Love under Will 353
There was a twinkle in his eye which warned me that
he had another surprise in store for me; I had b
to realise that he took a school-boyish delight in pulling
people’s legs. He seemed to enjoy leading one on, putting
one in a false position, and making a mystery out of
the most commonplace circumstances. It was extremely
idiotic and extremely annoying; but at the same time
one had to admit that the result of his method was to
add a sort of spice to life.
I remembered a remark of Maisie Jacobs: ‘‘ Never
dull where Lamus is.”
The events had been of an ordinary and insignificant
character, and yet he had given a value to each one.
He made life taste like it does when one is using heroin
and cocaine, yet he did it without actual extravagance.
I could understand how it was that he had his unique
reputation for leading a fantastic life, and yet how
no one could put a finger on any particular exploit as
extraordinary in itself.
I picked myself slowly together, and, after removing
a few thorns from my bare legs, was sufficiently master
of myself to say :—
“So this is the workshop? ”
“Once again, Sir Peter,” replied Lamus, “ your
intuition has proved itself infallible. And once again
your incomparable gift of expression has couched the
facts in a tersely epigrammatic form, which Julius Cesar
and Martial might despair of editing.”’
He opened the door of the house, repeating his old
formula :—
“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”
Till that moment I had found the phrase by turns
ridiculous, annoying, or tedious. It had completely
lost these attributes. The dry bones lived. I thrilled
to the marrow as he uttered it. A soft, sweet voice,
strangely familiar, answered him out of the vast, dim
room. Dim, for the blinding sunlight of the open air
was unable wholly to illuminate the interior to my
contracted pupils.