Arthur & George

prepared to back your dealings with any woman at sight and without question.’ Nothing equivocal there. But neither had there been about Connie’s apparent understanding of his situation. In advance, he searches for reasons. Perhaps Connie has become a respectable married woman rather more quickly than he would have thought possible; perhaps she has always been jealous that Lottie is his favourite sister. As for Hornung: doubtless he is envious of his brother-in-law’s fame; or maybe the success of
Raffles
has gone to his head. Something has sparked this sudden display of independence and rebellion. Well, Arthur will soon find out.
    ‘Connie is upstairs, resting,’ says Hornung as he opens the door. Plain enough. So it will be man to man, which is how Arthur prefers it.
    Little Willie Hornung is the same height as Arthur, a fact he occasionally forgets. And Hornung in his own house is different from the Hornung of Arthur’s furious re-creation; also different from the flattering, eager-to-please Willie who darted across the tennis court at West Norwood and brought
bons mots
to the table by way of ingratiation. In the front sitting room he indicates a leather armchair, waits for Arthur to be seated, and then remains standing himself. As he speaks, he begins to prance around the room. Nerves, doubtless, but it has the effect of a prosecuting counsel showing off to a non-existent jury.
    ‘Arthur, this is not going to be easy. Connie has told me what you said to her last night, and we have discussed the matter.’
    ‘And you have changed your minds. Or you have changed her mind. Or she yours. Yesterday you said you would back me without question.’
    ‘I know what I said. And it is not a matter of my changing Connie’s mind, or her changing mine. We have discussed it, and we are agreed.’
    ‘I congratulate you.’
    ‘Arthur, let me put it this way. Yesterday we spoke to you with our hearts. You know how Connie loves you, how she always has. You know my enormous admiration for you, how proud I am to say that Arthur Conan Doyle is my brother-in-law. That’s why we went to Lord’s yesterday, to watch you with pride, to support you.’
    ‘Which you have decided no longer to do.’
    ‘But today we are thinking, and speaking, with our heads.’
    ‘And what do your two heads tell you?’ Arthur reins his anger back to mere sarcasm. It is the best he can do. He sits four-square in his chair and watches Willie dance and shuffle in front of him, as he dances and shuffles his argument.
    ‘Our heads – our two heads – tell us what our eyes see and our consciences dictate. Your behaviour is … compromising.’
    ‘To whom?’
    ‘To your family. To your wife. To your … lady-friend. To yourself.’
    ‘You do not wish to include the Marylebone Cricket Club as well? And the readers of my books? And the staff of Gamages emporium?’
    ‘Arthur, if you cannot see it, others must point it out to you.’
    ‘Which you seem to be relishing. I thought I had merely acquired a brother-in-law. I did not realize the family had acquired a conscience. I was not aware we needed one. You should get yourself a priest’s robe.’
    ‘I do not need a priest’s robe to tell me that if you stroll around Lord’s with a grin on your face and a woman who is not your wife on your arm, you compromise that wife and your behaviour reflects upon your family.’
    ‘Touie will always be shielded from pain and dishonour. That is my first principle. It will remain so.’
    ‘Who else saw you yesterday apart from us? And what might they conclude?’
    ‘And what did you conclude, you and Constance?’
    ‘That you were extremely reckless. That you did the reputation of the woman on your arm no good. That you compromised your wife. And your family.’
    ‘You are a sudden expert on my family for such a johnny-come-lately.’
    ‘Perhaps because I see more clearly.’
    ‘Perhaps because you have less loyalty. Hornung, I do not pretend the situation is not difficult, damned difficult. There’s no denying it. At times it is intolerable. I do not need to rehearse what I said to Connie yesterday. I am doing the best I can, we both are, Jean and I. Our … alliance has been accepted, has been approved by the Mam, by Jean’s parents, by Touie’s mother, by my brother and sisters. Until yesterday, by you. When have I ever failed in loyalty to any member of my family? And when before have I appealed to them?’
    ‘And if your wife heard of