stewart
‘Staircase in Surrey’ Quintet
These titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels
The Gaudy (1974)
Young Pattullo (1975)
Memorial Service (1976)
The Madonna of the Astrolabe (1977)
Full Term (1978)
Other Works
Published or to be published by House of Stratus
A. Novels
Mark Lambert’s Supper (1954)
The Guardians (1955)
A Use of Riches (1957)
The Man Who Won the Pools (1961)
The Last Tresilians (1963)
An Acre of Grass (1965)
The Aylwins (1966)
Vanderlyn’s Kingdom (1967)
Avery’s Mission (1971)
A Palace of Art (1972)
Mungo’s Dream (1973)
Andrew and Tobias (1980)
A Villa in France (1982)
An Open Prison (1984)
The Naylors (1985)
B. Short Story Collections
The Man Who Wrote Detective Stories (1959)
Cucumber Sandwiches (1969)
Our England Is a Garden (1979)
The Bridge at Arta (1981)
My Aunt Christina (1983)
Parlour Four (1984)
C. Non-fiction
Educating the Emotions (1944)
Character and Motive in Shakespeare (1949)
James Joyce (1957)
Eight Modern Writers (1963)
Thomas Love Peacock (1963)
Rudyard Kipling (1966)
Joseph Conrad (1968)
Shakespeare’s Lofty Scene (1971)
Thomas Hardy: A Critical Biography (1971)
Plus a further 48 Titles published under the pseudonym ‘Michael Innes’
Select Synopses
Staircase in Surrey
The Gaudy
The first volume in J.I.M. Stewart’s acclaimed ‘A Staircase in Surrey’ quintet, (but the second in time), ‘The Gaudy’ opens in Oxford at the eponymous annual dinner laid on by the Fellows for past members. Distinguished guests, including the Chancellor (a former Prime Minister) are present and Duncan Pattullo, now also qualified to attend, gets to meet some of his friends and enemies from undergraduate days. As the evening wears on, Duncan finds himself embroiled in many of the difficulties and problems faced by some of them, including Lord Marchpayne, now a Cabinet Minister; another Don, Ranald McKenechnie; and Gavin Mogridge who is famous for an account he wrote of his adventures in a South American jungle. But it doesn’t stop there, as Pattullo acquires a few problems of his own and throughout the evening and the next day various odd developments just add to his difficulties, leading him to take stock of both his past and future.
Young Pattullo
This is the second of the ‘A Staircase in Surrey’ quintet, and the first in chronological order. Duncan Pattullo arrives in Oxford, destined to be housed off the quadrangle his father has chosen simply for its architectural and visual appeal. On the staircase in Surrey, Duncan meets those who are to become his new friends and companions, and there occurs all of the usual student antics and digressions, described by Stewart with his characteristic wit, to amuse and enthral the reader. After a punting accident, however, the girl who is in love with Duncan suffers as a result of his self-sacrificing actions. His cousin, Anna, is also involved in an affair, but she withholds the name of her lover, despite being pregnant. This particular twist reaches an ironical conclusion towards the end of the novel, in another of Stewart’s favourite locations; Italy. Indeed, Young Pattullo covers all of the writer’s favourite subjects and places; the arts, learning, mystery and intrigue, whilst ranging from his much loved Oxford, through Scotland and the inevitable Italian venue. This second volume of the acclaimed series can be read in order, or as a standalone novel.
Memorial Service
This is the third novel in the Oxford quintet entitled ‘Staircase in Surrey’. Duncan Pattullo returns in middle age to his old college. The Provost is heavily engaged in trying to secure a benefaction from a charitable trust which the old and outrageous Cedric Mumford influences. One significant complication is the presence in college of Ivo Mumford, Cedric’s grandson. He is badly behaved and far from a credit to the college. His magazine, ‘Priapus’ proves to be wholly objectionable. Stewart explores the nature of the complicated relationships between the characters with his usual wit, literary style and intellectual precision and turns what might otherwise be a very common and ordinary situation into something that will grip the reader from cover to cover.
The Madonna of the Astrolabe
In the fourth of J.I.M. Stewart’s acclaimed ‘Staircase in Surrey’ quintet the gravity of a surveyor’s report given to the Governing Body is the initial focus. The document is alarming. The Governing Body, an assembly of which Pattullo was in awe, was equally awed by the dimensions of the c
risis revealed. It would seem that the consideration was whether there would literally be a roof over their heads for much longer. The first rumblings from the college tower brings the thought well and truly home to Pattullo. ‘Professor Sanctuary,’ the Provost said evenly, ‘favours the immediate launching of an appeal . . .’ And so it begins . . . In J.I.M. Stewart’s superbly melding of wit, mystery, observation and literary prowess a gripping novel develops that will enthral the reader from cover to cover. This can be read as part of the series, or as a standalone novel.
Full Term
The final volume in the ‘A Staircase in Surrey’ quintet. Duncan Pattullo is coming to the end of his term as ‘narrator’ and is thinking of re-marrying, although his former wife continues to cause difficulties. His intended is also providing gossip for the college, but that is as nothing compared to the scandal caused by Watershute, an eminent nuclear physicist. His misdemeanours range from abandoning his family and conducting an affair in Venice, to being drunk at High Table. However, things get very serious when he appears to be involved in activities that might amount to treason. An interesting and convoluted plot, which is a fitting end to this acclaimed series, is carried forward with J.I.M. Stewart’s hallmark skill and wit. Full Term can be read in order, or as a standalone novel.
Other Fiction
Andrew and Tobias
The Feltons are a family with a long lineage stretching back beyond the Norman Conquest. They now have a daughter, Ianthe, but prior to her birth Tobias, or Toby, was fostered and then adopted as their heir after he had miraculously survived the sinking of a refugee ship by a German U-Boat. Then, someone who is clearly Toby’s twin turns up as an under-gardener. He had been fostered by a Scottish couple, now dead. There is now general and disturbed confusion on everyone’s part – including the boys themselves. Stewart explores magnificently the nature of the complicated relationships, including those from outside of the family such as Toby’s lover; the irony of the situation; and the many ramifications of class and culture in the absurd situation the characters find themselves.
Avery’s Mission
Bannerman is a schoolmaster on his way to Florence to do some research. On the plane, he meets a recent pupil, Avery Brenton, who is travelling to see his divorced father. However, Avery is young and naïve and is being unwittingly used by his domineering mother. Bannerman finds himself being drawn into matters. Avery’s father is working on a lifetime study of Italian art and is not that pleased to see him. Enter Mrs Mountpatrick, a friend of Avery’s mother, along with another youth who is helping his father. Very soon, a delightfully entangled and complex situation develops, only to be exacerbated by the arrival of Avery’s mother, a dominatrix who uses sex-appeal and a natural upper class manner to exert her will. The tale is told by Bannerman as narrator and is full of suspense to delight the reader right up to the unexpected end.
The Aylwins
This novel yields high comedy and mystery surrounding an Oxford College, told by a schoolmaster narrator, and written by J.I.M. Stewart, himself an Oxford Don and master of dry wit and surprise. Supported by his wife, Arthur Aylwin’s desires to be Provost of the College – so much so he is prepared to give up a University Chair so as to achieve it - but there are family scandals and other prejudices and situations to deal with. The reader is drawn into the closed, but convivial atmosphere of college life, described by Stewart himself as ‘impressively circumstanced in relation to the outside world’. The finale nonetheless takes place in Perugia, after an unexpected meeting.
Bridge At Arta
Lady Cameron and Charles Hornett had been married some fifty years before, but Hornett has now forgotten all about it. Embarrassment is therefore evident when they find themselves as part of a party holidaying in Greece. Meanwhile, the Balmaynes realise they nothing about Roland Redpath, who is about to marry their daughter, but he is in fact the son of their onetime dishonest butler. But that isn’t the end of it, as yet more shocks and surprises are forthcoming as the story unfolds. In other stories in the collection there is a hitherto unknown Wordsworth manuscript and sensational development with regard to Coleridge. We are also taken to Vienna and to a rural location in an effort to reveal the identity of an arsonist. Full of wit, humour and suspense, these stories bear all of the hallmarks of the expected first class Stewart penmanship.
Cucumber Sandwiches
In ‘Laon and Cythna’ scandals are to be avoided following the death of Lord Lucius, but what emerges is more mysterious – the legend of a past relative who fell in love with a peasant girl, and a more recent deathbed confession by the heir’s mother. This is a ‘ghost’ story in the best traditions of that genre. In ‘Cucumber Sandwiches’ an Oxford don’s researches put him on the trail of a youthful indiscretion of a famous Victorian novelist. In ‘The Men’ we meet another don who strays into what he perceives as the alarming world of young people, whilst in ‘A Change of Heart’ strange and macabre events follow the grafting of a finger and thumb, from another patients amputated arm, when Michael Firth awakes in hospital after a car accident.
The Guardians
Willard Quail, an American citizen, re-visits Oxford many years after leaving the University so as to look after railroad and other businesses following the death of his father. Now, he meets old acquaintances, such as a former tutor, old Dr. Stringfellow, and comes into contact with a convoluted and seemingly connected bunch of people as he pursues the Fontaney Journals. Quail’s motive and purpose in making the journey may not be immediately apparent, but with his usual wit and skill J.I.M. Stewart leads the reader to the story’s satisfying conclusion. As for Quail? Well, he returns to New York. Mission accomplished?
The Man Who Won The Pools
Phil Tombs’s wins almost a quarter of a million pounds. Many try to take for a ride and relive him of his new found fortune, but Phil is no fool, and he makes an enterprising and amusing hero as he learns the social nuances and the power of money, going from one adventure to another with what has been described as ‘proletarian gusto’. In this entertaining novel, J.I.M. Stewart depicts the social pitfalls for an ordinary person assuming riches and how basic instincts and sense prevail so as to permit him to weave his way through.
The Man Who Wrote Detective Stories
In ‘The Man Who Wrote Detective Stories’ an emissary from Scotland Yard visits Freddie Seston in Venice, who happens to have bumped in to an old school friend, now a QC. Freddie is the supposed secret author, under a pseudonym, of a string of novels. Now, a murder has been committed using the same methodology as in one of the books. The only problem is, that title has not yet been published …. In this, and three other stories within this volume, J.I.M. Stewart does not disappoint, writing with his usual clarity and wit, along with the mystery and surprise readers have become accustomed to through the titles published under the his own pseudonym of ‘Michael Innes’.
Mark Lambert’s Supper
Mark Lambert, one of the finest authors of his generation, is dead and his final masterpiece is missing. Dauncey and Lambert’s daughter both believe it to be in Italy, but in an effort to recover it there they face adventure and secrets never dreamed of. How far away is danger? This is a masterly work from J.I.M. Stewart, with all of his expected twists and turns for the reader, right up to his usual satisfying end.
Mungo’s Dream
Mungo Lockhart goes up to Oxford and find himself sharing a room with the Honourable Ian Cardower, who is heir to a rich title and estate. Unimpressed by rank or riches, Mungo is nonetheless wary in his exchanges with Cardower, and this is reciprocated. However, the two do become good friends and Cardower takes Mungo on visits to his parents’ home, to visit the head of the family, Lord Audlearn at Bamberton Court – a stately home in the grand style – and then to Mallachie, the true family seat, where the eldest son Lord Brightmony lives in splendid isolation, save for his companion; Leonard Sedley, sometime novelist. All seems well, except for Mungo noticing the interest shown by the famil
y in a young Scots boy of uncertain parentage. The story takes on an obvious twist with the usual suspicions and uncertainties mounting, lawyers being called in, and general acrimony, but the final crisis and confrontation is of a surprising nature and an unusual explanation unfolds. On the way, Stewart of course introduces sub-plots and high comedy in his usual literary style. The novel is thought provoking, teasing, and thoroughly entertaining and fascinatingly descriptive of the various locations; Oxford, Perugia in Italy, and Scotland.
The Naylors
George Naylor, an Anglican priest, has doubts about his faith. He goes to stay with his brother’s family, who unfortunately regard religion with some disdain and George as a bit of a joke. Enter Father Potter, sent by the establishment to regain their wayward cleric. There then occurs a series of adventures including the discovery of a secret research laboratory which is conducting testing on animals, and the prospect of George and Father Potter being involved in a protest rally which includes nuclear disarmers and anti-vivisectionists. All is brought to a hilarious conclusion in this fine example of Stewart’s witty writing.
Open Prison
The Head of House at a minor public school, Robin Hayes, has to break the news that his solicitor father has been found guilty of embezzlement and sentenced to two years in an open prison. He now feels he needs to prove himself afresh, but complications arise when another junior pupil turns out to be the grandson of the judge who passed sentence on his father. Nonetheless, the boys do form a relationship. A strange intervention in Robin’s life comes with generous gifts of cash from his uncle, who is also seemingly similarly supporting his father. This, however, is only the background to a typical Stewart mystery. There occurs a double kidnapping, the father suddenly and inexplicably rejects his son, the son goes to pieces and there are sufficient sub-plots to provide enough twists and turns to grip the reader as the final twist in the tale develops.
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