ET DONA FERENTES
999
Indeed with his boyish face and long black hair, dressed in a
saxeblue Aertex shirt and navy blue Daks Edwin looked very much
like some barman from a smart bar in Cannes or like some cabaret
turn. He seemed almost to be guying the part as he waved the shaker
to and fro, dancing up and down, and singing grotesquely "Hold that
Tiger."
"Idiot" cried Monica, and, relenting further, she turned to Sven
"Do respectable fathers of families ever behave so absurdly in
Sweden?"
"I do not imagine Mr. Newman a father of a family, I imagine
him to have continual youth."
Monica turned away sharply. "At eighteen, of course, one can
imagine so many ridiculous things" she said.
But Edwin ended his dance with a mock bow.
"The spirit of youth is infectious" he declared. Sven lay back
and laughed with delight, showing his regular, white teeth.
It was while they were eating their lunch that Edwin got on to
his hobby horse.
"There's supposed to be a Saxon camp across on that hill over
there" he said, pointing to the East.
"If
my theory is right it may
well be an example of a Saxon settlement existing alongside a British
one."
He was so used to a completely silent audience that he was quite
startled when Sven said "Can that really be?"
"I believe so, but it's a view which is only gradually gaining
ground" said Edwin and he looked across at Sven who sat clasping
his legs, with his knees up to
his
chin, staring seriously before him. It's
like talking to Pan, he thought, and he went on hurriedly "Of course
the whole of this Thames Valley area is very important from the
point of view of Saxon migrations. It's almost certain that a great
part of the inhabitants of Wessex came from the East and crossed
the river near here at Dorchester."
"But that is most interesting" said Sven. "Do you really think
so?" asked Elizabeth and then turning away contemptuously she
added "I don't believe you know anything about it."
"That is true" said the boy "but your father makes the story so
alive."
"If
you're really interested we might go to the edge of the wood
and see the hill from a closer vantage point," suggested Edwin.
