Since King loved 'virile' about as much as he did 'spouse' or 'forsooth' the Form looked up hopefully. But Jove thundered not.
'Until,' Vernon continued, 'he should have confirmed the sliding fathers as being the author of counsel never given under an alias.'
He stopped, conscious of stillness round him like the dread calm of the typhoon's centre. King's opening voice was sweeter than honey.
'I am painfully aware by bitter experience that I cannot give you any idea of the passion, the power, the--the essential guts of the lines which you have so foully outraged in our presence. But--' the note changed, 'so far as in me lies, I will strive to bring home to you, Vernon, the fact that there exist in Latin a few pitiful rules of grammar, of syntax, nay, even of declension, which were not created for your incult sport--your Boeotian diversion. You will, therefore, Vernon, write out and bring to me to-morrow a word-for-word English-Latin translation of the Ode, together with a full list of all adjectives--an adjective is not a verb, Vernon, as the Lower Third will tell you--all adjectives, their number, case, and gender. Even now I haven't begun to deal with you faithfully.'
'I--I'm very sorry, sir,' Vernon stammered.
'You mistake the symptoms, Vernon. You are possibly discomfited by the imposition, but sorrow postulates some sort of mind, intellect, nous. Your rendering of probrosis alone stamps you as lower than the beasts of the field. Will some one take the taste out of our mouths? And--talking of tastes--' He coughed. There was a distinct flavour of chlorine gas in the air. Up went an eyebrow, though King knew perfectly well what it meant.
'Mr. Hartopp's st--science class next door,' said Malpass.
'Oh yes. I had forgotten. Our newly established Modern Side, of course. Perowne, open the windows; and Winton, go on once more from interque maerentes.'
'And hastened away,' said Winton, 'surrounded by his mourning friends, into--into illustrious banishment. But I got that out of Conington, sir,' he added in one conscientious breath.
'I am aware. The master generally knows his ass's crib, though I acquit you of any intention that way. Can you suggest anything for egregius exul? Only "egregious exile"? I fear "egregious" is a good word ruined. No! You can't in this case improve on Conington. Now then for atqui sciebat quae sibi barbarus tortor pararet. The whole force of it lies in the atqui.'