ABSTRACT
'Time you went to sleep. You are right. It is high time you went to sleep. Excuse me indeed! I don't mind if you went to sleep permanently.' It was Rosemary talking to her 'memory'—her mistress, who was sitting on a chair by her bedside, the bed which used to be owned by Alice. 'If you don't go to sleep', Rosemary said threateningly, 'I know you will babble a lot of grown-up sounding rot like Pound, translating, psycho-analysis, Growth, Newton and other boring and indecent people—oh dear, Alice, I haven't really quite woken. Such a queer dream. Let's forget it and talk about something interesting. I want you to treat me like a friend, Alice.' She made a sound which might have been a stammer or a snort of contempt or just a catch in her breath as she woke. 'Ah, good . . . just what I wanted—a cup of tea. What was I saying? Ah yes; even in the old days, Alice, I thought you would make quite a good skivvy. Sometimes I thought, if only there could be a revolution here! Of course it could never come to pass! But now! Isn't it marvellous? Do say it's marvellous—I never thought of an invasion in which all your bloody "upper classes" would be defeated and "the humble and meek would be exalted". It's funny! 65Did you think, when you went to church, you were singing about me. I knew who the mighty were, though. I never thought you would one day bring me my cup of tea and would have to obey my orders. Here, you! I'm getting bored.' Rosemary's mood had changed suddenly to one of violence. 'Make me laugh. Tell me about your lovely public school and its lovely hymns and bibles full of dirty stories—if you'd had the nous to know it!' 'But Rosemary', said Alice, 'we weren't so stupid as you think. We did know about the bible and we didn't all think of a bible with a capital "B", I used to find it a true source of "spiritual consolation", but it wasn't all biblical spirit.
