It occurs to you that he was a fool? 🔊 It didn't to me. 🔊 I was young, and had not the clarity of judgment that Rothenstein already had. 🔊 Soames was quite five or six years older than either of us. 🔊 Also—he had written a book. 🔊 It was wonderful to have written a book. 🔊

If Rothenstein had not been there, I should have revered Soames. 🔊 Even as it was, I respected him. 🔊 And I was very near indeed to reverence when he said he had another book coming out soon. 🔊 I asked if I might ask what kind of book it was to be. 🔊

"My poems," he answered. 🔊 Rothenstein asked if this was to be the title of the book. 🔊 The poet meditated on this suggestion, but said he rather thought of giving the book no title at all. 🔊 "If a book is good in itself—" he murmured, and waved his cigarette. 🔊

Rothenstein objected that absence of title might be bad for the sale of a book. 🔊

"If," he urged, "I went into a bookseller's and said simply, 'Have you got?' 🔊 or, 'Have you a copy of?' 🔊 how would they know what I wanted?" 🔊

"Oh, of course I should have my name on the cover," Soames answered earnestly. 🔊 "And I rather want," he added, looking hard at Rothenstein, "to have a drawing of myself as frontispiece." 🔊 Rothenstein admitted that this was a capital idea, and mentioned that he was going into the country and would be there for some time. 🔊 He then looked at his watch, exclaimed at the hour, paid the waiter, and went away with me to dinner. 🔊 Soames remained at his post of fidelity to the glaucous witch. 🔊