'No. If I had been called Smith, I would have stuck to it. Smith is a
very good, honest name. Most of the people who originally came by it
made armour and were more or less artists. No! I wish I were a Smith,
indeed I do! The name is frequent, not common, that's all.' Margaret was puzzled, and looked at his face, as if she were thinking
out the problem.
'No,' she said suddenly, and with decision. 'You are not a Jew. That's
impossible!' 'I'm not a Jew.' He laughed this time. 'But I know several very
interesting Jews, and I don't dislike them at all. I really should not
mind being called Solomon Isaacs! I would not have changed the name
either.' 'You might have been called Isidore Guggenheimer,' Margaret suggested,
smiling.
'Well--that! For purposes of literature, it would not be practical.' 'You forget that you have not told me your real name yet. You see, if I
should ever happen to think of you again, I'd rather not think of you
under a pseudonym, unless it were in connection with your books.' 'That's the only way in which you are likely to think of me,' he
answered. 'But if you really want to know, my first name is Thomas,
diminutive Tom--plain Tom.' 'I like that much better than Edmund,' said Margaret, who had simple
tastes. 'Is the other one as nice?' 'I don't know what you might think of it,' Lushington answered. 'It is
neither common nor uncommon, and not at all striking, but I cannot tell
you what it is. I'm sorry to make a mystery of it, for my father was
nobody in particular, and I was nobody in particular until I was heard
of as Lushington, the critic. And I've been Lushington so long that I'm
used to it. I was called so at school and at Oxford.' 'As long ago as that!' Margaret again seemed relieved.
'Yes. Oh, I've done nothing disgraceful, nor my father either! It's not
that. I cannot possibly explain, but it's the reason why I'm a
fraud--as far as you are concerned.' 'Only as far as I am concerned?' 'Nobody else happens to matter. Mrs. Rushmore receives all sorts of
interesting people, many of whom have played tricks with their names.
Why should she care? Why should anybody care? We have all done the
things we are known for, and we are not in love with Mrs. Rushmore,
though she is a very agreeable woman! She wouldn't care to call me Tom,
would she?' 'I don't know,' Margaret answered with a laugh. 'She might!' 'At all events, it's not necessary to tell her,' said Lushington.