Enoch Soames | Page 4

man whose

drawings were already famous among the few--Aubrey Beardsley by
name. With Rothenstein I paid my first visit to the Bodley Head. By
him I was inducted into another haunt of intellect and daring, the
domino-room of the Cafe Royal.
There, on that October evening--there, in that exuberant vista of gilding
and crimson velvet set amidst all those opposing mirrors and upholding
caryatids, with fumes of tobacco ever rising to the painted and pagan
ceiling, and with the hum of presumably cynical conversation broken
into so sharply now and again by the clatter of dominoes shuffled on
marble tables, I drew a deep breath and, "This indeed," said I to myself,
"is life!" (Forgive me that theory. Remember the waging of even the
South African War was not yet.)
It was the hour before dinner. We drank vermuth. Those who knew
Rothenstein were pointing him out to those who knew him only by
name. Men were constantly coming in through the swing-doors and
wandering slowly up and down in search of vacant tables or of tables
occupied by friends. One of these rovers interested me because I was
sure he wanted to catch Rothenstein's eye. He had twice passed our
table, with a hesitating look; but Rothenstein, in the thick of a
disquisition on Puvis de Chavannes, had not seen him. He was a
stooping, shambling person, rather tall, very pale, with longish and
brownish hair. He had a thin, vague beard, or, rather, he had a chin on
which a large number of hairs weakly curled and clustered to cover its
retreat. He was an odd-looking person; but in the nineties odd
apparitions were more frequent, I think, than they are now. The young
writers of that era--and I was sure this man was a writer--strove
earnestly to be distinct in aspect. This man had striven unsuccessfully.
He wore a soft black hat of clerical kind, but of Bohemian intention,
and a gray waterproof cape which, perhaps because it was waterproof,
failed to be romantic. I decided that "dim" was the mot juste for him. I
had already essayed to write, and was immensely keen on the mot juste ,
that Holy Grail of the period.
The dim man was now again approaching our table, and this time he
made up his mind to pause in front of it.
"You don't remember me," he said in a toneless voice.
Rothenstein brightly focused him.
"Yes, I do," he replied after a moment, with pride rather than

effusion--pride in a retentive memory. "Edwin Soames."
"Enoch Soames," said Enoch.
"Enoch Soames," repeated Rothenstein in a tone implying that it was
enough to have hit on the surname. "We met in Paris a few times when
you were living there. We met at the Cafe Groche."
"And I came to your studio once."
"Oh, yes; I was sorry I was out."
"But you were in. You showed me some of your paintings, you know. I
hear you're in Chelsea now."
"Yes."
I almost wondered that Mr. Soames did not, after this monosyllable,
pass along. He stood patiently there, rather like a dumb animal, rather
like a donkey looking over a gate. A sad figure, his. It occurred to me
that "hungry" was perhaps the mot juste for him; but--hungry for what?
He looked as if he had little appetite for anything. I was sorry for him;
and Rothenstein, though he had not invited him to Chelsea, did ask him
to sit down and have something to drink.
Seated, he was more self-assertive. He flung back the wings of his cape
with a gesture which, had not those wings been waterproof, might have
seemed to hurl defiance at things in general. And he ordered an
absinthe. "Je me tiens toujours fidele," he told Rothenstein, "a la
sorciere glauque."
"It is bad for you," said Rothenstein, dryly.
"Nothing is bad for one," answered Soames. "Dans ce monde il n'y a ni
bien ni mal."
"Nothing good and nothing bad? How do you mean?"
"I explained it all in the preface to 'Negations.'"
"'Negations'?"
"Yes, I gave you a copy of it."
"Oh, yes, of course. But, did you explain, for instance, that there was
no such thing as bad or good grammar?"
"N-no," said Soames. "Of course in art there is the good and the evil.
But in life--no." He was rolling a cigarette. He had weak, white hands,
not well washed, and with finger-tips much stained with nicotine. "In
life there are illusions of good and evil, but"--his voice trailed away to a
murmur in which the words "vieux jeu" and "rococo" were faintly
audible. I think he felt he was not doing himself justice, and feared that

Rothenstein was going to point out fallacies. Anyhow, he cleared his
throat and said, "Parlons d'autre chose."
It