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Arundell grunted, and said, "And in consequence, she's gonegallivanting off to Arabia on her own where, surely, she'll be atequal risk!"
"No, sir, don't let the popular image deceive you. The Arabs arean honourable race and she'll be in no more danger there than shewould be if she were in, say, Brighton. London is a hundred timesmore dangerous than Damascus."
"Are you sure?"
"I promise you. It's in the British Empire's interest to portrayother cultures as barbarous and uncivilised; that way there's lessof an outcry when we conquer them and steal their resources. Lieshave to be propagated if we are to retain the moral highground."
Arundell shifted in his seat uncomfortably. To him, suchstatements sounded traitorous.
"Be that as it may," he grumbled, "I'm not at all happy. I'mconcerned for my little girl's welfare and I hold youresponsible."
"I ca
Henry Arundell stood and placed his hat upon his head.
"I am not mollified, sir," he said, somewhat resentfully.
Burton got to his feet. "Neither am I."
Isabel's father nodded and left.
Sir Richard Francis Burton wandered over to the bar and took ashot of whisky. A few minutes later, he put on his topper and hiscoat and, swinging his cane, walked out of the hotel and along thepavement toward Montagu Place.
The thick fog embraced him.
It was silent.
It was mysterious.
It was timeless.
It makes it seem as if, he thought, my world doesn't reallyexist.
MEANWHILE, IN THE VICTORIAN AGE…
SIR RICHARD FRANCIS BURTON
After they completed their expedition to Africa's central lakeregion in, 1859, John Harming Speke returned to London ahead ofRichard Francis Burton and claimed credit for the discovery of thesource of the Nile. Some weeks later, Burton arrived and their feudcommenced. The following year, while Burton toured America, Spekereturned to the lakes but failed to collect convincing evidencethat his assertion was correct.
In 1861, Burton married Isabel and accepted the consulship ofFernando Po. He did not allow his new wife to accompany him thereand they didn't see each other again until December the followingyear.
Burton's duties on the disease-ridden island ended in 1864. Thatsame year, in September, he was due to debate the Nile questionwith Speke at a meeting of the Royal Geographical Society in Bath.The day before the scheduled encounter, Speke died from a gunshotwound to his side while out hunting.
His death marked a turning point in Burton's career.
Burton became consul in Brazil, then Damascus, and finally inTrieste, and spent the rest of his life focusing on his writingrather than on exploration.
Queen Victoria did not award him a knighthood until 1886.
He died from heart failure in 1890. Controversy followed, whenit became known that Isabel had burned many of his papers,notebooks, and unpublished manuscripts.
ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE
In 1866, Swinburne caused a sensation with the publication ofPoems and Ballads I and quickly became the enfant terrible of theVictorian literary scene. Though he was quickly hailed as one ofEngland's premier poets, his alcoholism took a heavy toll on bothhis health and his career. He also diverted much of his energy intohis fascination with birchings and sexual deviancyhe had acondition known to modern medicine as algolagnia, which causes painto be interpreted as pleasure-and critics generally agree that henever lived up to his potential.
In 1879, when he was forty-two years old, Swinburne suffered amental and physical breakdown and was removed from the temptationsof the London social scene by his friend Theodore Watts. For theremainder of his life, Swinburne lived in relative seclusion withWatts, losing his rebellious streak and settling into comfortablerespectability until his death in 1909.
Swinburne's words "-of shame: what is it? Of virtue: we can missit. Of sin: we can kiss it. And it's no longer sin" form part ofhis poem "Before Dawn" which appeared in Poems and Ballads, FirstSeries, The Poems of Algernon Charles Swinburne. 6 vols. London:Chatto, 1904.
"Not with dreams, but with blood and with iron, shall a nationbe moulded to last," is from his poem "A Word for the Country"(undated).
Thou hast conquered, 0 pale Galilean;
The world has grown grey from thy breath;
We have drunken from things Lethean,
And fed on the fullness of death is from "Hymn to Prosperpine,"which appeared in Poems and Ballads, First Series.
How he that loves life overmuch shall die
The dog's death, utterly:
And he that much less loves it than he hates
All wrongdoing that is done
Anywhere always underneath the sun
Shall live a mightier life than time's or fate's is from"Thalassius, Songs of the Springtides" which appeared in Poems andBallads, First Series.
JOIN MANNING SPEKE
Much might be said about Speke's attitude toward Burton aftertheir expedition to the lakes; his actions definitely raisequestions about his character. However, it is quite wrong to accusehim of cowardice. Certainly, this is what he thought Burton haddone when the explorer published his account of the attack atBerbera. Speke felt that Burton's command-"Don't step back! They'llthink that we're retiring!"-was a personal slight. There is noevidence to suggest, though, that Burton ever meant it as such.
Without the advantage of flight, Speke's second expedition toAfrica's central lake region took as long as the first. Thesubsequent debate with Burton, therefore, was not scheduled forSeptember 1861, but September 1864.
OSCAR WILDE
The Great Irish Famine lasted from 1845 to 1852. Oscar Wilde wasnot a refugee from it, nor was he an orphan or paperboy.
As an adult he became a playwright, poet, author, andcontroversial celebrity. His epigrams are still celebrated today.They include: "By giving us the opinions of the uneducated,journalism keeps us in touch with the ignorance of the community.""There is luxury in self-reproach. When we blame ourselves, we feelno one else has a right to blame us." "I am so clever thatsometimes I don't understand a single word of what I'm saying." "Ihave the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best.""When I was young, I thought money was the most important thing inlife. Now that I'm old-I know it is.,, "One can survive everything,nowadays, except death, and live down everything except a goodreputation." Wilde died in 1900.
LAURENCE OLIPHANT
Laurence Oliphant never kept a white panther as a pet. He did,however, nurture John Ha
In 1861, he became first secretary of the British Legation inJapan but soon after accepting the post there was an attack on theLegation during which he was severely wounded, losing the full useof one hand.
After a failed stint in parliament, he showed more promise as anovelist but then fell under the influence of the spiritualistprophet Thomas Lake Harris. From 1868, he lived as a farm labourerin Harris's cult, not breaking free until 1881.