breadinto
the
bushes
with
a
snort
of
impatience
.
“
That’s
what
always
happens
—
just
as
I’ve
almost
got
him
,
”
he
said
.
“
Here’s
your
sixpence
,
Mary
.
But
you’ve
only
got
it
thanks
to
that
brute
of
a
boy
.
They
oughtn’t
to
be
allowed
to
bowl
hoops
here
—
”
“
Oughtn’t
to
be
allowed
to
bowl
hoops
!
My
dear
Ralph
,
what
nonsense
!
”
“
You
always
say
that
,
”
he
complained
;
“
and
it
isn’t
nonsense
.
What’s
the
point
of
having
a
garden
if
one
can’t
watch
birds
in
it
?
The
street
does
all
right
for
hoops
.
And
if
children
can’t
be
trusted
in
the
streets
,
their
mothers
should
keep
them
at
home
.
”
Mary
made
no
answer
to
this
remark
,
but
frowned
.
She
leant
back
on
the
seat
and
looked
about
her
at
the
great
houses
breaking
the
soft
gray-blue
sky
with
their
chimneys
.
“
Ah
,
well
,
”
she
said
,
“
London’s
a
fine
place
to
live
in
.
I
believe
I
could
sit
and
watch
people
all
day
long
.
I
like
my
fellow-creatures
...
.
”
Ralph
sighed
impatiently
.
“
Yes
,
I
think
so
,
when
you
come
to
know
them
,
”
she
added
,
as
if
his
disagreement
had
been
spoken
.
“
That’s
just
when
I
don’t
like
them
,
”
he
replied
.
“
Still
,
I
don’t
see
why
you
shouldn’t
cherish
that
illusion
,
if
it
pleases
you
.
”
He
spoke
without
much
vehemence
of
agreement
or
disagreement
.
He
seemed
chilled
.
“
Wake
up
,
Ralph
!
You’re
half
asleep
!
”
Mary
cried
,
turning
and
pinching
his
sleeve
.
“
What
have
you
been
doing
with
yourself
?
Moping
?
Working
?
Despising
the
world
,
as
usual
?
”
As
he
merely
shook
his
head
,
and
filled
his
pipe
,
she
went
on
:
“
It’s
a
bit
of
a
pose
,
isn’t
it
?
”
“
Not
more
than
most
things
,
”
he
said
.
“
Well
,
”
Mary
remarked
,
“
I’ve
a
great
deal
to
say
to
you
,
but
I
must
go
on
—
we
have
a
committee
.
”
She
rose
,
but
hesitated
,
looking
down
upon
him
rather
gravely
.
“
You
don’t
look
happy
,
Ralph
,
”
she
said
.
“
Is
it
anything
,
or
is
it
nothing
?
”
He
did
not
immediately
answer
her
,
but
rose
,
too
,
and
walked
with
her
towards
the
gate
.
As
usual
,
he
did
not
speak
to
her
without
considering
whether
what
he
was
about
to
say
was
the
sort
of
thing
that
he
could
say
to
her
.
“
I’ve
been
bothered
,
”
he
said
at
length
.
“
Partly
by
work
,
and
partly
by
family
troubles
.
Charles
has
been
behaving
like
a
fool
.
He
wants
to
go
out
to
Canada
as
a
farmer
—
”
“
Well
,
there’s
something
to
be
said
for
that
,
”
said
Mary
;
and
they
passed
the
gate
,
and
walked
slowly
round
the
Fields
again
,
discussing
difficulties
which
,
as
a
matter
of
fact
,
were
more
or
less
chronic
in
the
Denham
family
,
and
only
now
brought
forward
to
appease
Mary’s
sympathy
,
which
,
however
,
soothed
Ralph
more
than
he
was
aware
of
.
She
made
him
at
least
dwell
upon
problems
which
were
real
in
the
sense
that
they
were
capable
of
solution
;
and
the
true
cause
of
his
melancholy
,
which
was
not
susceptible
to
such
treatment
,
sank
rather
more
deeply
into
the
shades
of
his
mind
.
Mary
was
attentive
;
she
was
helpful
.
Ralph
could
not
help
feeling
grateful
to
her
,
the
more
so
,
perhaps
,
because
he
had
not
told
her
the
truth
about
his
state
;
and
when
they
reached
the
gate
again
he
wished
to
make
some
affectionate
objection
to
her
leaving
him
.
But
his
affection
took
the
rather
uncouth
form
of
expostulating
with
her
about
her
work
.
“
What
d’you
want
to
sit
on
a
committee
for
?
”
he
asked
.
“
It’s
waste
of
your
time
,
Mary
.
”
“
I
agree
with
you
that
a
country
walk
would
benefit
the
world
more
,
”
she
said
.
“
Look
here
,
”
she
added
suddenly
,
“
why
don’t
you
come
to
us
at
Christmas
?
It’s
almost
the
best
time
of
year
.
”
“
Come
to
you
at
Disham
?
”
Ralph
repeated
.
“
Yes
.
We
won’t
interfere
with
you
.
But
you
can
tell
me
later
,
”
she
said
,
rather
hastily
,
and
then
started
off
in
the
direction
of
Russell
Square
.
She
had
invited
him
on
the
impulse
of
the
moment
,
as
a
vision
of
the
country
came
before
her
;
and
now
she
was
annoyed
with
herself
for
having
done
so
,
and
then
she
was
annoyed
at
being
annoyed
.
“
If
I
can’t
face
a
walk
in
a
field
alone
with
Ralph
,
”
she
reasoned
,
“
I’d
better
buy
a
cat
and
live
in
a
lodging
at
Ealing
,
like
Sally
Seal
—
and
he
won’t
come
.
Or
did
he
mean
that
he
would
come
?
”
She
shook
her
head
.
She
really
did
not
know
what
he
had
meant
.
She
never
felt
quite
certain
;
but
now
she
was
more
than
usually
baffled
.
Was
he
concealing
something
from
her
?
His
manner
had
been
odd
;
his
deep
absorption
had
impressed
her
;
there
was
something
in
him
that
she
had
not
fathomed
,
and
the
mystery
of
his
nature
laid
more
of
a
spell
upon
her
than
she
liked
.
Moreover
,
she
could
not
prevent
herself
from
doing
now
what
she
had
often
blamed
others
of
her
sex
for
doing
—
from
endowing
her
friend
with
a
kind
of
heavenly
fire
,
and
passing
her
life
before
it
for
his
sanction
.
Under
this
process
,
the
committee
rather
dwindled
in
importance
;
the
Suffrage
shrank
;
she
vowed
she
would
work
harder
at
the
Italian
language
;
she
thought
she
would
take
up
the
study
of
birds
.
But
this
program
for
a
perfect
life
threatened
to
become
so
absurd
that
she
very
soon
caught
herself
out
in
the
evil
habit
,
and
was
rehearsing
her
speech
to
the
committee
by
the
time
the
chestnut-colored
bricks
of
Russell
Square
came
in
sight
.
Indeed
,
she
never
noticed
them
.
She
ran
upstairs
as
usual
,
and
was
completely
awakened
to
reality
by
the
sight
of
Mrs.
Seal
,
on
the
landing
outside
the
office
,
inducing
a
very
large
dog
to
drink
water
out
of
a
tumbler
.
“
Miss
Markham
has
already
arrived
,
”
Mrs.
Seal
remarked
,
with
due
solemnity
,
“
and
this
is
her
dog
.
”
“
A
very
fine
dog
,
too
,
”
said
Mary
,
patting
him
on
the
head
.
“
Yes
.
A
magnificent
fellow
,
”
Mrs.
Seal
agreed
.
“
A
kind
of
St.
Bernard
,
she
tells
me
—
so
like
Kit
to
have
a
St.
Bernard
.
And
you
guard
your
mistress
well
,
don’t
you
,
Sailor
?
You
see
that
wicked
men
don’t
break
into
her
larder
when
she’s
out
at
her
work
—
helping
poor
souls
who
have
lost
their
way
...
.
But
we’re
late
—
we
must
begin
!
”
and
scattering
the
rest
of
the
water
indiscriminately
over
the
floor
,
she
hurried
Mary
into
the
committee-room
.
CHAPTER
XIV
Mr.
Clacton
was
in
his
glory
.
The
machinery
which
he
had
perfected
and
controlled
was
now
about
to
turn
out
its
bi-monthly
product
,
a
committee
meeting
;
and
his
pride
in
the
perfect
structure
of
these
assemblies
was
great
.
He
loved
the
jargon
of
committee-rooms
;
he
loved
the
way
in
which
the
door
kept
opening
as
the
clock
struck
the
hour
,
in
obedience
to
a
few
strokes
of
his
pen
on
a
piece
of
paper
;
and
when
it
had
opened
sufficiently
often
,
he
loved
to
issue
from
his
inner
chamber
with
documents
in
his
hands
,
visibly
important
,
with
a
preoccupied
expression
on
his
face
that
might
have
suited
a
Prime
Minister
advancing
to
meet
his
Cabinet
.
By
his
orders
the
table
had
been
decorated
beforehand
with
six
sheets
of
blotting-paper
,
with
six
pens
,
six
ink-pots
,
a
tumbler
and
a
jug
of
water
,
a
bell
,
and
,
in
deference
to
the
taste
of
the
lady
members
,
a
vase
of
hardy
chrysanthemums
.
He
had
already
surreptitiously
straightened
the
sheets
of
blotting-paper
in
relation
to
the
ink-pots
,
and
now
stood
in
front
of
the
fire
engaged
in
conversation
with
Miss
Markham
.
But
his
eye
was
on
the
door
,
and
when
Mary
and
Mrs.
Seal
entered
,
he
gave
a
little
laugh
and
observed
to
the
assembly
which
was
scattered
about
the
room
:
“
I
fancy
,
ladies
and
gentlemen
,
that
we
are
ready
to
commence
.
”
So
speaking
,
he
took
his
seat
at
the
head
of
the
table
,
and
arranging
one
bundle
of
papers
upon
his
right
and
another
upon
his
left
,
called
upon
Miss
Datchet
to
read
the
minutes
of
the
previous
meeting
.
Mary
obeyed
.
A
keen
observer
might
have
wondered
why
it
was
necessary
for
the
secretary
to
knit
her
brows
so
closely
over
the
tolerably
matter-of-fact
statement
before
her
.
Could
there
be
any
doubt
in
her
mind
that
it
had
been
resolved
to
circularize
the
provinces
with
Leaflet
No.
3
,
or
to
issue
a
statistical
diagram
showing
the
proportion
of
married
women
to
spinsters
in
New
Zealand
;
or
that
the
net
profits
of
Mrs.
Hipsley’s
Bazaar
had
reached
a
total
of
five
pounds
eight
shillings
and
twopence
half-penny
?
Could
any
doubt
as
to
the
perfect
sense
and
propriety
of
these
statements
be
disturbing
her
?
No
one
could
have
guessed
,
from
the
look
of
her
,
that
she
was
disturbed
at
all
.
A
pleasanter
and
saner
woman
than
Mary
Datchet
was
never
seen
within
a
committee-room
.
She
seemed
a
compound
of
the
autumn
leaves
and
the
winter
sunshine
;
less
poetically
speaking
,
she
showed
both
gentleness
and
strength
,
an
indefinable
promise
of
soft
maternity
blending
with
her
evident
fitness
for
honest
labor
.
Nevertheless
,
she
had
great
difficulty
in
reducing
her
mind
to
obedience
;
and
her
reading
lacked
conviction
,
as
if
,
as
was
indeed
the
case
,
she
had
lost
the
power
of
visualizing
what
she
read
.
And
directly
the
list
was
completed
,
her
mind
floated
to
Lincoln’s
Inn
Fields
and
the
fluttering
wings
of
innumerable
sparrows
.
Was
Ralph
still
enticing
the
bald-headed
cock-sparrow
to
sit
upon
his
hand
?
Had
he
succeeded
?
Would
he
ever
succeed
?
She
had
meant
to
ask
him
why
it
is
that
the
sparrows
in
Lincoln’s
Inn
Fields
are
tamer
than
the
sparrows
in
Hyde
Park
—
perhaps
it
is
that
the
passers-by
are
rarer
,
and
they
come
to
recognize
their
benefactors
.
For
the
first
half-hour
of
the
committee
meeting
,
Mary
had
thus
to
do
battle
with
the
skeptical
presence
of
Ralph
Denham
,
who
threatened
to
have
it
all
his
own
way
.
Mary
tried
half
a
dozen
methods
of
ousting
him
.
She
raised
her
voice
,
she
articulated
distinctly
,
she
looked
firmly
at
Mr.
Clacton’s
bald
head
,
she
began
to
write
a
note
.
To
her
annoyance
,
her
pencil
drew
a
little
round
figure
on
the
blotting-paper
,
which
,
she
could
not
deny
,
was
really
a
bald-headed
cock-sparrow
.
She
looked
again
at
Mr.
Clacton
;
yes
,
he
was
bald
,
and
so
are
cock-sparrows
.
Never
was
a
secretary
tormented
by
so
many
unsuitable
suggestions
,
and
they
all
came
,
alas
!
with
something
ludicrously
grotesque
about
them
,
which
might
,
at
any
moment
,
provoke
her
to
such
flippancy
as
would
shock
her
colleagues
for
ever
.
The
thought
of
what
she
might
say
made
her
bite
her
lips
,
as
if
her
lips
would
protect
her
.
But
all
these
suggestions
were
but
flotsam
and
jetsam
cast
to
the
surface
by
a
more
profound
disturbance
,
which
,
as
she
could
not
consider
it
at
present
,
manifested
its
existence
by
these
grotesque
nods
and
beckonings
.
Consider
it
,
she
must
,
when
the
committee
was
over
.
Meanwhile
,
she
was
behaving
scandalously
;
she
was
looking
out
of
the
window
,
and
thinking
of
the
color
of
the
sky
,
and
of
the
decorations
on
the
Imperial
Hotel
,
when
she
ought
to
have
been
shepherding
her
colleagues
,
and
pinning
them
down
to
the
matter
in
hand
.
She
could
not
bring
herself
to
attach
more
weight
to
one
project
than
to
another
.
Ralph
had
said
—
she
could
not
stop
to
consider
what
he
had
said
,
but
he
had
somehow
divested
the
proceedings
of
all
reality
.
And
then
,
without
conscious
effort
,
by
some
trick
of
the
brain
,
she
found
herself
becoming
interested
in
some
scheme
for
organizing
a
newspaper
campaign
.
Certain
articles
were
to
be
written
;
certain
editors
approached
.
What
line
was
it
advisable
to
take
?
She
found
herself
strongly
disapproving
of
what
Mr.
Clacton
was
saying
.
She
committed
herself
to
the
opinion
that
now
was
the
time
to
strike
hard
.
Directly
she
had
said
this
,
she
felt
that
she
had
turned
upon
Ralph’s
ghost
;
and
she
became
more
and
more
in
earnest
,
and
anxious
to
bring
the
others
round
to
her
point
of
view
.
Once
more
,
she
knew
exactly
and
indisputably
what
is
right
and
what
is
wrong
.
As
if
emerging
from
a
mist
,
the
old
foes
of
the
public
good
loomed
ahead
of
her
—
capitalists
,
newspaper
proprietors
,
anti-suffragists
,
and
,
in
some
ways
most
pernicious
of
all
,
the
masses
who
take
no
interest
one
way
or
another
—
among
whom
,
for
the
time
being
,
she
certainly
discerned
the
features
of
Ralph
Denham
.
Indeed
,
when
Miss
Markham
asked
her
to
suggest
the
names
of
a
few
friends
of
hers
,
she
expressed
herself
with
unusual
bitterness
:
“
My
friends
think
all
this
kind
of
thing
useless
.
”
She
felt
that
she
was
really
saying
that
to
Ralph
himself
.
“
Oh
,
they’re
that
sort
,
are
they
?
”
said
Miss
Markham
,
with
a
little
laugh
;
and
with
renewed
vigor
their
legions
charged
the
foe
.
Mary’s
spirits
had
been
low
when
she
entered
the
committee-room
;
but
now
they
were
considerably
improved
.
She
knew
the
ways
of
this
world
;
it
was
a
shapely
,
orderly
place
;
she
felt
convinced
of
its
right
and
its
wrong
;
and
the
feeling
that
she
was
fit
to
deal
a
heavy
blow
against
her
enemies
warmed
her
heart
and
kindled
her
eye
.
In
one
of
those
flights
of
fancy
,
not
characteristic
of
her
but
tiresomely
frequent
this
afternoon
,
she
envisaged
herself
battered
with
rotten
eggs
upon
a
platform
,
from
which
Ralph
vainly
begged
her
to
descend
.
But
—
“
What
do
I
matter
compared
with
the
cause
?
”
she
said
,
and
so
on
.
Much
to
her
credit
,
however
teased
by
foolish
fancies
,
she
kept
the
surface
of
her
brain
moderate
and
vigilant
,
and
subdued
Mrs.
Seal
very
tactfully
more
than
once
when
she
demanded
,
“
Action
!
—
everywhere
!
—
at
once
!
”
as
became
her
father’s
daughter
.
The
other
members
of
the
committee
,
who
were
all
rather
elderly
people
,
were
a
good
deal
impressed
by
Mary
,
and
inclined
to
side
with
her
and
against
each
other
,
partly
,
perhaps
,
because
of
her
youth
.
The
feeling
that
she
controlled
them
all
filled
Mary
with
a
sense
of
power
;
and
she
felt
that
no
work
can
equal
in
importance
,
or
be
so
exciting
as
,
the
work
of
making
other
people
do
what
you
want
them
to
do
.
Indeed
,
when
she
had
won
her
point
she
felt
a
slight
degree
of
contempt
for
the
people
who
had
yielded
to
her
.
The
committee
now
rose
,
gathered
together
their
papers
,
shook
them
straight
,
placed
them
in
their
attache-cases
,
snapped
the
locks
firmly
together
,
and
hurried
away
,
having
,
for
the
most
part
,
to
catch
trains
,
in
order
to
keep
other
appointments
with
other
committees
,
for
they
were
all
busy
people
.
Mary
,
Mrs.
Seal
,
and
Mr.
Clacton
were
left
alone
;
the
room
was
hot
and
untidy
,
the
pieces
of
pink
blotting-paper
were
lying
at
different
angles
upon
the
table
,
and
the
tumbler
was
half
full
of
water
,
which
some
one
had
poured
out
and
forgotten
to
drink
.
Mrs.
Seal
began
preparing
the
tea
,
while
Mr.
Clacton
retired
to
his
room
to
file
the
fresh
accumulation
of
documents
.
Mary
was
too
much
excited
even
to
help
Mrs.
Seal
with
the
cups
and
saucers
.
She
flung
up
the
window
and
stood
by
it
,
looking
out
.
The
street
lamps
were
already
lit
;
and
through
the
mist
in
the
square
one
could
see
little
figures
hurrying
across
the
road
and
along
the
pavement
,
on
the
farther
side
.
In
her
absurd
mood
of
lustful
arrogance
,
Mary
looked
at
the
little
figures
and
thought
,
“
If
I
liked
I
could
make
you
go
in
there
or
stop
short
;
I
could
make
you
walk
in
single
file
or
in
double
file
;
I
could
do
what
I
liked
with
you
.
”
Then
Mrs.
Seal
came
and
stood
by
her
.
“
Oughtn’t
you
to
put
something
round
your
shoulders
,
Sally
?
”
Mary
asked
,
in
rather
a
condescending
tone
of
voice
,
feeling
a
sort
of
pity
for
the
enthusiastic
ineffective
little
woman
.
But
Mrs.
Seal
paid
no
attention
to
the
suggestion
.
“
Well
,
did
you
enjoy
yourself
?
”
Mary
asked
,
with
a
little
laugh
.
Mrs.
Seal
drew
a
deep
breath
,
restrained
herself
,
and
then
burst
out
,
looking
out
,
too
,
upon
Russell
Square
and
Southampton
Row
,
and
at
the
passers-by
,
“
Ah
,
if
only
one
could
get
every
one
of
those
people
into
this
room
,
and
make
them
understand
for
five
minutes
!
But
they
must
see
the
truth
some
day
...
.
If
only
one
could
make
them
see
it
...
.
”
Mary
knew
herself
to
be
very
much
wiser
than
Mrs.
Seal
,
and
when
Mrs.
Seal
said
anything
,
even
if
it
was
what
Mary
herself
was
feeling
,
she
automatically
thought
of
all
that
there
was
to
be
said
against
it
.
On
this
occasion
her
arrogant
feeling
that
she
could
direct
everybody
dwindled
away
.
“
Let’s
have
our
tea
,
”
she
said
,
turning
back
from
the
window
and
pulling
down
the
blind
.
“
It
was
a
good
meeting
—
didn’t
you
think
so
,
Sally
?
”
she
let
fall
,
casually
,
as
she
sat
down
at
the
table
.
Surely
Mrs.
Seal
must
realize
that
Mary
had
been
extraordinarily
efficient
?
“
But
we
go
at
such
a
snail’s
pace
,
”
said
Sally
,
shaking
her
head
impatiently
.
At
this
Mary
burst
out
laughing
,
and
all
her
arrogance
was
dissipated
.
“
You
can
afford
to
laugh
,
”
said
Sally
,
with
another
shake
of
her
head
,
“
but
I
can’t
.
I’m
fifty-five
,
and
I
dare
say
I
shall
be
in
my
grave
by
the
time
we
get
it
—
if
we
ever
do
.
”
“
Oh
,
no
,
you
won’t
be
in
your
grave
,
”
said
Mary
,
kindly
.
“
It’ll
be
such
a
great
day
,
”
said
Mrs.
Seal
,
with
a
toss
of
her
locks
.
“
A
great
day
,
not
only
for
us
,
but
for
civilization
.
That’s
what
I
feel
,
you
know
,
about
these
meetings
.
Each
one
of
them
is
a
step
onwards
in
the
great
march
—
humanity
,
you
know
.
We
do
want
the
people
after
us
to
have
a
better
time
of
it
—
and
so
many
don’t
see
it
.
I
wonder
how
it
is
that
they
don’t
see
it
?
”
She
was
carrying
plates
and
cups
from
the
cupboard
as
she
spoke
,
so
that
her
sentences
were
more
than
usually
broken
apart
.
Mary
could
not
help
looking
at
the
odd
little
priestess
of
humanity
with
something
like
admiration
.
While
she
had
been
thinking
about
herself
,
Mrs.
Seal
had
thought
of
nothing
but
her
vision
.
“
You
mustn’t
wear
yourself
out
,
Sally
,
if
you
want
to
see
the
great
day
,
”
she
said
,
rising
and
trying
to
take
a
plate
of
biscuits
from
Mrs.
Seal’s
hands
.
“
My
dear
child
,
what
else
is
my
old
body
good
for
?
”
she
exclaimed
,
clinging
more
tightly
than
before
to
her
plate
of
biscuits
.
“
Shouldn’t
I
be
proud
to
give
everything
I
have
to
the
cause
?
—
for
I’m
not
an
intelligence
like
you
.
There
were
domestic
circumstances
—
I’d
like
to
tell
you
one
of
these
days
—
so
I
say
foolish
things
.
I
lose
my
head
,
you
know
.
You
don’t
.
Mr.
Clacton
doesn’t
.
It’s
a
great
mistake
,
to
lose
one’s
head
.
But
my
heart’s
in
the
right
place
.
And
I’m
so
glad
Kit
has
a
big
dog
,
for
I
didn’t
think
her
looking
well
.
”
They
had
their
tea
,
and
went
over
many
of
the
points
that
had
been
raised
in
the
committee
rather
more
intimately
than
had
been
possible
then
;
and
they
all
felt
an
agreeable
sense
of
being
in
some
way
behind
the
scenes
;
of
having
their
hands
upon
strings
which
,
when
pulled
,
would
completely
change
the
pageant
exhibited
daily
to
those
who
read
the
newspapers
.
Although
their
views
were
very
different
,
this
sense
united
them
and
made
them
almost
cordial
in
their
manners
to
each
other
.
Mary
,
however
,
left
the
tea-party
rather
early
,
desiring
both
to
be
alone
,
and
then
to
hear
some
music
at
the
Queen’s
Hall
.
She
fully
intended
to
use
her
loneliness
to
think
out
her
position
with
regard
to
Ralph
;
but
although
she
walked
back
to
the
Strand
with
this
end
in
view
,
she
found
her
mind
uncomfortably
full
of
different
trains
of
thought
.
She
started
one
and
then
another
.
They
seemed
even
to
take
their
color
from
the
street
she
happened
to
be
in
.
Thus
the
vision
of
humanity
appeared
to
be
in
some
way
connected
with
Bloomsbury
,
and
faded
distinctly
by
the
time
she
crossed
the
main
road
;
then
a
belated
organ-grinder
in
Holborn
set
her
thoughts
dancing
incongruously
;
and
by
the
time
she
was
crossing
the
great
misty
square
of
Lincoln’s
Inn
Fields
,
she
was
cold
and
depressed
again
,
and
horribly
clear-sighted
.
The
dark
removed
the
stimulus
of
human
companionship
,
and
a
tear
actually
slid
down
her
cheek
,
accompanying
a
sudden
conviction
within
her
that
she
loved
Ralph
,
and
that
he
didn’t
love
her
.
All
dark
and
empty
now
was
the
path
where
they
had
walked
that
morning
,
and
the
sparrows
silent
in
the
bare
trees
.
But
the
lights
in
her
own
building
soon
cheered
her
;
all
these
different
states
of
mind
were
submerged
in
the
deep
flood
of
desires
,
thoughts
,
perceptions
,
antagonisms
,
which
washed
perpetually
at
the
base
of
her
being
,
to
rise
into
prominence
in
turn
when
the
conditions
of
the
upper
world
were
favorable
.
She
put
off
the
hour
of
clear
thought
until
Christmas
,
saying
to
herself
,
as
she
lit
her
fire
,
that
it
is
impossible
to
think
anything
out
in
London
;
and
,
no
doubt
,
Ralph
wouldn’t
come
at
Christmas
,
and
she
would
take
long
walks
into
the
heart
of
the
country
,
and
decide
this
question
and
all
the
others
that
puzzled
her
.
Meanwhile
,
she
thought
,
drawing
her
feet
up
on
to
the
fender
,
life
was
full
of
complexity
;
life
was
a
thing
one
must
love
to
the
last
fiber
of
it
.
She
had
sat
there
for
five
minutes
or
so
,
and
her
thoughts
had
had
time
to
grow
dim
,
when
there
came
a
ring
at
her
bell
.
Her
eye
brightened
;
she
felt
immediately
convinced
that
Ralph
had
come
to
visit
her
.
Accordingly
,
she
waited
a
moment
before
opening
the
door
;
she
wanted
to
feel
her
hands
secure
upon
the
reins
of
all
the
troublesome
emotions
which
the
sight
of
Ralph
would
certainly
arouse
.
She
composed
herself
unnecessarily
,
however
,
for
she
had
to
admit
,
not
Ralph
,
but
Katharine
and
William
Rodney
.
Her
first
impression
was
that
they
were
both
extremely
well
dressed
.
She
felt
herself
shabby
and
slovenly
beside
them
,
and
did
not
know
how
she
should
entertain
them
,
nor
could
she
guess
why
they
had
come
.
She
had
heard
nothing
of
their
engagement
.
But
after
the
first
disappointment
,
she
was
pleased
,
for
she
felt
instantly
that
Katharine
was
a
personality
,
and
,
moreover
,
she
need
not
now
exercise
her
self-control
.
“
We
were
passing
and
saw
a
light
in
your
window
,
so
we
came
up
,
”
Katharine
explained
,
standing
and
looking
very
tall
and
distinguished
and
rather
absent-minded
.
“
We
have
been
to
see
some
pictures
,
”
said
William
.
“
Oh
,
dear
,
”
he
exclaimed
,
looking
about
him
,
“
this
room
reminds
me
of
one
of
the
worst
hours
in
my
existence
—
when
I
read
a
paper
,
and
you
all
sat
round
and
jeered
at
me
.
Katharine
was
the
worst
.
I
could
feel
her
gloating
over
every
mistake
I
made
.
Miss
Datchet
was
kind
.
Miss
Datchet
just
made
it
possible
for
me
to
get
through
,
I
remember
.
”
Sitting
down
,
he
drew
off
his
light
yellow
gloves
,
and
began
slapping
his
knees
with
them
.
His
vitality
was
pleasant
,
Mary
thought
,
although
he
made
her
laugh
.
The
very
look
of
him
was
inclined
to
make
her
laugh
.
His
rather
prominent
eyes
passed
from
one
young
woman
to
the
other
,
and
his
lips
perpetually
formed
words
which
remained
unspoken
.
“
We
have
been
seeing
old
masters
at
the
Grafton
Gallery
,
”
said
Katharine
,
apparently
paying
no
attention
to
William
,
and
accepting
a
cigarette
which
Mary
offered
her
.
She
leant
back
in
her
chair
,
and
the
smoke
which
hung
about
her
face
seemed
to
withdraw
her
still
further
from
the
others
.
“
Would
you
believe
it
,
Miss
Datchet
,
”
William
continued
,
“
Katharine
doesn’t
like
Titian
.
She
doesn’t
like
apricots
,
she
doesn’t
like
peaches
,
she
doesn’t
like
green
peas
.
She
likes
the
Elgin
marbles
,
and
gray
days
without
any
sun
.
She’s
a
typical
example
of
the
cold
northern
nature
.
I
come
from
Devonshire
—
”
Had
they
been
quarreling
,
Mary
wondered
,
and
had
they
,
for
that
reason
,
sought
refuge
in
her
room
,
or
were
they
engaged
,
or
had
Katharine
just
refused
him
?
She
was
completely
baffled
.
Katharine
now
reappeared
from
her
veil
of
smoke
,
knocked
the
ash
from
her
cigarette
into
the
fireplace
,
and
looked
,
with
an
odd
expression
of
solicitude
,
at
the
irritable
man
.
“
Perhaps
,
Mary
,
”
she
said
tentatively
,
“
you
wouldn’t
mind
giving
us
some
tea
?
We
did
try
to
get
some
,
but
the
shop
was
so
crowded
,
and
in
the
next
one
there
was
a
band
playing
;
and
most
of
the
pictures
,
at
any
rate
,
were
very
dull
,
whatever
you
may
say
,
William
.
”
She
spoke
with
a
kind
of
guarded
gentleness
.
Mary
,
accordingly
,
retired
to
make
preparations
in
the
pantry
.
“
What
in
the
world
are
they
after
?
”
she
asked
of
her
own
reflection
in
the
little
looking-glass
which
hung
there
.
She
was
not
left
to
doubt
much
longer
,
for
,
on
coming
back
into
the
sitting-room
with
the
tea-things
,
Katharine
informed
her
,
apparently
having
been
instructed
so
to
do
by
William
,
of
their
engagement
.
“
William
,
”
she
said
,
“
thinks
that
perhaps
you
don’t
know
.
We
are
going
to
be
married
.
”
Mary
found
herself
shaking
William’s
hand
,
and
addressing
her
congratulations
to
him
,
as
if
Katharine
were
inaccessible
;
she
had
,
indeed
,
taken
hold
of
the
tea-kettle
.
“
Let
me
see
,
”
Katharine
said
,
“
one
puts
hot
water
into
the
cups
first
,
doesn’t
one
?
You
have
some
dodge
of
your
own
,
haven’t
you
,
William
,
about
making
tea
?
”
Mary
was
half
inclined
to
suspect
that
this
was
said
in
order
to
conceal
nervousness
,
but
if
so
,
the
concealment
was
unusually
perfect
.
Talk
of
marriage
was
dismissed
.
Katharine
might
have
been
seated
in
her
own
drawing-room
,
controlling
a
situation
which
presented
no
sort
of
difficulty
to
her
trained
mind
.
Rather
to
her
surprise
,
Mary
found
herself
making
conversation
with
William
about
old
Italian
pictures
,
while
Katharine
poured
out
tea
,
cut
cake
,
kept
William’s
plate
supplied
,
without
joining
more
than
was
necessary
in
the
conversation
.
She
seemed
to
have
taken
possession
of
Mary’s
room
,
and
to
handle
the
cups
as
if
they
belonged
to
her
.
But
it
was
done
so
naturally
that
it
bred
no
resentment
in
Mary
;
on
the
contrary
,
she
found
herself
putting
her
hand
on
Katharine’s
knee
,
affectionately
,
for
an
instant
.
Was
there
something
maternal
in
this
assumption
of
control
?
And
thinking
of
Katharine
as
one
who
would
soon
be
married
,
these
maternal
airs
filled
Mary’s
mind
with
a
new
tenderness
,
and
even
with
awe
.
Katharine
seemed
very
much
older
and
more
experienced
than
she
was
.
Meanwhile
Rodney
talked
.
If
his
appearance
was
superficially
against
him
,
it
had
the
advantage
of
making
his
solid
merits
something
of
a
surprise
.
He
had
kept
notebooks
;
he
knew
a
great
deal
about
pictures
.
He
could
compare
different
examples
in
different
galleries
,
and
his
authoritative
answers
to
intelligent
questions
gained
not
a
little
,
Mary
felt
,
from
the
smart
taps
which
he
dealt
,
as
he
delivered
them
,
upon
the
lumps
of
coal
.
She
was
impressed
.
“
Your
tea
,
William
,
”
said
Katharine
gently
.
He
paused
,
gulped
it
down
,
obediently
,
and
continued
.
And
then
it
struck
Mary
that
Katharine
,
in
the
shade
of
her
broad-brimmed
hat
,
and
in
the
midst
of
the
smoke
,
and
in
the
obscurity
of
her
character
,
was
,
perhaps
,
smiling
to
herself
,
not
altogether
in
the
maternal
spirit
.
What
she
said
was
very
simple
,
but
her
words
,
even
“
Your
tea
,
William
,
”
were
set
down
as
gently
and
cautiously
and
exactly
as
the
feet
of
a
Persian
cat
stepping
among
China
ornaments
.
For
the
second
time
that
day
Mary
felt
herself
baffled
by
something
inscrutable
in
the
character
of
a
person
to
whom
she
felt
herself
much
attracted
.
She
thought
that
if
she
were
engaged
to
Katharine
,
she
,
too
,
would
find
herself
very
soon
using
those
fretful
questions
with
which
William
evidently
teased
his
bride
.
And
yet
Katharine’s
voice
was
humble
.
“
I
wonder
how
you
find
the
time
to
know
all
about
pictures
as
well
as
books
?
”
she
asked
.
“
How
do
I
find
the
time
?
”
William
answered
,
delighted
,
Mary
guessed
,
at
this
little
compliment
.
“
Why
,
I
always
travel
with
a
notebook
.
And
I
ask
my
way
to
the
picture
gallery
the
very
first
thing
in
the
morning
.
And
then
I
meet
men
,
and
talk
to
them
.
There’s
a
man
in
my
office
who
knows
all
about
the
Flemish
school
.
I
was
telling
Miss
Datchet
about
the
Flemish
school
.
I
picked
up
a
lot
of
it
from
him
—
it’s
a
way
men
have
—
Gibbons
,
his
name
is
.
You
must
meet
him
.
We’ll
ask
him
to
lunch
.
And
this
not
caring
about
art
,
”
he
explained
,
turning
to
Mary
,
“
it’s
one
of
Katharine’s
poses
,
Miss
Datchet
.
Did
you
know
she
posed
?
She
pretends
that
she’s
never
read
Shakespeare
.
And
why
should
she
read
Shakespeare
,
since
she
is
Shakespeare
—
Rosalind
,
you
know
,
”
and
he
gave
his
queer
little
chuckle
.
Somehow
this
compliment
appeared
very
old-fashioned
and
almost
in
bad
taste
.
Mary
actually
felt
herself
blush
,
as
if
he
had
said
“
the
sex
”
or
“
the
ladies
.
”
Constrained
,
perhaps
,
by
nervousness
,
Rodney
continued
in
the
same
vein
.
“
She
knows
enough
—
enough
for
all
decent
purposes
.
What
do
you
women
want
with
learning
,
when
you
have
so
much
else
—
everything
,
I
should
say
—
everything
.
Leave
us
something
,
eh
,
Katharine
?
”
“
Leave
you
something
?
”
said
Katharine
,
apparently
waking
from
a
brown
study
.
“
I
was
thinking
we
must
be
going
—
”
“
Is
it
to-night
that
Lady
Ferrilby
dines
with
us
?
No
,
we
mustn’t
be
late
,
”
said
Rodney
,
rising
.
“
D’you
know
the
Ferrilbys
,
Miss
Datchet
?
They
own
Trantem
Abbey
,
”
he
added
,
for
her
information
,
as
she
looked
doubtful
.
“
And
if
Katharine
makes
herself
very
charming
to-night
,
perhaps’ll
lend
it
to
us
for
the
honeymoon
.
”
“
I
agree
that
may
be
a
reason
.
Otherwise
she’s
a
dull
woman
,
”
said
Katharine
.
“
At
least
,
”
she
added
,
as
if
to
qualify
her
abruptness
,
“
I
find
it
difficult
to
talk
to
her
.
”
“
Because
you
expect
every
one
else
to
take
all
the
trouble
.
I’ve
seen
her
sit
silent
a
whole
evening
,
”
he
said
,
turning
to
Mary
,
as
he
had
frequently
done
already
.
“
Don’t
you
find
that
,
too
?
Sometimes
when
we’re
alone
,
I’ve
counted
the
time
on
my
watch
”
—
here
he
took
out
a
large
gold
watch
,
and
tapped
the
glass
—
“
the
time
between
one
remark
and
the
next
.
And
once
I
counted
ten
minutes
and
twenty
seconds
,
and
then
,
if
you’ll
believe
me
,
she
only
said
‘Um
!
’
”
“
I’m
sure
I’m
sorry
,
”
Katharine
apologized
.
“
I
know
it’s
a
bad
habit
,
but
then
,
you
see
,
at
home
—
”
The
rest
of
her
excuse
was
cut
short
,
so
far
as
Mary
was
concerned
,
by
the
closing
of
the
door
.
She
fancied
she
could
hear
William
finding
fresh
fault
on
the
stairs
.
A
moment
later
,
the
door-bell
rang
again
,
and
Katharine
reappeared
,
having
left
her
purse
on
a
chair
.
She
soon
found
it
,
and
said
,
pausing
for
a
moment
at
the
door
,
and
speaking
differently
as
they
were
alone
:
“
I
think
being
engaged
is
very
bad
for
the
character
.
”
She
shook
her
purse
in
her
hand
until
the
coins
jingled
,
as
if
she
alluded
merely
to
this
example
of
her
forgetfulness
.
But
the
remark
puzzled
Mary
;
it
seemed
to
refer
to
something
else
;
and
her
manner
had
changed
so
strangely
,
now
that
William
was
out
of
hearing
,
that
she
could
not
help
looking
at
her
for
an
explanation
.
She
looked
almost
stern
,
so
that
Mary
,
trying
to
smile
at
her
,
only
succeeded
in
producing
a
silent
stare
of
interrogation
.
As
the
door
shut
for
the
second
time
,
she
sank
on
to
the
floor
in
front
of
the
fire
,
trying
,
now
that
their
bodies
were
not
there
to
distract
her
,
to
piece
together
her
impressions
of
them
as
a
whole
.
And
,
though
priding
herself
,
with
all
other
men
and
women
,
upon
an
infallible
eye
for
character
,
she
could
not
feel
at
all
certain
that
she
knew
what
motives
inspired
Katharine
Hilbery
in
life
.
There
was
something
that
carried
her
on
smoothly
,
out
of
reach
—
something
,
yes
,
but
what
?
—
something
that
reminded
Mary
of
Ralph
.
Oddly
enough
,
he
gave
her
the
same
feeling
,
too
,
and
with
him
,
too
,
she
felt
baffled
.
Oddly
enough
,
for
no
two
people
,
she
hastily
concluded
,
were
more
unlike
.
And
yet
both
had
this
hidden
impulse
,
this
incalculable
force
—
this
thing
they
cared
for
and
didn’t
talk
about
—
oh
,
what
was
it
?
CHAPTER
XV
The
village
of
Disham
lies
somewhere
on
the
rolling
piece
of
cultivated
ground
in
the
neighborhood
of
Lincoln
,
not
so
far
inland
but
that
a
sound
,
bringing
rumors
of
the
sea
,
can
be
heard
on
summer
nights
or
when
the
winter
storms
fling
the
waves
upon
the
long
beach
.
So
large
is
the
church
,
and
in
particular
the
church
tower
,
in
comparison
with
the
little
street
of
cottages
which
compose
the
village
,
that
the
traveler
is
apt
to
cast
his
mind
back
to
the
Middle
Ages
,
as
the
only
time
when
so
much
piety
could
have
been
kept
alive
.
So
great
a
trust
in
the
Church
can
surely
not
belong
to
our
day
,
and
he
goes
on
to
conjecture
that
every
one
of
the
villagers
has
reached
the
extreme
limit
of
human
life
.
Such
are
the
reflections
of
the
superficial
stranger
,
and
his
sight
of
the
population
,
as
it
is
represented
by
two
or
three
men
hoeing
in
a
turnip-field
,
a
small
child
carrying
a
jug
,
and
a
young
woman
shaking
a
piece
of
carpet
outside
her
cottage
door
,
will
not
lead
him
to
see
anything
very
much
out
of
keeping
with
the
Middle
Ages
in
the
village
of
Disham
as
it
is
to-day
.
These
people
,
though
they
seem
young
enough
,
look
so
angular
and
so
crude
that
they
remind
him
of
the
little
pictures
painted
by
monks
in
the
capital
letters
of
their
manuscripts
.
He
only
half
understands
what
they
say
,
and
speaks
very
loud
and
clearly
,
as
though
,
indeed
,
his
voice
had
to
carry
through
a
hundred
years
or
more
before
it
reached
them
.
He
would
have
a
far
better
chance
of
understanding
some
dweller
in
Paris
or
Rome
,
Berlin
or
Madrid
,
than
these
countrymen
of
his
who
have
lived
for
the
last
two
thousand
years
not
two
hundred
miles
from
the
City
of
London
.
The
Rectory
stands
about
half
a
mile
beyond
the
village
.
It
is
a
large
house
,
and
has
been
growing
steadily
for
some
centuries
round
the
great
kitchen
,
with
its
narrow
red
tiles
,
as
the
Rector
would
point
out
to
his
guests
on
the
first
night
of
their
arrival
,
taking
his
brass
candlestick
,
and
bidding
them
mind
the
steps
up
and
the
steps
down
,
and
notice
the
immense
thickness
of
the
walls
,
the
old
beams
across
the
ceiling
,
the
staircases
as
steep
as
ladders
,
and
the
attics
,
with
their
deep
,
tent-like
roofs
,
in
which
swallows
bred
,
and
once
a
white
owl
.
But
nothing
very
interesting
or
very
beautiful
had
resulted
from
the
different
additions
made
by
the
different
rectors
.
The
house
,
however
,
was
surrounded
by
a
garden
,
in
which
the
Rector
took
considerable
pride
.
The
lawn
,
which
fronted
the
drawing-room
windows
,
was
a
rich
and
uniform
green
,
unspotted
by
a
single
daisy
,
and
on
the
other
side
of
it
two
straight
paths
led
past
beds
of
tall
,
standing
flowers
to
a
charming
grassy
walk
,
where
the
Rev.
Wyndham
Datchet
would
pace
up
and
down
at
the
same
hour
every
morning
,
with
a
sundial
to
measure
the
time
for
him
.
As
often
as
not
,
he
carried
a
book
in
his
hand
,
into
which
he
would
glance
,
then
shut
it
up
,
and
repeat
the
rest
of
the
ode
from
memory
.
He
had
most
of
Horace
by
heart
,
and
had
got
into
the
habit
of
connecting
this
particular
walk
with
certain
odes
which
he
repeated
duly
,
at
the
same
time
noting
the
condition
of
his
flowers
,
and
stooping
now
and
again
to
pick
any
that
were
withered
or
overblown
.
On
wet
days
,
such
was
the
power
of
habit
over
him
,
he
rose
from
his
chair
at
the
same
hour
,
and
paced
his
study
for
the
same
length
of
time
,
pausing
now
and
then
to
straighten
some
book
in
the
bookcase
,
or
alter
the
position
of
the
two
brass
crucifixes
standing
upon
cairns
of
serpentine
stone
upon
the
mantelpiece
.
His
children
had
a
great
respect
for
him
,
credited
him
with
far
more
learning
than
he
actually
possessed
,
and
saw
that
his
habits
were
not
interfered
with
,
if
possible
.
Like
most
people
who
do
things
methodically
,
the
Rector
himself
had
more
strength
of
purpose
and
power
of
self-sacrifice
than
of
intellect
or
of
originality
.
On
cold
and
windy
nights
he
rode
off
to
visit
sick
people
,
who
might
need
him
,
without
a
murmur
;
and
by
virtue
of
doing
dull
duties
punctually
,
he
was
much
employed
upon
committees
and
local
Boards
and
Councils
;
and
at
this
period
of
his
life
(
he
was
sixty-eight
)
he
was
beginning
to
be
commiserated
by
tender
old
ladies
for
the
extreme
leanness
of
his
person
,
which
,
they
said
,
was
worn
out
upon
the
roads
when
it
should
have
been
resting
before
a
comfortable
fire
.
His
elder
daughter
,
Elizabeth
,
lived
with
him
and
managed
the
house
,
and
already
much
resembled
him
in
dry
sincerity
and
methodical
habit
of
mind
;
of
the
two
sons
one
,
Richard
,
was
an
estate
agent
,
the
other
,
Christopher
,
was
reading
for
the
Bar
.
At
Christmas
,
naturally
,
they
met
together
;
and
for
a
month
past
the
arrangement
of
the
Christmas
week
had
been
much
in
the
mind
of
mistress
and
maid
,
who
prided
themselves
every
year
more
confidently
upon
the
excellence
of
their
equipment
.
The
late
Mrs.
Datchet
had
left
an
excellent
cupboard
of
linen
,
to
which
Elizabeth
had
succeeded
at
the
age
of
nineteen
,
when
her
mother
died
,
and
the
charge
of
the
family
rested
upon
the
shoulders
of
the
eldest
daughter
.
She
kept
a
fine
flock
of
yellow
chickens
,
sketched
a
little
,
certain
rose-trees
in
the
garden
were
committed
specially
to
her
care
;
and
what
with
the
care
of
the
house
,
the
care
of
the
chickens
,
and
the
care
of
the
poor
,
she
scarcely
knew
what
it
was
to
have
an
idle
minute
.
An
extreme
rectitude
of
mind
,
rather
than
any
gift
,
gave
her
weight
in
the
family
.
When
Mary
wrote
to
say
that
she
had
asked
Ralph
Denham
to
stay
with
them
,
she
added
,
out
of
deference
to
Elizabeth’s
character
,
that
he
was
very
nice
,
though
rather
queer
,
and
had
been
overworking
himself
in
London
.
No
doubt
Elizabeth
would
conclude
that
Ralph
was
in
love
with
her
,
but
there
could
be
no
doubt
either
that
not
a
word
of
this
would
be
spoken
by
either
of
them
,
unless
,
indeed
,
some
catastrophe
made
mention
of
it
unavoidable
.
Mary
went
down
to
Disham
without
knowing
whether
Ralph
intended
to
come
;
but
two
or
three
days
before
Christmas
she
received
a
telegram
from
Ralph
,
asking
her
to
take
a
room
for
him
in
the
village
.
This
was
followed
by
a
letter
explaining
that
he
hoped
he
might
have
his
meals
with
them
;
but
quiet
,
essential
for
his
work
,
made
it
necessary
to
sleep
out
.
Mary
was
walking
in
the
garden
with
Elizabeth
,
and
inspecting
the
roses
,
when
the
letter
arrived
.
“
But
that’s
absurd
,
”
said
Elizabeth
decidedly
,
when
the
plan
was
explained
to
her
.
“
There
are
five
spare
rooms
,
even
when
the
boys
are
here
.
Besides
,
he
wouldn’t
get
a
room
in
the
village
.
And
he
oughtn’t
to
work
if
he’s
overworked
.
”
“
But
perhaps
he
doesn’t
want
to
see
so
much
of
us
,
”
Mary
thought
to
herself
,
although
outwardly
she
assented
,
and
felt
grateful
to
Elizabeth
for
supporting
her
in
what
was
,
of
course
,
her
desire
.
They
were
cutting
roses
at
the
time
,
and
laying
them
,
head
by
head
,
in
a
shallow
basket
.
“
If
Ralph
were
here
,
he’d
find
this
very
dull
,
”
Mary
thought
,
with
a
little
shiver
of
irritation
,
which
led
her
to
place
her
rose
the
wrong
way
in
the
basket
.
Meanwhile
,
they
had
come
to
the
end
of
the
path
,
and
while
Elizabeth
straightened
some
flowers
,
and
made
them
stand
upright
within
their
fence
of
string
,
Mary
looked
at
her
father
,
who
was
pacing
up
and
down
,
with
his
hand
behind
his
back
and
his
head
bowed
in
meditation
.
Obeying
an
impulse
which
sprang
from
some
desire
to
interrupt
this
methodical
marching
,
Mary
stepped
on
to
the
grass
walk
and
put
her
hand
on
his
arm
.
“
A
flower
for
your
buttonhole
,
father
,
”
she
said
,
presenting
a
rose
.
“
Eh
,
dear
?
”
said
Mr.
Datchet
,
taking
the
flower
,
and
holding
it
at
an
angle
which
suited
his
bad
eyesight
,
without
pausing
in
his
walk
.
“
Where
does
this
fellow
come
from
?
One
of
Elizabeth’s
roses
—
I
hope
you
asked
her
leave
.
Elizabeth
doesn’t
like
having
her
roses
picked
without
her
leave
,
and
quite
right
,
too
.
”
He
had
a
habit
,
Mary
remarked
,
and
she
had
never
noticed
it
so
clearly
before
,
of
letting
his
sentences
tail
away
in
a
continuous
murmur
,
whereupon
he
passed
into
a
state
of
abstraction
,
presumed
by
his
children
to
indicate
some
train
of
thought
too
profound
for
utterance
.
“
What
?
”
said
Mary
,
interrupting
,
for
the
first
time
in
her
life
,
perhaps
,
when
the
murmur
ceased
.
He
made
no
reply
.
She
knew
very
well
that
he
wished
to
be
left
alone
,
but
she
stuck
to
his
side
much
as
she
might
have
stuck
to
some
sleep-walker
,
whom
she
thought
it
right
gradually
to
awaken
.
She
could
think
of
nothing
to
rouse
him
with
except
:
“
The
garden’s
looking
very
nice
,
father
.
”
“
Yes
,
yes
,
yes
,
”
said
Mr.
Datchet
,
running
his
words
together
in
the
same
abstracted
manner
,
and
sinking
his
head
yet
lower
upon
his
breast
.
And
suddenly
,
as
they
turned
their
steps
to
retrace
their
way
,
he
jerked
out
:
“
The
traffic’s
very
much
increased
,
you
know
.
More
rolling-stock
needed
already
.
Forty
trucks
went
down
yesterday
by
the
12.15
—
counted
them
myself
.
They’ve
taken
off
the
9.3
,
and
given
us
an
8.30
instead
—
suits
the
business
men
,
you
know
.
You
came
by
the
old
3.10
yesterday
,
I
suppose
?
”
She
said
“
Yes
,
”
as
he
seemed
to
wish
for
a
reply
,
and
then
he
looked
at
his
watch
,
and
made
off
down
the
path
towards
the
house
,
holding
the
rose
at
the
same
angle
in
front
of
him
.
Elizabeth
had
gone
round
to
the
side
of
the
house
,
where
the
chickens
lived
,
so
that
Mary
found
herself
alone
,
holding
Ralph’s
letter
in
her
hand
.
She
was
uneasy
.
She
had
put
off
the
season
for
thinking
things
out
very
successfully
,
and
now
that
Ralph
was
actually
coming
,
the
next
day
,
she
could
only
wonder
how
her
family
would
impress
him
.
She
thought
it
likely
that
her
father
would
discuss
the
train
service
with
him
;
Elizabeth
would
be
bright
and
sensible
,
and
always
leaving
the
room
to
give
messages
to
the
servants
.
Her
brothers
had
already
said
that
they
would
give
him
a
day’s
shooting
.
She
was
content
to
leave
the
problem
of
Ralph’s
relations
to
the
young
men
obscure
,
trusting
that
they
would
find
some
common
ground
of
masculine
agreement
.
But
what
would
he
think
of
her
?
Would
he
see
that
she
was
different
from
the
rest
of
the
family
?
She
devised
a
plan
for
taking
him
to
her
sitting-room
,
and
artfully
leading
the
talk
towards
the
English
poets
,
who
now
occupied
prominent
places
in
her
little
bookcase
.
Moreover
,
she
might
give
him
to
understand
,
privately
,
that
she
,
too
,
thought
her
family
a
queer
one
—
queer
,
yes
,
but
not
dull
.
That
was
the
rock
past
which
she
was
bent
on
steering
him
.
And
she
thought
how
she
would
draw
his
attention
to
Edward’s
passion
for
Jorrocks
,
and
the
enthusiasm
which
led
Christopher
to
collect
moths
and
butterflies
though
he
was
now
twenty-two
.
Perhaps
Elizabeth’s
sketching
,
if
the
fruits
were
invisible
,
might
lend
color
to
the
general
effect
which
she
wished
to
produce
of
a
family
,
eccentric
and
limited
,
perhaps
,
but
not
dull
.
Edward
,
she
perceived
,
was
rolling
the
lawn
,
for
the
sake
of
exercise
;
and
the
sight
of
him
,
with
pink
cheeks
,
bright
little
brown
eyes
,
and
a
general
resemblance
to
a
clumsy
young
cart-horse
in
its
winter
coat
of
dusty
brown
hair
,
made
Mary
violently
ashamed
of
her
ambitious
scheming
.
She
loved
him
precisely
as
he
was
;
she
loved
them
all
;
and
as
she
walked
by
his
side
,
up
and
down
,
and
down
and
up
,
her
strong
moral
sense
administered
a
sound
drubbing
to
the
vain
and
romantic
element
aroused
in
her
by
the
mere
thought
of
Ralph
.
She
felt
quite
certain
that
,
for
good
or
for
bad
,
she
was
very
like
the
rest
of
her
family
.
Sitting
in
the
corner
of
a
third-class
railway
carriage
,
on
the
afternoon
of
the
following
day
,
Ralph
made
several
inquiries
of
a
commercial
traveler
in
the
opposite
corner
.
They
centered
round
a
village
called
Lampsher
,
not
three
miles
,
he
understood
,
from
Lincoln
;
was
there
a
big
house
in
Lampsher
,
he
asked
,
inhabited
by
a
gentleman
of
the
name
of
Otway
?
The
traveler
knew
nothing
,
but
rolled
the
name
of
Otway
on
his
tongue
,
reflectively
,
and
the
sound
of
it
gratified
Ralph
amazingly
.
It
gave
him
an
excuse
to
take
a
letter
from
his
pocket
in
order
to
verify
the
address
.
“
Stogdon
House
,
Lampsher
,
Lincoln
,
”
he
read
out
.
“
You’ll
find
somebody
to
direct
you
at
Lincoln
,
”
said
the
man
;
and
Ralph
had
to
confess
that
he
was
not
bound
there
this
very
evening
.
“
I’ve
got
to
walk
over
from
Disham
,
”
he
said
,
and
in
the
heart
of
him
could
not
help
marveling
at
the
pleasure
which
he
derived
from
making
a
bagman
in
a
train
believe
what
he
himself
did
not
believe
.
For
the
letter
,
though
signed
by
Katharine’s
father
,
contained
no
invitation
or
warrant
for
thinking
that
Katharine
herself
was
there
;
the
only
fact
it
disclosed
was
that
for
a
fortnight
this
address
would
be
Mr.
Hilbery’s
address
.
But
when
he
looked
out
of
the
window
,
it
was
of
her
he
thought
;
she
,
too
,
had
seen
these
gray
fields
,
and
,
perhaps
,
she
was
there
where
the
trees
ran
up
a
slope
,
and
one
yellow
light
shone
now
,
and
then
went
out
again
,
at
the
foot
of
the
hill
.
The
light
shone
in
the
windows
of
an
old
gray
house
,
he
thought
.
He
lay
back
in
his
corner
and
forgot
the
commercial
traveler
altogether
.
The
process
of
visualizing
Katharine
stopped
short
at
the
old
gray
manor-house
;
instinct
warned
him
that
if
he
went
much
further
with
this
process
reality
would
soon
force
itself
in
;
he
could
not
altogether
neglect
the
figure
of
William
Rodney
.
Since
the
day
when
he
had
heard
from
Katharine’s
lips
of
her
engagement
,
he
had
refrained
from
investing
his
dream
of
her
with
the
details
of
real
life
.
But
the
light
of
the
late
afternoon
glowed
green
behind
the
straight
trees
,
and
became
a
symbol
of
her
.
The
light
seemed
to
expand
his
heart
.
She
brooded
over
the
gray
fields
,
and
was
with
him
now
in
the
railway
carriage
,
thoughtful
,
silent
,
and
infinitely
tender
;
but
the
vision
pressed
too
close
,
and
must
be
dismissed
,
for
the
train
was
slackening
.
Its
abrupt
jerks
shook
him
wide
awake
,
and
he
saw
Mary
Datchet
,
a
sturdy
russet
figure
,
with
a
dash
of
scarlet
about
it
,
as
the
carriage
slid
down
the
platform
.
A
tall
youth
who
accompanied
her
shook
him
by
the
hand
,
took
his
bag
,
and
led
the
way
without
uttering
one
articulate
word
.
Never
are
voices
so
beautiful
as
on
a
winter’s
evening
,
when
dusk
almost
hides
the
body
,
and
they
seem
to
issue
from
nothingness
with
a
note
of
intimacy
seldom
heard
by
day
.
Such
an
edge
was
there
in
Mary’s
voice
when
she
greeted
him
.
About
her
seemed
to
hang
the
mist
of
the
winter
hedges
,
and
the
clear
red
of
the
bramble
leaves
.
He
felt
himself
at
once
stepping
on
to
the
firm
ground
of
an
entirely
different
world
,
but
he
did
not
allow
himself
to
yield
to
the
pleasure
of
it
directly
.
They
gave
him
his
choice
of
driving
with
Edward
or
of
walking
home
across
the
fields
with
Mary
—
not
a
shorter
way
,
they
explained
,
but
Mary
thought
it
a
nicer
way
.
He
decided
to
walk
with
her
,
being
conscious
,
indeed
,
that
he
got
comfort
from
her
presence
.
What
could
be
the
cause
of
her
cheerfulness
,
he
wondered
,
half
ironically
,
and
half
enviously
,
as
the
pony-cart
started
briskly
away
,
and
the
dusk
swam
between
their
eyes
and
the
tall
form
of
Edward
,
standing
up
to
drive
,
with
the
reins
in
one
hand
and
the
whip
in
the
other
.
People
from
the
village
,
who
had
been
to
the
market
town
,
were
climbing
into
their
gigs
,
or
setting
off
home
down
the
road
together
in
little
parties
.
Many
salutations
were
addressed
to
Mary
,
who
shouted
back
,
with
the
addition
of
the
speaker’s
name
.
But
soon
she
led
the
way
over
a
stile
,
and
along
a
path
worn
slightly
darker
than
the
dim
green
surrounding
it
.
In
front
of
them
the
sky
now
showed
itself
of
a
reddish-yellow
,
like
a
slice
of
some
semilucent
stone
behind
which
a
lamp
burnt
,
while
a
fringe
of
black
trees
with
distinct
branches
stood
against
the
light
,
which
was
obscured
in
one
direction
by
a
hump
of
earth
,
in
all
other
directions
the
land
lying
flat
to
the
very
verge
of
the
sky
.
One
of
the
swift
and
noiseless
birds
of
the
winter’s
night
seemed
to
follow
them
across
the
field
,
circling
a
few
feet
in
front
of
them
,
disappearing
and
returning
again
and
again
.
Mary
had
gone
this
walk
many
hundred
times
in
the
course
of
her
life
,
generally
alone
,
and
at
different
stages
the
ghosts
of
past
moods
would
flood
her
mind
with
a
whole
scene
or
train
of
thought
merely
at
the
sight
of
three
trees
from
a
particular
angle
,
or
at
the
sound
of
the
pheasant
clucking
in
the
ditch
.
But
to-night
the
circumstances
were
strong
enough
to
oust
all
other
scenes
;
and
she
looked
at
the
field
and
the
trees
with
an
involuntary
intensity
as
if
they
had
no
such
associations
for
her
.
“
Well
,
Ralph
,
”
she
said
,
“
this
is
better
than
Lincoln’s
Inn
Fields
,
isn’t
it
?
Look
,
there’s
a
bird
for
you
!
Oh
,
you’ve
brought
glasses
,
have
you
?
Edward
and
Christopher
mean
to
make
you
shoot
.
Can
you
shoot
?
I
shouldn’t
think
so
—
”
“
Look
here
,
you
must
explain
,
”
said
Ralph
.
“
Who
are
these
young
men
?
Where
am
I
staying
?
”
“
You
are
staying
with
us
,
of
course
,
”
she
said
boldly
.
“
Of
course
,
you’re
staying
with
us
—
you
don’t
mind
coming
,
do
you
?
”
“
If
I
had
,
I
shouldn’t
have
come
,
”
he
said
sturdily
.
They
walked
on
in
silence
;
Mary
took
care
not
to
break
it
for
a
time
.
She
wished
Ralph
to
feel
,
as
she
thought
he
would
,
all
the
fresh
delights
of
the
earth
and
air
.
She
was
right
.
In
a
moment
he
expressed
his
pleasure
,
much
to
her
comfort
.
“
This
is
the
sort
of
country
I
thought
you’d
live
in
,
Mary
,
”
he
said
,
pushing
his
hat
back
on
his
head
,
and
looking
about
him
.
“
Real
