almosthis
personal
affair
,
as
though
he
had
brought
it
about
.
"
I
knew
there
was
a
girl
in
it
,
"
he
insisted
,
"
and
you
told
me
there
was
n't
.
O-a-ah
!
And
you
kept
me
in
that
smell
of
disinfectant
and
things
—
what
a
chap
that
doctor
was
for
spilling
stuff
!
—
for
six
blessed
days
!
...
"
Marjorie
achieved
a
dress
at
once
simple
and
good
with
great
facility
by
not
asking
the
price
until
it
was
all
over
.
(
There
is
no
half-success
with
dinner-dresses
,
either
the
thing
is
a
success
and
inestimable
,
or
not
worth
having
at
any
price
at
all
.
)
It
was
blue
with
a
thread
of
gold
,
and
she
had
a
necklace
of
blueish
moonstones
,
gold-set
,
and
her
hair
ceased
to
be
copper
and
became
golden
,
and
her
eyes
unfathomable
blue
.
She
was
radiant
with
health
and
happiness
,
no
one
else
there
had
her
clear
freshness
,
and
her
manner
was
as
restrained
and
dignified
and
ready
as
a
proud
young
wife
's
can
be
.
Everyone
seemed
to
like
her
and
respect
her
and
be
interested
in
her
,
and
Trafford
kissed
her
flushed
cheek
in
the
hansom
as
they
came
home
again
and
crowned
her
happiness
.
It
had
been
quite
a
large
party
,
and
really
much
more
splendid
and
brilliant
than
anything
she
had
ever
seen
before
.
There
had
been
one
old
gentleman
with
a
coloured
button
and
another
with
a
ribbon
;
there
had
been
a
countess
with
historical
pearls
,
and
half-a-dozen
other
people
one
might
fairly
call
distinguished
.
The
house
was
tremendous
in
its
way
,
spacious
,
rich
,
glowing
with
lights
,
abounding
in
vistas
and
fine
remote
backgrounds
.
In
the
midst
of
it
all
she
had
a
sudden
thrill
at
the
memory
that
less
than
a
year
ago
she
had
been
ignominiously
dismissed
from
the
dinner-table
by
her
father
for
a
hiccup
...
.
A
few
days
after
Aunt
Plessington
suddenly
asked
the
Traffords
to
one
of
her
less
important
but
still
interesting
gatherings
;
not
one
of
those
that
swayed
the
world
perhaps
,
but
one
which
Marjorie
was
given
to
understand
achieved
important
subordinate
wagging
.
Aunt
Plessington
had
not
called
,
she
explained
in
her
note
,
because
of
the
urgent
demands
the
Movement
made
upon
her
time
;
it
was
her
wonderful
hard-breathing
way
never
to
call
on
anyone
,
and
it
added
tremendously
to
her
reputation
;
none
the
less
it
appeared
—
though
here
the
scrawl
became
illegible
—
she
meant
to
shove
and
steer
her
dear
niece
upward
at
a
tremendous
pace
.
They
were
even
asked
to
come
a
little
early
so
that
she
might
make
Trafford
's
acquaintance
.
The
dress
was
duly
admired
,
and
then
Aunt
Plessington
—
assuming
the
hearthrug
and
forgetting
the
little
matter
of
their
career
—
explained
quite
Napoleonic
and
wonderful
things
she
was
going
to
do
with
her
Movement
,
fresh
principles
,
fresh
applications
,
a
big
committee
of
all
the
"
names
"
—
they
were
easy
to
get
if
you
did
n't
bother
them
to
do
things
—
a
new
and
more
attractive
title
,
"
Payment
in
Kind
"
was
to
give
way
to
"
Reality
of
Reward
,
"
and
she
herself
was
going
to
have
her
hair
bleached
bright
white
(
which
would
set
off
her
eyes
and
colour
and
the
general
geniality
of
appearance
due
to
her
projecting
teeth
)
,
and
so
greatly
increase
her
"
platform
efficiency
.
"
Hubert
,
she
said
,
was
toiling
away
hard
at
the
detail
of
these
new
endeavours
.
He
would
be
down
in
a
few
minutes
'
time
.
Marjorie
,
she
said
,
ought
to
speak
at
their
meetings
.
It
would
help
both
the
Traffords
to
get
on
if
Marjorie
cut
a
dash
at
the
outset
,
and
there
was
no
such
dash
to
be
cut
as
speaking
at
Aunt
Plessington
's
meetings
.
It
was
catching
on
;
all
next
season
it
was
sure
to
be
the
thing
.
So
many
promising
girls
allowed
themselves
to
be
submerged
altogether
in
marriage
for
a
time
,
and
when
they
emerged
everyone
had
forgotten
the
promise
of
their
début
.
She
had
an
air
of
rescuing
Marjorie
from
an
impending
fate
by
disabusing
Trafford
from
injurious
prepossessions
...
.
Presently
the
guests
began
to
drop
in
,
a
vegetarian
health
specialist
,
a
rising
young
woman
factory
inspector
,
a
phrenologist
who
was
being
induced
to
put
great
talents
to
better
uses
under
Aunt
Plessington
's
influence
,
his
dumb
,
obscure
,
but
inevitable
wife
,
a
colonial
bishop
,
a
baroness
with
a
taste
rather
than
a
capacity
for
intellectual
society
,
a
wealthy
jam
and
pickle
manufacturer
and
his
wife
,
who
had
subscribed
largely
to
the
funds
of
the
Movement
and
wanted
to
meet
the
lady
of
title
,
and
the
editor
of
the
Movement
's
organ
,
Upward
and
On
,
a
young
gentleman
of
abundant
hair
and
cadaverous
silences
,
whom
Aunt
Plessington
patted
on
the
shoulder
and
spoke
of
as
"
one
of
our
discoveries
.
"
And
then
Uncle
Hubert
came
down
,
looking
ruffled
and
overworked
,
with
his
ready-made
dress-tie
—
he
was
one
of
those
men
who
can
never
master
the
art
of
tying
a
bow
—
very
much
askew
.
The
conversation
turned
chiefly
on
the
Movement
;
if
it
strayed
Aunt
Plessington
reached
out
her
voice
after
it
and
brought
it
back
in
a
masterful
manner
.
Through
soup
and
fish
Marjorie
occupied
herself
with
the
inflexible
rigour
of
the
young
editor
,
who
had
brought
her
down
.
When
she
could
give
her
attention
to
the
general
conversation
she
discovered
her
husband
a
little
flushed
and
tackling
her
aunt
with
an
expression
of
quiet
determination
.
The
phrenologist
and
the
vegetarian
health
specialist
were
regarding
him
with
amazement
,
the
jam
and
pickle
manufacturer
's
wife
was
evidently
deeply
shocked
.
He
was
refusing
to
believe
in
the
value
of
the
Movement
,
and
Aunt
Plessington
was
manifestly
losing
her
temper
.
"
I
do
n't
see
,
Mrs.
Plessington
,
"
he
was
saying
,
"
that
all
this
amounts
to
more
than
a
kind
of
Glorious
District
Visiting
.
That
is
how
I
see
it
.
You
want
to
attack
people
in
their
homes
—
before
they
cry
out
to
you
.
You
want
to
compel
them
by
this
Payment
in
Kind
of
yours
to
do
what
you
want
them
to
do
instead
of
trying
to
make
them
want
to
do
it
.
Now
,
I
think
your
business
is
to
make
them
want
to
do
it
.
You
may
perhaps
increase
the
amount
of
milk
in
babies
,
and
the
amount
of
whitewash
in
cottages
and
slums
by
your
methods
—
I
do
n't
dispute
the
promise
of
your
statistics
—
but
you
're
going
to
do
it
at
a
cost
of
human
self-respect
that
's
out
of
all
proportion
—
—
"
Uncle
Hubert
's
voice
,
with
that
thick
utterance
that
always
suggested
a
mouthful
of
plums
,
came
booming
down
the
table
.
"
All
these
arguments
,
"
he
said
,
"
have
been
answered
long
ago
.
"
"
No
doubt
,
"
said
Trafford
with
a
faint
asperity
.
"
But
tell
me
the
answers
.
"
"
It
's
ridiculous
,
"
said
Aunt
Plessington
,
"
to
talk
of
the
self-respect
of
the
kind
of
people
—
oh
!
the
very
dregs
!
"
"
It
's
just
because
the
plant
is
delicate
that
you
've
got
to
handle
it
carefully
,
"
said
Trafford
.
"
Here
's
Miss
Gant
,
"
said
Aunt
Plessington
,
"
she
knows
the
strata
we
are
discussing
.
She
'll
tell
you
they
have
positively
no
self-respect
—
none
at
all
.
"
"
My
people
,
"
said
Miss
Gant
,
as
if
in
conclusive
testimony
,
"
actually
conspire
with
their
employers
to
defeat
me
.
"
"
I
do
n't
see
the
absence
of
self-respect
in
that
,
"
said
Trafford
.
"
But
all
their
interests
—
—
"
"
I
'm
thinking
of
their
pride
.
"
...
The
discussion
lasted
to
the
end
of
dinner
and
made
no
headway
.
As
soon
as
the
ladies
were
in
the
drawing-room
,
Aunt
Plessington
,
a
little
flushed
from
the
conflict
,
turned
on
Marjorie
and
said
,
"
I
like
your
husband
.
He
's
wrong-headed
,
but
he
's
young
,
and
he
's
certainly
spirited
.
He
ought
to
get
on
if
he
wants
to
.
Does
he
do
nothing
but
his
researches
?
"
"
He
lectures
in
the
spring
term
,
"
said
Marjorie
.
"
Ah
!
"
said
Aunt
Plessington
with
a
triumphant
note
,
"
you
must
alter
all
that
.
You
must
interest
him
in
wider
things
.
You
must
bring
him
out
of
his
shell
,
and
let
him
see
what
it
is
to
deal
with
Affairs
.
Then
he
would
n't
talk
such
nonsense
about
our
Work
.
"
Marjory
was
at
a
momentary
loss
for
a
reply
,
and
in
the
instant
's
respite
Aunt
Plessington
turned
to
the
jam
and
pickle
lady
and
asked
in
a
bright
,
encouraging
note
:
"
Well
!
And
how
's
the
Village
Club
getting
on
?
"
...
She
had
another
lunge
at
Trafford
as
he
took
his
leave
.
"
You
must
come
again
soon
,
"
she
said
.
"
I
love
a
good
wrangle
,
and
Hubert
and
I
never
want
to
talk
about
our
Movement
to
any
one
but
unbelievers
.
You
do
n't
know
the
beginnings
of
it
yet
.
Only
I
warn
you
they
have
a
way
of
getting
converted
.
I
warn
you
.
"
...
On
this
occasion
there
was
no
kissing
in
the
cab
.
Trafford
was
exasperated
.
"
Of
all
the
intolerable
women
!
"
he
said
,
and
was
silent
for
a
time
.
"
The
astounding
part
of
it
is
,
"
he
burst
out
,
"
that
this
sort
of
thing
,
this
Movement
and
all
the
rest
of
it
,
does
really
give
the
quality
of
English
public
affairs
.
It
's
like
a
sample
—
dredged
.
The
—
the
cheapness
of
it
!
Raised
voices
,
rash
assertions
,
sham
investigations
,
meetings
and
committees
and
meetings
,
that
's
the
stuff
of
it
,
and
politicians
really
have
to
attend
to
it
,
and
silly
,
ineffective
,
irritating
bills
really
get
drafted
and
messed
about
with
and
passed
on
the
strength
of
it
.
Public
affairs
are
still
in
the
Dark
Ages
.
Nobody
now
would
think
of
getting
together
a
scratch
committee
of
rich
old
women
and
miscellaneous
conspicuous
people
to
design
an
electric
tram
,
and
jabbering
and
jabbering
and
jabbering
,
and
if
any
one
objects
"
—
a
note
of
personal
bitterness
came
into
his
voice
—
"
jabbering
faster
;
but
nobody
thinks
it
ridiculous
to
attempt
the
organization
of
poor
people
's
affairs
in
that
sort
of
way
.
This
project
of
the
supersession
of
Wages
by
Payment
in
Kind
—
oh
!
it
's
childish
.
If
it
was
n't
it
would
be
outrageous
and
indecent
.
Your
uncle
and
aunt
have
n't
thought
for
a
moment
of
any
single
one
of
the
necessary
consequences
of
these
things
they
say
their
confounded
Movement
aims
at
,
effects
upon
the
race
,
upon
public
spirit
,
upon
people
's
habits
and
motives
.
They
've
just
a
queer
craving
to
feel
powerful
and
influential
,
which
they
think
they
can
best
satisfy
by
upsetting
the
lives
of
no
end
of
harmless
poor
people
—
the
only
people
they
dare
upset
—
and
that
's
about
as
far
as
they
go
...
.
Your
aunt
's
detestable
,
Marjorie
.
"
Marjorie
had
never
seen
him
so
deeply
affected
by
anything
but
herself
.
It
seemed
to
her
he
was
needlessly
disturbed
by
a
trivial
matter
.
He
sulked
for
a
space
,
and
then
broke
out
again
.
"
That
confounded
woman
talks
of
my
physical
science
,
"
he
said
,
"
as
if
research
were
an
amiable
weakness
,
like
collecting
postage
stamps
.
And
it
's
changed
human
conditions
more
in
the
last
ten
years
than
all
the
parliamentary
wire-pullers
and
legislators
and
administrative
experts
have
done
in
two
centuries
.
And
for
all
that
,
there
's
more
clerks
in
Whitehall
than
professors
of
physics
in
the
whole
of
England
.
"
...
"
I
suppose
it
's
the
way
that
sort
of
thing
gets
done
,
"
said
Marjorie
,
after
an
interval
.
"
That
sort
of
thing
does
n't
get
done
,
"
snapped
Trafford
.
"
All
these
people
burble
about
with
their
movements
and
jobs
,
and
lectures
and
stuff
—
and
things
happen
.
Like
some
one
getting
squashed
to
death
in
a
crowd
.
Nobody
did
it
,
but
anybody
in
the
muddle
can
claim
to
have
done
it
—
if
only
they
've
got
the
cheek
of
your
Aunt
Plessington
.
"
He
seemed
to
have
finished
.
"
Done
!
"
he
suddenly
broke
out
again
.
"
Why
!
people
like
your
Aunt
Plessington
do
n't
even
know
where
the
handle
is
.
If
they
ventured
to
look
for
it
,
they
'd
give
the
whole
show
away
!
Done
,
indeed
!
"
"
Here
we
are
!
"
said
Marjorie
,
a
little
relieved
to
find
the
hansom
turning
out
of
King
's
Road
into
their
own
side
street
...
.
And
then
Marjorie
wore
the
blue
dress
with
great
success
at
the
Carmels
'
.
The
girls
came
and
looked
at
it
and
admired
it
—
it
was
no
mere
politeness
.
They
admitted
there
was
style
about
it
,
a
quality
—
there
was
no
explaining
.
"
You
're
wonderful
,
Madge
!
"
cried
the
younger
Carmel
girl
.
The
Carmel
boy
,
seizing
the
opportunity
of
a
momentary
seclusion
in
a
corner
,
ended
a
short
but
rather
portentous
silence
with
"
I
say
,
you
do
look
ripping
,
"
in
a
voice
that
implied
the
keenest
regret
for
the
slacknesses
of
a
summer
that
was
now
infinitely
remote
to
Marjorie
.
It
was
ridiculous
that
the
Carmel
boy
should
have
such
emotions
—
he
was
six
years
younger
than
Trafford
and
only
a
year
older
than
Marjorie
,
and
yet
she
was
pleased
by
his
manifest
wound
...
.
There
was
only
one
little
thing
at
the
back
of
her
mind
that
alloyed
her
sense
of
happy
and
complete
living
that
night
,
and
that
was
the
ghost
of
an
addition
sum
.
At
home
,
in
her
pretty
bureau
,
a
little
gathering
pile
of
bills
,
as
yet
unpaid
,
and
an
empty
cheque-book
with
appealing
counterfoils
,
awaited
her
attention
.
Marjorie
had
still
to
master
the
fact
that
all
the
fine
braveries
and
interests
and
delights
of
life
that
offer
themselves
so
amply
to
the
favoured
children
of
civilization
,
trail
and
,
since
the
fall
of
man
at
any
rate
,
have
trailed
after
them
something
—
something
,
the
justification
of
morality
,
the
despair
of
all
easy
,
happy
souls
,
the
unavoidable
drop
of
bitterness
in
the
cup
of
pleasure
—
the
Reckoning
.
CHAPTER
THE
SECOND
The
Child
of
the
Ages
When
the
intellectual
history
of
this
time
comes
to
be
written
,
nothing
I
think
will
stand
out
more
strikingly
than
the
empty
gulf
in
quality
between
the
superb
and
richly
fruitful
scientific
investigations
that
are
going
on
and
the
general
thought
of
other
educated
sections
of
the
community
.
I
do
not
mean
that
the
scientific
men
are
as
a
whole
a
class
of
supermen
,
dealing
with
and
thinking
about
everything
in
a
way
altogether
better
than
the
common
run
of
humanity
,
but
that
in
their
own
field
,
they
think
and
work
with
an
intensity
,
an
integrity
,
a
breadth
,
boldness
,
patience
,
thoroughness
and
faithfulness
that
(
excepting
only
a
few
artists
)
puts
their
work
out
of
all
comparison
with
any
other
human
activity
.
Often
the
field
in
which
the
work
is
done
is
very
narrow
,
and
almost
universally
the
underlying
philosophy
is
felt
rather
than
apprehended
.
A
scientific
man
may
be
large
and
deep-minded
,
deliberate
and
personally
detached
in
his
work
,
and
hasty
,
commonplace
and
superficial
in
every
other
relation
of
life
.
Nevertheless
it
is
true
that
in
these
particular
directions
the
human
mind
has
achieved
a
new
and
higher
quality
of
attitude
and
gesture
,
a
veracity
,
self-detachment
and
self-abnegating
vigour
of
criticism
that
tend
to
spread
out
and
must
ultimately
spread
out
to
every
other
human
affair
.
In
these
uncontroversial
issues
at
least
mankind
has
learnt
the
rich
rewards
that
ensue
from
patience
and
infinite
pains
.
The
peculiar
circumstances
of
Trafford
's
birth
and
upbringing
had
accentuated
his
natural
disposition
toward
this
new
thoroughness
of
intellectual
treatment
which
has
always
distinguished
the
great
artist
,
and
which
to-day
is
also
the
essential
quality
of
the
scientific
method
.
He
had
lived
apart
from
any
urgency
to
produce
and
compete
in
the
common
business
of
the
world
;
his
natural
curiosities
,
fed
and
encouraged
by
his
natural
gifts
,
had
grown
into
a
steady
passion
for
clarity
and
knowledge
.
But
with
him
there
was
no
specialization
.
He
brought
out
from
his
laboratory
into
the
everyday
affairs
of
the
world
the
same
sceptical
restraint
of
judgment
which
is
the
touchstone
of
scientific
truth
.
This
made
him
a
tepid
and
indeed
rather
a
scornful
spectator
of
political
and
social
life
.
Party
formulae
,
international
rivalries
,
social
customs
,
and
very
much
of
the
ordinary
law
of
our
state
impressed
him
as
a
kind
of
fungoid
growth
out
of
a
fundamental
intellectual
muddle
.
It
all
maintained
itself
hazardously
,
changing
and
adapting
itself
unintelligently
to
unseen
conditions
.
He
saw
no
ultimate
truth
in
this
seething
welter
of
human
efforts
,
no
tragedy
as
yet
in
its
defeats
,
no
value
in
its
victories
.
It
had
to
go
on
,
he
believed
,
until
the
spreading
certitudes
of
the
scientific
method
pierced
its
unsubstantial
thickets
,
burst
its
delusive
films
,
drained
away
its
folly
.
Aunt
Plessington
's
talk
of
order
and
progress
and
the
influence
of
her
Movement
impressed
his
mind
very
much
as
the
cackle
of
some
larger
kind
of
hen
—
which
cackles
because
it
must
.
Only
Aunt
Plessington
being
human
simply
imagined
the
egg
.
She
laid
—
on
the
plane
of
the
ideal
.
When
the
great
nonsensical
issues
between
liberal
and
conservative
,
between
socialist
and
individualist
,
between
"
Anglo-Saxon
"
and
"
Teuton
,
"
between
the
"
white
race
"
and
the
"
yellow
race
"
arose
in
Trafford
's
company
,
he
would
if
he
felt
cheerful
take
one
side
or
the
other
as
chance
or
his
amusement
with
his
interlocutors
determined
,
and
jest
and
gibe
at
the
opponent
's
inconsistencies
,
and
if
on
the
other
hand
he
chanced
to
be
irritable
he
would
lose
his
temper
at
this
"
chewing
of
mesembryanthemum
"
and
sulk
into
silence
.
"
Chewing
mesembryanthemum
"
was
one
of
Trafford
's
favourite
images
,
—
no
doubt
the
reader
knows
that
abundant
fleshy
Mediterranean
weed
and
the
weakly
unpleasant
wateriness
of
its
substance
.
He
went
back
to
his
laboratory
and
his
proper
work
after
such
discussions
with
a
feeling
of
escape
,
as
if
he
shut
a
door
upon
a
dirty
and
undisciplined
market-place
crowded
with
mental
defectives
.
Yet
even
before
he
met
and
married
Marjorie
,
there
was
a
queer
little
undertow
of
thought
in
his
mind
which
insisted
that
this
business
could
not
end
with
door-slamming
,
that
he
did
n't
altogether
leave
the
social
confusion
outside
his
panels
when
he
stood
alone
before
his
apparatus
,
and
that
sooner
or
later
that
babble
of
voices
would
force
his
defences
and
overcome
his
disdain
.
His
particular
work
upon
the
intimate
constitution
of
matter
had
broadened
very
rapidly
in
his
hands
.
The
drift
of
his
work
had
been
to
identify
all
colloids
as
liquid
solutions
of
variable
degrees
of
viscosity
,
and
to
treat
crystalline
bodies
as
the
only
solids
.
He
had
dealt
with
oscillating
processes
in
colloid
bodies
with
especial
reference
to
living
matter
.
He
had
passed
from
a
study
of
the
melting
and
toughening
of
glass
to
the
molecular
structure
of
a
number
of
elastic
bodies
,
and
so
,
by
a
characteristic
leap
into
botanical
physiology
,
to
the
states
of
resinous
and
gummy
substances
at
the
moment
of
secretion
.
He
worked
at
first
upon
a
false
start
,
and
then
resumed
to
discover
a
growing
illumination
.
He
found
himself
in
the
presence
of
phenomena
that
seemed
to
him
to
lie
near
the
still
undiscovered
threshold
to
the
secret
processes
of
living
protoplasm
.
He
was
,
as
it
were
,
breaking
into
biology
by
way
of
molecular
physics
.
He
spent
many
long
nights
of
deep
excitement
,
calculating
and
arranging
the
development
of
these
seductive
intimations
.
It
was
this
work
which
his
marriage
had
interrupted
,
and
to
which
he
was
now
returning
.
He
was
surprised
to
find
how
difficult
it
was
to
take
it
up
again
.
He
had
been
only
two
months
away
from
it
,
and
yet
already
it
had
not
a
little
of
the
feeling
of
a
relic
taken
from
a
drawer
.
Something
had
faded
.
It
was
at
first
as
if
a
film
had
come
over
his
eyes
,
so
that
he
could
no
longer
see
these
things
clearly
and
subtly
and
closely
.
His
senses
,
his
emotions
,
had
been
living
in
a
stirring
and
vivid
illumination
.
Now
in
this
cool
quietude
bright
clouds
of
coloured
memory-stuff
swam
distractingly
before
his
eyes
.
Phantom
kisses
on
his
lips
,
the
memory
of
touches
and
the
echoing
vibrations
of
an
adorable
voice
,
the
thought
of
a
gay
delightful
fireside
and
the
fresh
recollection
of
a
companion
intensely
felt
beside
him
,
effaced
the
delicate
profundities
of
this
dim
place
.
Durgan
hovered
about
him
,
helpful
and
a
mute
reproach
.
Trafford
had
to
force
his
attention
daily
for
the
better
part
of
two
weeks
before
he
had
fully
recovered
the
fine
enchanting
interest
of
that
suspended
work
.
At
last
one
day
he
had
the
happiness
of
possession
again
.
He
had
exactly
the
sensation
one
gets
when
some
hitherto
intractable
piece
of
a
machine
one
is
putting
together
,
clicks
neatly
and
beyond
all
hoping
,
into
its
place
.
He
found
himself
working
in
the
old
style
,
with
the
hours
slipping
by
disregarded
.
He
sent
out
Durgan
to
get
him
tobacco
and
tea
and
smoked-salmon
sandwiches
,
and
he
stayed
in
the
laboratory
all
night
.
He
went
home
about
half-past
five
,
and
found
a
white-faced
,
red-eyed
Marjorie
still
dressed
,
wrapped
in
a
travelling-rug
,
and
crumpled
and
asleep
in
his
study
arm-chair
beside
the
grey
ashes
of
an
extinct
fire
.
In
the
instant
before
she
awoke
he
could
see
what
a
fragile
and
pitiful
being
a
healthy
and
happy
young
wife
can
appear
.
Her
pose
revealed
an
unsuspected
slender
weakness
of
body
,
her
face
something
infantile
and
wistful
he
had
still
to
reckon
with
.
She
awoke
with
a
start
and
stared
at
him
for
a
moment
,
and
at
the
room
about
her
.
"
Oh
,
where
have
you
been
?
"
she
asked
almost
querulously
.
"
Where
have
you
been
?
"
"
But
my
dear
!
"
he
said
,
as
one
might
speak
to
a
child
,
"
why
are
n't
you
in
bed
?
It
's
just
dawn
.
"
"
Oh
,
"
she
said
,
"
I
waited
and
I
waited
.
It
seemed
you
must
come
.
I
read
a
book
.
And
then
I
fell
asleep
.
"
And
then
with
a
sob
of
feeble
self-pity
,
"
And
here
I
am
!
"
She
rubbed
the
back
of
her
hand
into
one
eye
and
shivered
.
"
I
'm
cold
,
"
she
said
,
"
and
I
want
some
tea
.
"
"
Let
's
make
some
,
"
said
Trafford
.
"
It
's
been
horrible
waiting
,
"
said
Marjorie
without
moving
;
"
horrible
!
Where
have
you
been
?
"
"
I
've
been
working
.
I
got
excited
by
my
work
.
I
've
been
at
the
laboratory
.
I
've
had
the
best
spell
of
work
I
've
ever
had
since
our
marriage
.
"
"
But
I
have
been
up
all
night
!
"
she
cried
with
her
face
and
voice
softening
to
tears
.
"
How
could
you
?
How
could
you
?
"
He
was
surprised
by
her
weeping
.
He
was
still
more
surprised
by
the
self-abandonment
that
allowed
her
to
continue
.
"
I
've
been
working
,
"
he
repeated
,
and
then
looked
about
with
a
man
's
helplessness
for
the
tea
apparatus
.
One
must
have
hot
water
and
a
teapot
and
a
kettle
;
he
would
find
those
in
the
kitchen
.
He
strolled
thoughtfully
out
of
the
room
,
thinking
out
the
further
details
of
tea-making
all
mixed
up
with
amazement
at
Marjorie
,
while
she
sat
wiping
her
eyes
with
a
crumpled
pocket-handkerchief
.
Presently
she
followed
him
down
with
the
rug
about
her
like
a
shawl
,
and
stood
watching
him
as
he
lit
a
fire
of
wood
and
paper
among
the
ashes
in
the
kitchen
fireplace
.
"
It
's
been
dreadful
,
"
she
said
,
not
offering
to
help
.
"
You
see
,
"
he
said
,
on
his
knees
,
"
I
'd
really
got
hold
of
my
work
at
last
.
"
"
But
you
should
have
sent
—
—
"
"
I
was
thinking
of
my
work
.
I
clean
forgot
.
"
"
Forgot
?
"
"
Absolutely
.
"
"
Forgot
—
me
!
"
"
Of
course
,
"
said
Trafford
,
with
a
slightly
puzzled
air
,
"
you
do
n't
see
it
as
I
do
.
"
The
kettle
engaged
him
for
a
time
.
Then
he
threw
out
a
suggestion
.
"
We
'll
have
to
have
a
telephone
.
"
"
I
could
n't
imagine
where
you
were
.
I
thought
of
all
sorts
of
things
.
I
almost
came
round
—
but
I
was
so
horribly
afraid
I
might
n't
find
you
.
"
He
renewed
his
suggestion
of
a
telephone
.
"
So
that
if
I
really
want
you
—
—
"
said
Marjorie
.
"
Or
if
I
just
want
to
feel
you
're
there
.
"
"
Yes
,
"
said
Trafford
slowly
,
jabbing
a
piece
of
firewood
into
the
glow
;
but
it
was
chiefly
present
in
his
mind
that
much
of
that
elaborate
experimenting
of
his
was
n't
at
all
a
thing
to
be
cut
athwart
by
the
exasperating
gusts
of
a
telephone
bell
clamouring
for
attention
.
Hitherto
the
laboratory
telephone
had
been
in
the
habit
of
disconnecting
itself
early
in
the
afternoon
.
And
yet
after
all
it
was
this
instrument
,
the
same
twisted
wire
and
little
quivering
tympanum
,
that
had
brought
back
Marjorie
into
his
life
.
And
now
Trafford
fell
into
a
great
perplexity
of
mind
.
His
banker
had
called
his
attention
to
the
fact
that
his
account
was
overdrawn
to
the
extent
of
three
hundred
and
thirteen
pounds
,
and
he
had
been
under
that
vague
sort
of
impression
one
always
has
about
one
's
current
account
that
he
was
a
hundred
and
fifty
or
so
to
the
good
.
His
first
impression
was
that
those
hitherto
infallible
beings
,
those
unseen
gnomes
of
the
pass-book
whose
lucid
figures
,
neat
tickings
,
and
unrelenting
additions
constituted
banks
to
his
imagination
,
must
have
made
a
mistake
;
his
second
that
some
one
had
tampered
with
a
cheque
.
His
third
thought
pointed
to
Marjorie
and
the
easy
circumstances
of
his
home
.
For
a
fortnight
now
she
had
been
obviously
ailing
,
oddly
irritable
;
he
did
not
understand
the
change
in
her
,
but
it
sufficed
to
prevent
his
taking
the
thing
to
her
at
once
and
going
into
it
with
her
as
he
would
have
done
earlier
.
Instead
he
had
sent
for
his
pass-book
,
and
in
the
presence
of
its
neat
columns
realized
for
the
first
time
the
meaning
of
Marjorie
's
"
three
hundred
pounds
.
"
Including
half-a-dozen
cheques
to
Oxbridge
tradesmen
for
her
old
debts
,
she
had
spent
,
he
discovered
,
nearly
seven
hundred
and
fifty
.
He
sat
before
the
little
bundle
of
crumpled
strips
of
pink
and
white
,
perforated
,
purple
stamped
and
effaced
,
in
a
state
of
extreme
astonishment
.
It
was
no
small
factor
in
his
amazement
to
note
how
very
carelessly
some
of
those
cheques
of
Marjorie
's
had
been
written
.
Several
she
had
not
even
crossed
.
The
effect
of
it
all
was
that
she
'd
just
spent
his
money
—
freely
—
with
an
utter
disregard
of
the
consequences
.
Up
to
that
moment
it
had
never
occurred
to
Trafford
that
anybody
one
really
cared
for
,
could
be
anything
but
punctilious
about
money
.
Now
here
,
with
an
arithmetical
exactitude
of
demonstration
,
he
perceived
that
Marjorie
was
n't
.
It
was
so
tremendous
a
discovery
for
him
,
so
disconcerting
and
startling
,
that
he
did
n't
for
two
days
say
a
word
to
her
about
it
.
He
could
n't
think
of
a
word
to
say
.
He
felt
that
even
to
put
these
facts
before
her
amounted
to
an
accusation
of
disloyalty
and
selfishness
that
he
had
n't
the
courage
to
make
.
His
work
stopped
altogether
.
He
struggled
hourly
with
that
accusation
.
Did
she
realize
—
—
?
There
seemed
no
escape
from
his
dilemma
;
either
she
did
n't
care
or
she
did
n't
understand
!
His
thoughts
went
back
to
the
lake
of
Orta
,
when
he
had
put
all
his
money
at
her
disposal
.
She
had
been
surprised
,
and
now
he
perceived
she
had
also
been
a
little
frightened
.
The
chief
excuse
he
could
find
for
her
was
that
she
was
inexperienced
—
absolutely
inexperienced
.
Even
now
,
of
course
,
she
was
drawing
fresh
cheques
...
.
He
would
have
to
pull
himself
together
,
and
go
into
the
whole
thing
—
for
all
its
infinite
disagreeableness
—
with
her
...
.
But
it
was
Marjorie
who
broached
the
subject
.
He
had
found
work
at
the
laboratory
unsatisfactory
,
and
after
lunching
at
his
club
he
had
come
home
and
gone
to
his
study
in
order
to
think
out
the
discussion
he
contemplated
with
her
.
She
came
in
to
him
as
he
sat
at
his
desk
.
"
Busy
?
"
she
said
.
"
Not
very
,
"
he
answered
,
and
she
came
up
to
him
,
kissed
his
head
,
and
stood
beside
him
with
her
hand
on
his
shoulder
.
"
Pass-book
?
"
she
asked
.
He
nodded
.
"
I
've
been
overrunning
.
"
"
No
end
.
"
The
matter
was
opened
.
What
would
she
say
?
She
bent
to
his
ear
and
whispered
.
"
I
'm
going
to
overrun
some
more
.
"
His
voice
was
resentful
.
"
You
ca
n't
,
"
he
said
compactly
without
looking
at
her
.
"
You
've
spent
—
enough
.
"
"
There
's
—
things
.
"
"
What
things
?
"
Her
answer
took
some
time
in
coming
.
"
We
'll
have
to
give
a
wedding
present
to
Daffy
...
.
I
shall
want
—
some
more
furniture
.
"
Well
,
he
had
to
go
into
it
now
.
"
I
do
n't
think
you
can
have
it
,
"
he
said
,
and
then
as
she
remained
silent
,
"
Marjorie
,
do
you
know
how
much
money
I
've
got
?
"
"
Six
thousand
.
"
"
I
had
.
But
we
've
spent
nearly
a
thousand
pounds
.
Yes
—
one
thousand
pounds
—
over
and
above
income
.
We
meant
to
spend
four
hundred
.
And
now
,
we
've
got
—
hardly
anything
over
five
.
"
"
Five
thousand
,
"
said
Marjorie
.
"
Five
thousand
.
"
"
And
there
's
your
salary
.
"
"
Yes
,
but
at
this
pace
—
—
"
"
Dear
,
"
said
Marjorie
,
and
her
hands
came
about
his
neck
,
"
dear
—
there
's
something
—
—
"
She
broke
off
.
An
unfamiliar
quality
in
her
voice
struck
into
him
.
He
turned
his
head
to
see
her
face
,
rose
to
his
feet
staring
at
her
.
This
remarkable
young
woman
had
become
soft
and
wonderful
as
April
hills
across
which
clouds
are
sweeping
.
Her
face
was
as
if
he
had
never
seen
it
before
;
her
eyes
bright
with
tears
.
"
Oh
!
do
n't
let
's
spoil
things
by
thinking
of
money
,
"
she
said
.
"
I
've
got
something
—
—
"
Her
voice
fell
to
a
whisper
.
"
Do
n't
let
's
spoil
things
by
thinking
of
money
...
.
It
's
too
good
,
dear
,
to
be
true
.
It
's
too
good
to
be
true
.
It
makes
everything
perfect
...
.
We
'll
have
to
furnish
that
little
room
.
I
did
n't
dare
to
hope
it
—
somehow
.
I
've
been
so
excited
and
afraid
.
But
we
've
got
to
furnish
that
little
room
there
—
that
empty
little
room
upstairs
,
dear
,
that
we
left
over
...
.
Oh
my
dear
!
my
dear
!
"
The
world
of
Trafford
and
Marjorie
was
filled
and
transfigured
by
the
advent
of
their
child
.
For
two
days
of
abundant
silences
he
had
been
preparing
a
statement
of
his
case
for
her
,
he
had
been
full
of
the
danger
to
his
research
and
all
the
waste
of
his
life
that
her
extravagance
threatened
.
He
wanted
to
tell
her
just
all
that
his
science
meant
to
him
,
explain
how
his
income
and
life
had
all
been
arranged
to
leave
him
,
mind
and
time
and
energy
,
free
for
these
commanding
investigations
.
His
life
was
to
him
the
service
of
knowledge
—
or
futility
.
He
had
perceived
that
she
did
not
understand
this
in
him
;
that
for
her
,
life
was
a
blaze
of
eagerly
sought
experiences
and
gratifications
.
So
far
he
had
thought
out
things
and
had
them
ready
for
her
.
But
now
all
this
impending
discussion
vanished
out
of
his
world
.
Their
love
was
to
be
crowned
by
the
miracle
of
parentage
.
This
fact
flooded
his
outlook
and
submerged
every
other
consideration
.
This
manifest
probability
came
to
him
as
if
it
were
an
unforeseen
marvel
.
It
was
as
if
he
had
never
thought
of
such
a
thing
before
,
as
though
a
fact
entirely
novel
in
the
order
of
the
universe
had
come
into
existence
.
Marjorie
became
again
magical
and
wonderful
for
him
,
but
in
a
manner
new
and
strange
,
she
was
grave
,
solemn
,
significant
.
He
was
filled
with
a
passionate
solicitude
for
her
welfare
,
and
a
passionate
desire
to
serve
her
.
It
seemed
impossible
to
him
that
only
a
day
or
so
ago
he
should
have
been
accusing
her
in
his
heart
of
disloyalty
,
and
searching
for
excuses
and
mitigations
...
.
All
the
freshness
of
his
first
love
for
Marjorie
returned
,
his
keen
sense
of
the
sweet
gallantry
of
her
voice
and
bearing
,
his
admiration
for
the
swift
,
falconlike
swoop
of
her
decisions
,
for
the
grace
and
poise
of
her
body
,
and
the
steady
frankness
of
her
eyes
;
but
now
it
was
all
charged
with
his
sense
of
this
new
joint
life
germinating
at
the
heart
of
her
slender
vigour
,
spreading
throughout
her
being
to
change
it
altogether
into
womanhood
for
ever
.
In
this
new
light
his
passion
for
research
and
all
the
scheme
of
his
life
appeared
faded
and
unworthy
,
as
much
egotism
as
if
he
had
been
devoted
to
hunting
or
golf
or
any
such
aimless
preoccupation
.
Fatherhood
gripped
him
and
faced
him
about
.
It
was
manifestly
a
monstrous
thing
that
he
should
ever
have
expected
Marjorie
to
become
a
mere
undisturbing
accessory
to
the
selfish
intellectualism
of
his
career
,
to
shave
and
limit
herself
to
a
mere
bachelor
income
,
and
play
no
part
of
her
own
in
the
movement
of
the
world
.
He
knew
better
now
.
Research
must
fall
into
its
proper
place
,
and
for
his
immediate
business
he
must
set
to
work
to
supplement
his
manifestly
inadequate
resources
.
At
first
he
could
form
no
plan
at
all
for
doing
that
.
He
determined
that
research
must
still
have
his
morning
hours
until
lunch-time
,
and
,
he
privately
resolved
,
some
part
of
the
night
.
The
rest
of
his
day
,
he
thought
,
he
would
set
aside
for
a
time
to
money-making
.
But
he
was
altogether
inexperienced
in
the
methods
of
money-making
;
it
was
a
new
problem
,
and
a
new
sort
of
problem
to
him
altogether
.
He
discovered
himself
helpless
and
rather
silly
in
the
matter
.
The
more
obvious
possibilities
seemed
to
be
that
he
might
lecture
upon
his
science
or
write
.
He
communicated
with
a
couple
of
lecture
agencies
,
and
was
amazed
at
their
scepticism
;
no
doubt
he
knew
his
science
,
on
that
point
they
were
complimentary
in
a
profuse
,
unconvincing
manner
,
but
could
he
interest
like
X
—
and
here
they
named
a
notorious
quack
—
could
he
draw
?
He
offered
Science
Notes
to
a
weekly
periodical
;
the
editor
answered
that
for
the
purposes
of
his
publication
he
preferred
,
as
between
professors
and
journalists
,
journalists
.
"
You
real
scientific
men
,
"
he
said
,
"
are
no
doubt
a
thousand
times
more
accurate
and
novel
and
all
that
,
but
as
no
one
seems
able
to
understand
you
—
—
"
He
went
to
his
old
fellow-student
,
Gwenn
,
who
was
editing
The
Scientific
Review
,
and
through
him
he
secured
some
semi-popular
lectures
,
which
involved
,
he
found
,
travelling
about
twenty-nine
miles
weekly
at
the
rate
of
four-and-sixpence
a
mile
—
counting
nothing
for
the
lectures
.
Afterwards
Gwenn
arranged
for
some
regular
notes
on
physics
and
micro-chemistry
.
Trafford
made
out
a
weekly
time-table
,
on
whose
white
of
dignity
,
leisure
,
and
the
honourable
pursuit
of
knowledge
,
a
diaper
of
red
marked
the
claims
of
domestic
necessity
.
It
was
astonishing
how
completely
this
coming
child
dominated
the
whole
atmosphere
and
all
the
circumstances
of
the
Traffords
.
It
became
their
central
fact
,
to
which
everything
else
turned
and
pointed
.
Its
effect
on
Marjorie
's
circle
of
school
and
college
friends
was
prodigious
.
She
was
the
first
of
their
company
to
cross
the
mysterious
boundaries
of
a
woman
's
life
.
She
became
to
them
a
heroine
mingled
with
something
of
the
priestess
.
They
called
upon
her
more
abundantly
and
sat
with
her
,
noted
the
change
in
her
eyes
and
voice
and
bearing
,
talking
with
a
kind
of
awe
and
a
faint
diffidence
of
the
promised
new
life
.
Many
of
them
had
been
deeply
tinged
by
the
women
's
suffrage
movement
,
the
feminist
note
was
strong
among
them
,
and
when
one
afternoon
Ottiline
Winchelsea
brought
round
Agatha
Alimony
,
the
novelist
,
and
Agatha
said
in
that
deep-ringing
voice
of
hers
:
"
I
hope
it
will
be
a
girl
,
so
that
presently
she
may
fight
the
battle
of
her
sex
,
"
there
was
the
profoundest
emotion
.
But
when
Marjorie
conveyed
that
to
Trafford
he
was
lacking
in
response
.
"
I
want
a
boy
,
"
he
said
,
and
,
being
pressed
for
a
reason
,
explained
:
"
Oh
,
one
likes
to
have
a
boy
.
I
want
him
with
just
your
quick
eyes
and
ears
,
my
dear
,
and
just
my
own
safe
and
certain
hands
.
"
Mrs.
Pope
received
the
news
with
that
depth
and
aimless
complexity
of
emotion
which
had
now
become
her
habitual
method
with
Marjorie
.
She
kissed
and
clasped
her
daughter
,
and
thought
confusedly
over
her
shoulder
,
and
said
:
"
Of
course
,
dear
—
—
.
Oh
,
I
do
so
hope
it
wo
n't
annoy
your
father
.
"
Daffy
was
"
nice
,
"
but
vague
,
and
sufficiently
feminist
to
wish
it
a
daughter
,
and
the
pseudo-twins
said
"
Hoo
-ray
!
"
and
changed
the
subject
at
the
earliest
possible
opportunity
.
But
Theodore
was
deeply
moved
at
the
prospect
of
becoming
an
uncle
,
and
went
apart
and
mused
deeply
and
darkly
thereon
for
some
time
.
It
was
difficult
to
tell
just
what
Trafford
's
mother
thought
,
she
was
complex
and
subtle
,
and
evidently
did
not
show
Marjorie
all
that
was
in
her
mind
;
but
at
any
rate
it
was
clear
the
prospect
of
a
grandchild
pleased
and
interested
her
.
And
about
Aunt
Plessington
's
views
there
was
no
manner
of
doubt
at
all
.
She
thought
,
and
remarked
judicially
,
as
one
might
criticize
a
game
of
billiards
,
that
on
the
whole
it
was
just
a
little
bit
too
soon
.
Marjorie
kept
well
throughout
March
and
April
,
and
then
suddenly
she
grew
unutterably
weary
and
uncomfortable
in
London
.
The
end
of
April
came
hot
and
close
and
dry
—
it
might
have
been
July
for
the
heat
—
the
scrap
of
garden
wilted
,
and
the
streets
were
irritating
with
fine
dust
and
blown
scraps
of
paper
and
drifting
straws
.
She
could
think
of
nothing
but
the
shade
of
trees
,
and
cornfields
under
sunlight
and
the
shadows
of
passing
clouds
.
So
Trafford
took
out
an
old
bicycle
and
wandered
over
the
home
counties
for
three
days
,
and
at
last
hit
upon
a
little
country
cottage
near
Great
Missenden
,
a
cottage
a
couple
of
girl
artists
had
furnished
and
now
wanted
to
let
.
It
had
a
long
,
untidy
vegetable
garden
and
a
small
orchard
and
drying-ground
,
with
an
old
,
superannuated
humbug
of
a
pear-tree
near
the
centre
surrounded
by
a
green
seat
,
and
high
hedges
with
the
promise
of
honeysuckle
and
dog-roses
,
and
gaps
that
opened
into
hospitable
beechwoods
—
woods
not
so
thick
but
that
there
were
glades
of
bluebells
,
bracken
and
,
to
be
exact
,
in
places
embattled
stinging-nettles
.
He
took
it
and
engaged
a
minute
,
active
,
interested
,
philoprogenitive
servant
girl
for
it
,
and
took
Marjorie
thither
in
a
taxi-cab
.
She
went
out
,
wrapped
in
a
shawl
,
and
sat
under
the
pear-tree
and
cried
quietly
with
weakness
and
sentiment
and
the
tenderness
of
afternoon
sunshine
,
and
forthwith
began
to
pick
up
wonderfully
,
and
was
presently
writing
to
Trafford
to
buy
her
a
dog
to
go
for
walks
with
,
while
he
was
away
in
London
.
Trafford
was
still
struggling
along
with
his
research
in
spite
of
a
constant
gravitation
to
the
cottage
and
Marjorie
's
side
,
but
he
was
also
doing
his
best
to
grapple
with
the
difficulties
of
his
financial
situation
.
His
science
notes
,
which
were
very
uncongenial
and
difficult
to
do
,
and
his
lecturing
,
still
left
his
income
far
behind
his
expenditure
,
and
the
problem
of
minimising
the
inevitable
fresh
inroads
on
his
capital
was
insistent
and
distracting
.
He
discovered
that
he
could
manage
his
notes
more
easily
and
write
a
more
popular
article
if
he
dictated
to
a
typist
instead
of
writing
out
the
stuff
in
his
own
manuscript
.
Dictating
made
his
sentences
more
copious
and
open
,
and
the
effect
of
the
young
lady
's
by
no
means
acquiescent
back
was
to
make
him
far
more
explicit
than
he
tended
to
be
pen
in
hand
.
With
a
pen
and
alone
he
felt
the
boredom
of
the
job
unendurably
,
and
,
to
be
through
with
it
,
became
more
and
more
terse
,
allusive
,
and
compactly
technical
,
after
the
style
of
his
original
papers
.
One
or
two
articles
by
him
were
accepted
and
published
by
the
monthly
magazines
,
but
as
he
took
what
the
editors
sent
him
,
he
did
not
find
this
led
to
any
excessive
opulence
...
.
But
his
heart
was
very
much
with
Marjorie
through
all
this
time
.
Hitherto
he
had
taken
her
health
and
vigour
and
companionship
for
granted
,
and
it
changed
his
attitudes
profoundly
to
find
her
now
an
ailing
thing
,
making
an
invincible
appeal
for
restraint
and
consideration
and
help
.
She
changed
marvellously
,
she
gained
a
new
dignity
,
and
her
complexion
took
upon
itself
a
fresh
,
soft
beauty
.
He
would
spend
three
or
four
days
out
of
a
week
at
the
cottage
,
and
long
hours
of
that
would
be
at
her
side
,
paper
and
notes
of
some
forthcoming
lecture
at
hand
neglected
,
talking
to
her
consolingly
and
dreamingly
.
His
thoughts
were
full
of
ideas
about
education
;
he
was
obsessed
,
as
are
most
intelligent
young
parents
of
the
modern
type
,
by
the
enormous
possibilities
of
human
improvement
that
might
be
achieved
—
if
only
one
could
begin
with
a
baby
from
the
outset
,
on
the
best
lines
,
with
the
best
methods
,
training
and
preparing
it
—
presumably
for
a
cleaned
and
chastened
world
.
Indeed
he
made
all
the
usual
discoveries
of
intelligent
modern
young
parents
very
rapidly
,
fully
and
completely
,
and
overlooked
most
of
those
practical
difficulties
that
finally
reduce
them
to
human
dimensions
again
in
quite
the
normal
fashion
.
"
I
sit
and
muse
sometimes
when
I
ought
to
be
computing
,
"
he
said
.
"
Old
Durgan
watches
me
and
grunts
.
But
think
,
if
we
take
reasonable
care
,
watch
its
phases
,
stand
ready
with
a
kindergarten
toy
directly
it
stretches
out
its
hand
—
think
what
we
can
make
of
it
!
"
...
"
We
will
make
it
the
most
wonderful
child
in
the
world
,
"
said
Marjorie
.
"
Indeed
!
what
else
can
it
be
?
"
"
Your
eyes
,
"
said
Trafford
,
"
and
my
hands
.
"
"
A
girl
.
"
"
A
boy
.
"
He
kissed
her
white
and
passive
wrist
.
The
child
was
born
a
little
before
expectation
at
the
cottage
throughout
a
long
summer
's
night
and
day
in
early
September
.
Its
coming
into
the
world
was
a
long
and
painful
struggle
;
the
general
practitioner
who
had
seemed
two
days
before
a
competent
and
worthy
person
enough
,
revealed
himself
as
hesitating
,
old-fashioned
,
and
ill-equipped
.
He
had
a
lingering
theological
objection
to
the
use
of
chloroform
,
and
the
nurse
from
London
sulked
under
his
directions
and
came
and
discussed
his
methods
scornfully
with
Trafford
.
From
sundown
until
daylight
Trafford
chafed
in
the
little
sitting-room
and
tried
to
sleep
,
and
hovered
listening
at
the
foot
of
the
narrow
staircase
to
the
room
above
.
He
lived
through
interminable
hours
of
moaning
and
suspense
...
.
The
dawn
and
sunrise
came
with
a
quality
of
beautiful
horror
.
For
years
afterwards
that
memory
stood
out
among
other
memories
as
something
peculiarly
strange
and
dreadful
.
Day
followed
an
interminable
night
and
broke
slowly
.
Things
crept
out
of
darkness
,
awoke
as
it
were
out
of
mysteries
and
reclothed
themselves
in
unsubstantial
shadows
and
faint-hued
forms
.
All
through
that
slow
infiltration
of
the
world
with
light
and
then
with
colour
,
the
universe
it
seemed
was
moaning
and
endeavouring
,
and
a
weak
and
terrible
struggle
went
on
and
kept
on
in
that
forbidden
room
whose
windows
opened
upon
the
lightening
world
,
dying
to
a
sobbing
silence
,
rising
again
to
agonizing
cries
,
fluctuating
,
a
perpetual
obstinate
failure
to
achieve
a
tormenting
end
.
He
went
out
,
and
behold
the
sky
was
a
wonder
of
pink
flushed
level
clouds
and
golden
hope
,
and
nearly
every
star
except
the
morning
star
had
gone
,
the
supine
moon
was
pale
and
half-dissolved
in
blue
,
and
the
grass
which
had
been
grey
and
wet
,
was
green
again
,
and
the
bushes
and
trees
were
green
.
He
returned
and
hovered
in
the
passage
,
washed
his
face
,
listened
outside
the
door
for
age-long
moments
,
and
then
went
out
again
to
listen
under
the
window
...
.
He
went
to
his
room
and
shaved
,
sat
for
a
long
time
thinking
,
and
then
suddenly
knelt
by
his
bed
and
prayed
.
He
had
never
prayed
before
in
all
his
life
...
.
He
returned
to
the
garden
,
and
there
neglected
and
wet
with
dew
was
the
camp
chair
Marjorie
had
sat
on
the
evening
before
,
the
shawl
she
had
been
wearing
,
the
novel
she
had
been
reading
.
He
brought
these
things
in
as
if
they
were
precious
treasures
...
.
Light
was
pouring
into
the
world
again
now
.
He
noticed
with
an
extreme
particularity
the
detailed
dewy
delicacy
of
grass
and
twig
,
the
silver
edges
to
the
leaves
of
briar
and
nettle
,
the
soft
clearness
of
the
moss
on
bank
and
wall
.
He
noted
the
woods
with
the
first
warmth
of
autumn
tinting
their
green
,
the
clear
,
calm
sky
,
with
just
a
wisp
or
so
of
purple
cloud
waning
to
a
luminous
pink
on
the
brightening
east
,
the
exquisite
freshness
of
the
air
.
And
still
through
the
open
window
,
incessant
,
unbearable
,
came
this
sound
of
Marjorie
moaning
,
now
dying
away
,
now
reviving
,
now
weakening
again
...
.
Was
she
dying
?
Were
they
murdering
her
?
It
was
incredible
this
torture
could
go
on
.
Somehow
it
must
end
.
Chiefly
he
wanted
to
go
in
and
kill
the
doctor
.
But
it
would
do
no
good
to
kill
the
doctor
!
At
last
the
nurse
came
out
,
looking
a
little
scared
,
to
ask
him
to
cycle
three
miles
away
and
borrow
some
special
sort
of
needle
that
the
fool
of
a
doctor
had
forgotten
.
He
went
,
outwardly
meek
,
and
returning
was
met
by
the
little
interested
servant
,
very
alert
and
excited
and
rather
superior
—
for
here
was
something
no
man
can
do
—
with
the
news
that
he
had
a
beautiful
little
daughter
,
and
that
all
was
well
with
Marjorie
.
He
said
"
Thank
God
,
thank
God
!
"
several
times
,
and
then
went
out
into
the
kitchen
and
began
to
eat
some
flabby
toast
and
drink
some
lukewarm
tea
he
found
there
.
He
was
horribly
fatigued
.
"
Is
she
all
right
?
"
he
asked
over
his
shoulder
,
hearing
the
doctor
's
footsteps
on
the
stairs
...
.
They
were
very
pontifical
and
official
with
him
.
Presently
they
brought
out
a
strange
,
wizened
little
animal
,
wailing
very
stoutly
,
with
a
face
like
a
very
,
very
old
woman
,
and
reddish
skin
and
hair
—
it
had
quite
a
lot
of
wet
blackish
hair
of
an
incredible
delicacy
of
texture
.
It
kicked
with
a
stumpy
monkey
's
legs
and
inturned
feet
.
He
held
it
:
his
heart
went
out
to
it
.
He
pitied
it
beyond
measure
,
it
was
so
weak
and
ugly
.
He
was
astonished
and
distressed
by
the
fact
of
its
extreme
endearing
ugliness
.
He
had
expected
something
strikingly
pretty
.
It
clenched
a
fist
,
and
he
perceived
it
had
all
its
complement
of
fingers
and
ridiculous
,
pretentious
little
finger
nails
.
Inside
that
fist
it
squeezed
his
heart
...
.
He
did
not
want
to
give
it
back
to
them
.
He
wanted
to
protect
it
.
He
felt
they
could
not
understand
it
or
forgive
,
as
he
could
forgive
,
its
unjustifiable
feebleness
...
.
Later
,
for
just
a
little
while
,
he
was
permitted
to
see
Marjorie
—
Marjorie
so
spent
,
so
unspeakably
weary
,
and
yet
so
reassuringly
vital
and
living
,
so
full
of
gentle
pride
and
gentler
courage
amidst
the
litter
of
surgical
precaution
,
that
the
tears
came
streaming
down
his
face
and
he
sobbed
shamelessly
as
he
kissed
her
.
"
Little
daughter
,
"
she
whispered
and
smiled
—
just
as
she
had
always
smiled
—
that
sweet
,
dear
smile
of
hers
!
—
and
closed
her
eyes
and
said
no
more
...
.
Afterwards
as
he
walked
up
and
down
the
garden
he
remembered
their
former
dispute
and
thought
how
characteristic
of
Marjorie
it
was
to
have
a
daughter
in
spite
of
all
his
wishes
.
For
weeks
and
weeks
this
astonishing
and
unprecedented
being
filled
the
Traffords
'
earth
and
sky
.
Very
speedily
its
minute
quaintness
passed
,
and
it
became
a
vigorous
delightful
baby
that
was
,
as
the
nurse
explained
repeatedly
and
very
explicitly
,
not
only
quite
exceptional
and
distinguished
,
but
exactly
everything
that
a
baby
should
be
.
Its
weight
became
of
supreme
importance
;
there
was
a
splendid
week
when
it
put
on
nine
ounces
,
and
an
indifferent
one
when
it
added
only
one
.
And
then
came
a
terrible
crisis
.
It
was
ill
;
some
sort
of
infection
had
reached
it
,
an
infantile
cholera
.
Its
temperature
mounted
to
a
hundred
and
three
and
a
half
.
It
became
a
flushed
misery
,
wailing
with
a
pathetic
feeble
voice
.
Then
it
ceased
to
wail
.
Marjorie
became
white-lipped
and
heavy-eyed
from
want
of
sleep
,
and
it
seemed
to
Trafford
that
perhaps
his
child
might
die
.
It
seemed
to
him
that
the
spirit
of
the
universe
must
be
a
monstrous
calivan
since
children
had
to
die
.
He
went
for
a
long
walk
through
the
October
beechwoods
,
under
a
windy
sky
,
and
in
a
drift
of
falling
leaves
,
wondering
with
a
renewed
freshness
at
the
haunting
futilities
of
life
...
.
Life
was
not
futile
—
anything
but
that
,
but
futility
seemed
to
be
stalking
it
,
waiting
for
it
...
.
When
he
returned
the
child
was
already
better
,
and
in
a
few
days
it
was
well
again
—
but
very
light
and
thin
.
When
they
were
sure
of
its
safety
,
Marjorie
and
he
confessed
the
extremity
of
their
fears
to
one
another
.
They
had
not
dared
to
speak
before
,
and
even
now
they
spoke
in
undertones
of
the
shadow
that
had
hovered
and
passed
over
the
dearest
thing
in
their
lives
.
CHAPTER
THE
THIRD
The
New
Phase
In
the
course
of
the
next
six
months
the
child
of
the
ages
became
an
almost
ordinary
healthy
baby
,
and
Trafford
began
to
think
consecutively
about
his
scientific
work
again
—
in
the
intervals
of
effort
of
a
more
immediately
practical
sort
.
The
recall
of
molecular
physics
and
particularly
of
the
internal
condition
of
colloids
to
something
like
their
old
importance
in
his
life
was
greatly
accelerated
by
the
fact
that
a
young
Oxford
don
named
Behrens
was
showing
extraordinary
energy
in
what
had
been
for
a
time
Trafford
's
distinctive
and
undisputed
field
.
Behrens
was
one
of
those
vividly
clever
energetic
people
who
are
the
despair
of
originative
men
.
He
had
begun
as
Trafford
's
pupil
and
sedulous
ape
;
he
had
gone
on
to
work
that
imitated
Trafford
's
in
everything
except
its
continual
freshness
,
and
now
he
was
ransacking
every
scrap
of
suggestion
to
be
found
in
Trafford
's
work
,
and
developing
it
with
an
intensity
of
uninspired
intelligence
that
most
marvellously
simulated
originality
.
He
was
already
being
noted
as
an
authority
;
sometimes
in
an
article
his
name
would
be
quoted
and
Trafford
's
omitted
in
relation
to
Trafford
's
ideas
,
and
in
every
way
his
emergence
and
the
manner
of
his
emergence
threatened
and
stimulated
his
model
and
master
.
A
great
effort
had
to
be
made
.
Trafford
revived
the
drooping
spirits
of
Durgan
by
a
renewed
punctuality
in
the
laboratory
.
He
began
to
stay
away
from
home
at
night
and
work
late
again
,
now
,
however
,
under
no
imperative
inspiration
,
but
simply
because
it
was
only
by
such
an
invasion
of
the
evening
and
night
that
it
would
be
possible
to
make
headway
against
Behren
's
unremitting
industry
.
And
this
new
demand
upon
Trafford
's
already
strained
mental
and
nervous
equipment
began
very
speedily
to
have
its
effect
upon
his
domestic
life
.
It
is
only
in
romantic
fiction
that
a
man
can
work
strenuously
to
the
limit
of
his
power
and
come
home
to
be
sweet
,
sunny
and
entertaining
.
Trafford
's
preoccupation
involved
a
certain
negligence
of
Marjorie
,
a
certain
indisposition
to
be
amused
or
interested
by
trifling
things
,
a
certain
irritability
...
.
And
now
,
indeed
,
the
Traffords
were
coming
to
the
most
difficult
and
fatal
phase
in
marriage
.
They
had
had
that
taste
of
defiant
adventure
which
is
the
crown
of
a
spirited
love
affair
,
they
had
known
the
sweetness
of
a
maiden
passion
for
a
maid
,
and
they
had
felt
all
those
rich
and
solemn
emotions
,
those
splendid
fears
and
terrible
hopes
that
weave
themselves
about
the
great
partnership
in
parentage
.
And
now
,
so
far
as
sex
was
concerned
,
there
might
be
much
joy
and
delight
still
,
but
no
more
wonder
,
no
fresh
discoveries
of
incredible
new
worlds
and
unsuspected
stars
.
Love
,
which
had
been
a
new
garden
,
an
unknown
land
,
a
sunlit
sea
to
launch
upon
,
was
now
a
rich
treasure-house
of
memories
.
And
memories
,
although
they
afford
a
perpetually
increasing
enrichment
to
emotion
,
are
not
sufficient
in
themselves
for
the
daily
needs
of
life
.
For
this
,
indeed
,
is
the
truth
of
passionate
love
,
that
it
works
outs
its
purpose
and
comes
to
an
end
.
A
day
arrives
in
every
marriage
when
the
lovers
must
face
each
other
,
disillusioned
,
stripped
of
the
last
shred
of
excitement
