I suggested that he should call one of them Kate and another Kathleen to avoid confusion, but he said that "Kajakk" would pull him through all right, and that if there was any question about Henry VIII. he did not mean to miss is. I am certain that had he been given an opportunity, the examiners would have had a correct list of these ladies, with a brief note attached to explain why there were so many of them.
Soon after the Eights were over, I heard that The Bradder had invited my people to come up at the end of the term, and as I had never stayed up for "Commem," I wrote back cheerfully, and said we would enjoy ourselves. This letter, however, was answered by my father at once, and my plans were again thrown into confusion. "I want you to leave for Germany when term is over. To get even a smattering of the language you must be there nearly three months, and, unless you go immediately, you will miss all the shooting. I want you to know three modern languages well enough to get into the Foreign Office without any difficulty." This was the beginning of the longest letter I had ever had from him, and in many ways the nicest, but I cannot say that I wanted to spend my summer with a German family, and after consulting Fred, I went to The Bradder to see if he would not help me to stay in England.
"I can't read history and learn German at the same time," I said to him, "and all my work will be wasted unless I do some this vac."
"Your father has evidently made up his mind," he said, but I think that he must have been sorry for me.
"You write and tell him that I shall forget all I have been doing. He will listen to you."
"German is very valuable to you."
"So is history. How can I be expected to work next year when I am packed off every summer to live with a lot of people who don't want me? I get no fun."
"You will like it when you get there, and for this summer you can manage to do enough history to keep up what you know. I will help you as much as I can."
"Why can't I be allowed for once to like a thing in the place where I want to like it?" I asked, and I nearly told him that environment was everything, but he did not like those profound statements any better than I did. I only saw The Bradder really nasty to one man, and he had been fool enough to say that the reason why he cut his lectures was because the whole atmosphere of Oxford was against work, which really was a sickening sort of excuse.
My attempts to get help from The Bradder failed, and as soon as I had worked myself up into a rage he began to laugh.