Hi!
I'm currently working on E.M. Forster's Howards End and as there are a few terms/sentences which I don't understand I hoped someone could help shed light on them, as I didn't find a good translation of the novel in my mother tongue.
Right now, I'm focusing on the passage of the forgotten umbrella, Margaret scolds Helen for taking Leonard Bast's umbrella and she answers :
I wondered what the "In and out card" exactly means. Because of the "card", I guessed it was something she was holding up her sleeve in case Margaret blamed her for her carelessness but the "In and out" puzzles me..."Don't you talk, Meg! You stole an old gentleman's silk top-hat. Yes, she did, Aunt Juley. It is a positive fact. She thought it was a muff. Oh, heavens! I've knocked the In and Out card down. Where's Frieda? Tibby, why don't you ever--No, I can't remember what I was going to say. That wasn't it, but do tell the maids to hurry tea up. What about this umbrella?" She opened it. "No, it's all gone along the seams. It's an appalling umbrella. It must be mine."
Then, earlier Leonard Bast describes Margaret as follows
I wondered if "all teeth and eyes" was a typical expression and how it was conotated...Her figure was meagre, her face seemed all teeth and eyes
That's it for now... Thanks in advance