[CHAPTER XXVII]
We sat down to dinner that evening without Edward, but nobody expressed any anxiety about him, as his philanthropic enterprises often detached him from the family circle. I said nothing about our visits of the morning, as I thought that Mr. and Mrs. Perry would be disturbed if they knew that he was taking part in fanning the agitation amongst the masters and mistresses of Culbut.
The evening papers were full of it. Mr. and Mrs. Bolster were still in a state of siege, and it seemed unlikely that they would be dislodged unless the authorities prevailed on their various tradespeople to stop their supplies. Considering Mr. Bolster's treatment of them, I should have thought this would not be difficult, but it was explained to me that if they did not supply a customer with goods ordered by him, they not only had those goods left on their hands, but had to receive payment for them as well. Consequently, they would not consent to starve out Mr. and Mrs. Bolster unless they were indemnified against gain by the police; but probably that would be done in a day or two. In the meantime, Mr. Bolster was having the time of his life, and providing splendid copy for the papers.
I learnt, from the papers that Mr. Perry had brought home, and from his reports of what he had heard, that the movement had gathered a good deal more way than I should have thought possible from my experiences of the morning. Quite a number of rich people had followed Mr. Bolster's example, had turned out their servants, shut themselves up in their houses, and thrown things out of the windows. In some cases the servants had successfully resisted them, and had turned them out of their own houses. But it was doubtful whether this was altogether a wise step on their part, because, in the first place, it was an illegal action, and gave the masters and mistresses a legitimate grievance, and in the second it left them free to go about and stir up further trouble.
Mr. Perry shook his head over the whole business. "It is the result," he said, "of last year's phenomenal harvest. There has been great distress amongst the rich ever since. Food has dropped in price, and many families are feeling the pinch of prosperity who have got along very well so far. Unfortunately, this year seems likely to be an even more prosperous one than last. I much fear that we are at the commencement of a prolonged period of social unrest. But it is a bad look-out if it is going to be met in this way. The people who are taking the law into their own hands will not really better themselves in the long run, and they will get many more into trouble who are innocent of all offence."
"I cannot find it in my heart to blame them much," said Mrs. Perry. "No one who has not gone about amongst them as I have can form any idea of what they have to suffer. One would have to have a hard heart not to wish to help them."
"There are many of us who are trying to help them," said Mr. Perry. "If everybody in the country would live only half as well as we do, there would be no problem of wealth at all."
"And you have proved," I said boldly, "that one can live in easy surroundings without losing anything in character, and without depriving one's self of any legitimate pleasure in life."
But this statement was received well by nobody. Mr. Perry said that I had probably been deceived by the cheerfulness with which he confronted the trials of his life, and asked me if I really thought he enjoyed the luxuries to which he subjected himself. Mrs. Perry said quietly that I did not know how much their way of living cut them off from their friends. Miriam said nothing, but looked at me warningly, as if I were in danger of letting out our secret. Mr. Blother said that I didn't know what I was talking about. And Lord Arthur said pointedly that when people stayed in rich houses, and were always trying to sneak their work from the servants by doing things for themselves, it was only natural that they should hold silly views on the question.