Yes, Gagoolhasremainedapermanentpartoftheimagination, butQuartermainandCurtis—weren’tthey, evenwhenIwasonlytenyearsold, alittletoogoodtobetrue? Theyweremenofsuchunyieldingintegrity (theywouldonlyadmittoafaultinordertoshowhowitmightbeovercome) , afterall, knowsmostofthegame—, shame, deception, : theywerenotlifeasonehadalreadybeguntoknowit.
Butwhen—perhapsIwasfourteenbythattime—ItookMissMarjorieBowen’sTheViperofMilanfromthelibraryshelf, : thepotentialcivilservant, thedon, ’smagnificentnovelwentintoexercisebooks—.
Why? OnthesurfaceTheViperofMilanisonlythestoryofawarbetweenGianGaleazzoVisconti, DukeofMilan, andMastinodellaScala, DukeofVerona, ? ItwasnogoodinthatrealworldtodreamthatonewouldeverbeaSirHenryCurtis, butdellaScalawhoatlastturnedfromanhonestythatneverpaidandbetrayedhisfriendsanddieddishonouredandafailureevenattreachery—, withhisbeauty, hispatienceandhisgeniusforevil, , .
—youwillrememberifyouhaveoncereadit—comesthegreatsceneofcompletesuccess—dellaScalaisdead, Ferrara, Verona, Novara, Mantuahaveallfallen, themessengerspourinwithnewsoffreshvictories, thewholeworldoutsideiscrackingup, , Isuppose, inGreekliteratureinsteadofinMissBowen’snovelthesenseofdoomthatliesoversuccess—; onelookedaroundandsawthedoomedeverywhere—thechampionrunnerwhoonedaywouldsagoverthetape; theheadoftheschoolwhowouldatone, poordevil, duringfortydrearyundistinguishedyears; thescholar...andwhensuccessbegantotouchoneselftoo, howevermildly, onecouldonlypraythatfailurewouldnotbeheldofffortoolong.
