He had, though
they were nowadays rather at the back of his mind, quite other
intentions. In the meanwhile all these things took up his time and
distracted his attention.
There was, as yet, no practicable aviation to beguile a young man of
spirit, but there were times when Benham found himself wondering
whether there might not be something rather creditable in the
possession and control of a motor-car of exceptional power. Only
one might smash people up. Should an aristocrat be deterred by the
fear of smashing people up? If it is a selfish fear of smashing
people up, if it is nerves rather than pity? At any rate it did not
come to the car.
6
Among other things that delayed Benham very greatly in the
development of his aristocratic experiments was the advice that was
coming to him from every quarter. It came in extraordinary variety
and volume, but always it had one unvarying feature. It ignored and
tacitly contradicted his private intentions.
We are all of us disposed to be propagandists of our way of living,
and the spectacle of a wealthy young man quite at large is enough to
excite the most temperate of us without distinction of age or sex.
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