momentshe
sanctioned
this
line
of
thought
.
Now
she
was
identified
with
him
and
rethought
his
thoughts
with
complete
self-surrender
;
now
,
with
a
sudden
cleavage
of
spirit
,
she
turned
upon
him
and
denounced
him
for
his
cruelty
.
“
But
I
refuse
—
I
refuse
to
hate
any
one
,
”
she
said
aloud
;
chose
the
moment
to
cross
the
road
with
circumspection
,
and
ten
minutes
later
lunched
in
the
Strand
,
cutting
her
meat
firmly
into
small
pieces
,
but
giving
her
fellow-diners
no
further
cause
to
judge
her
eccentric
.
Her
soliloquy
crystallized
itself
into
little
fragmentary
phrases
emerging
suddenly
from
the
turbulence
of
her
thought
,
particularly
when
she
had
to
exert
herself
in
any
way
,
either
to
move
,
to
count
money
,
or
to
choose
a
turning
.
“
To
know
the
truth
—
to
accept
without
bitterness
”
—
those
,
perhaps
,
were
the
most
articulate
of
her
utterances
,
for
no
one
could
have
made
head
or
tail
of
the
queer
gibberish
murmured
in
front
of
the
statue
of
Francis
,
Duke
of
Bedford
,
save
that
the
name
of
Ralph
occurred
frequently
in
very
strange
connections
,
as
if
,
having
spoken
it
,
she
wished
,
superstitiously
,
to
cancel
it
by
adding
some
other
word
that
robbed
the
sentence
with
his
name
in
it
of
any
meaning
.
Those
champions
of
the
cause
of
women
,
Mr.
Clacton
and
Mrs.
Seal
,
did
not
perceive
anything
strange
in
Mary’s
behavior
,
save
that
she
was
almost
half
an
hour
later
than
usual
in
coming
back
to
the
office
.
Happily
,
their
own
affairs
kept
them
busy
,
and
she
was
free
from
their
inspection
.
If
they
had
surprised
her
they
would
have
found
her
lost
,
apparently
,
in
admiration
of
the
large
hotel
across
the
square
,
for
,
after
writing
a
few
words
,
her
pen
rested
upon
the
paper
,
and
her
mind
pursued
its
own
journey
among
the
sun-blazoned
windows
and
the
drifts
of
purplish
smoke
which
formed
her
view
.
And
,
indeed
,
this
background
was
by
no
means
out
of
keeping
with
her
thoughts
.
She
saw
to
the
remote
spaces
behind
the
strife
of
the
foreground
,
enabled
now
to
gaze
there
,
since
she
had
renounced
her
own
demands
,
privileged
to
see
the
larger
view
,
to
share
the
vast
desires
and
sufferings
of
the
mass
of
mankind
.
She
had
been
too
lately
and
too
roughly
mastered
by
facts
to
take
an
easy
pleasure
in
the
relief
of
renunciation
;
such
satisfaction
as
she
felt
came
only
from
the
discovery
that
,
having
renounced
everything
that
made
life
happy
,
easy
,
splendid
,
individual
,
there
remained
a
hard
reality
,
unimpaired
by
one’s
personal
adventures
,
remote
as
the
stars
,
unquenchable
as
they
are
.
While
Mary
Datchet
was
undergoing
this
curious
transformation
from
the
particular
to
the
universal
,
Mrs.
Seal
remembered
her
duties
with
regard
to
the
kettle
and
the
gas-fire
.
She
was
a
little
surprised
to
find
that
Mary
had
drawn
her
chair
to
the
window
,
and
,
having
lit
the
gas
,
she
raised
herself
from
a
stooping
posture
and
looked
at
her
.
The
most
obvious
reason
for
such
an
attitude
in
a
secretary
was
some
kind
of
indisposition
.
But
Mary
,
rousing
herself
with
an
effort
,
denied
that
she
was
indisposed
.
“
I’m
frightfully
lazy
this
afternoon
,
”
she
added
,
with
a
glance
at
her
table
.
“
You
must
really
get
another
secretary
,
Sally
.
”
The
words
were
meant
to
be
taken
lightly
,
but
something
in
the
tone
of
them
roused
a
jealous
fear
which
was
always
dormant
in
Mrs.
Seal’s
breast
.
She
was
terribly
afraid
that
one
of
these
days
Mary
,
the
young
woman
who
typified
so
many
rather
sentimental
and
enthusiastic
ideas
,
who
had
some
sort
of
visionary
existence
in
white
with
a
sheaf
of
lilies
in
her
hand
,
would
announce
,
in
a
jaunty
way
,
that
she
was
about
to
be
married
.
“
You
don’t
mean
that
you’re
going
to
leave
us
?
”
she
said
.
“
I’ve
not
made
up
my
mind
about
anything
,
”
said
Mary
—
a
remark
which
could
be
taken
as
a
generalization
.
Mrs.
Seal
got
the
teacups
out
of
the
cupboard
and
set
them
on
the
table
.
“
You’re
not
going
to
be
married
,
are
you
?
”
she
asked
,
pronouncing
the
words
with
nervous
speed
.
“
Why
are
you
asking
such
absurd
questions
this
afternoon
,
Sally
?
”
Mary
asked
,
not
very
steadily
.
“
Must
we
all
get
married
?
”
Mrs.
Seal
emitted
a
most
peculiar
chuckle
.
She
seemed
for
one
moment
to
acknowledge
the
terrible
side
of
life
which
is
concerned
with
the
emotions
,
the
private
lives
,
of
the
sexes
,
and
then
to
sheer
off
from
it
with
all
possible
speed
into
the
shades
of
her
own
shivering
virginity
.
She
was
made
so
uncomfortable
by
the
turn
the
conversation
had
taken
,
that
she
plunged
her
head
into
the
cupboard
,
and
endeavored
to
abstract
some
very
obscure
piece
of
china
.
“
We
have
our
work
,
”
she
said
,
withdrawing
her
head
,
displaying
cheeks
more
than
usually
crimson
,
and
placing
a
jam-pot
emphatically
upon
the
table
.
But
,
for
the
moment
,
she
was
unable
to
launch
herself
upon
one
of
those
enthusiastic
,
but
inconsequent
,
tirades
upon
liberty
,
democracy
,
the
rights
of
the
people
,
and
the
iniquities
of
the
Government
,
in
which
she
delighted
.
Some
memory
from
her
own
past
or
from
the
past
of
her
sex
rose
to
her
mind
and
kept
her
abashed
.
She
glanced
furtively
at
Mary
,
who
still
sat
by
the
window
with
her
arm
upon
the
sill
.
She
noticed
how
young
she
was
and
full
of
the
promise
of
womanhood
.
The
sight
made
her
so
uneasy
that
she
fidgeted
the
cups
upon
their
saucers
.
“
Yes
—
enough
work
to
last
a
lifetime
,
”
said
Mary
,
as
if
concluding
some
passage
of
thought
.
Mrs.
Seal
brightened
at
once
.
She
lamented
her
lack
of
scientific
training
,
and
her
deficiency
in
the
processes
of
logic
,
but
she
set
her
mind
to
work
at
once
to
make
the
prospects
of
the
cause
appear
as
alluring
and
important
as
she
could
.
She
delivered
herself
of
an
harangue
in
which
she
asked
a
great
many
rhetorical
questions
and
answered
them
with
a
little
bang
of
one
fist
upon
another
.
“
To
last
a
lifetime
?
My
dear
child
,
it
will
last
all
our
lifetimes
.
As
one
falls
another
steps
into
the
breach
.
My
father
,
in
his
generation
,
a
pioneer
—
I
,
coming
after
him
,
do
my
little
best
.
What
,
alas
!
can
one
do
more
?
And
now
it’s
you
young
women
—
we
look
to
you
—
the
future
looks
to
you
.
Ah
,
my
dear
,
if
I’d
a
thousand
lives
,
I’d
give
them
all
to
our
cause
.
The
cause
of
women
,
d’you
say
?
I
say
the
cause
of
humanity
.
And
there
are
some
”
—
she
glanced
fiercely
at
the
window
—
“
who
don’t
see
it
!
There
are
some
who
are
satisfied
to
go
on
,
year
after
year
,
refusing
to
admit
the
truth
.
And
we
who
have
the
vision
—
the
kettle
boiling
over
?
No
,
no
,
let
me
see
to
it
—
we
who
know
the
truth
,
”
she
continued
,
gesticulating
with
the
kettle
and
the
teapot
.
Owing
to
these
encumbrances
,
perhaps
,
she
lost
the
thread
of
her
discourse
,
and
concluded
,
rather
wistfully
,
“
It’s
all
so
simple
.
”
She
referred
to
a
matter
that
was
a
perpetual
source
of
bewilderment
to
her
—
the
extraordinary
incapacity
of
the
human
race
,
in
a
world
where
the
good
is
so
unmistakably
divided
from
the
bad
,
of
distinguishing
one
from
the
other
,
and
embodying
what
ought
to
be
done
in
a
few
large
,
simple
Acts
of
Parliament
,
which
would
,
in
a
very
short
time
,
completely
change
the
lot
of
humanity
.
“
One
would
have
thought
,
”
she
said
,
“
that
men
of
University
training
,
like
Mr.
Asquith
—
one
would
have
thought
that
an
appeal
to
reason
would
not
be
unheard
by
them
.
But
reason
,
”
she
reflected
,
“
what
is
reason
without
Reality
?
”
Doing
homage
to
the
phrase
,
she
repeated
it
once
more
,
and
caught
the
ear
of
Mr.
Clacton
,
as
he
issued
from
his
room
;
and
he
repeated
it
a
third
time
,
giving
it
,
as
he
was
in
the
habit
of
doing
with
Mrs.
Seal’s
phrases
,
a
dryly
humorous
intonation
.
He
was
well
pleased
with
the
world
,
however
,
and
he
remarked
,
in
a
flattering
manner
,
that
he
would
like
to
see
that
phrase
in
large
letters
at
the
head
of
a
leaflet
.
“
But
,
Mrs.
Seal
,
we
have
to
aim
at
a
judicious
combination
of
the
two
,
”
he
added
in
his
magisterial
way
to
check
the
unbalanced
enthusiasm
of
the
women
.
“
Reality
has
to
be
voiced
by
reason
before
it
can
make
itself
felt
.
The
weak
point
of
all
these
movements
,
Miss
Datchet
,
”
he
continued
,
taking
his
place
at
the
table
and
turning
to
Mary
as
usual
when
about
to
deliver
his
more
profound
cogitations
,
“
is
that
they
are
not
based
upon
sufficiently
intellectual
grounds
.
A
mistake
,
in
my
opinion
.
The
British
public
likes
a
pellet
of
reason
in
its
jam
of
eloquence
—
a
pill
of
reason
in
its
pudding
of
sentiment
,
”
he
said
,
sharpening
the
phrase
to
a
satisfactory
degree
of
literary
precision
.
His
eyes
rested
,
with
something
of
the
vanity
of
an
author
,
upon
the
yellow
leaflet
which
Mary
held
in
her
hand
.
She
rose
,
took
her
seat
at
the
head
of
the
table
,
poured
out
tea
for
her
colleagues
,
and
gave
her
opinion
upon
the
leaflet
.
So
she
had
poured
out
tea
,
so
she
had
criticized
Mr.
Clacton’s
leaflets
a
hundred
times
already
;
but
now
it
seemed
to
her
that
she
was
doing
it
in
a
different
spirit
;
she
had
enlisted
in
the
army
,
and
was
a
volunteer
no
longer
.
She
had
renounced
something
and
was
now
—
how
could
she
express
it
?
—
not
quite
“
in
the
running
”
for
life
.
She
had
always
known
that
Mr.
Clacton
and
Mrs.
Seal
were
not
in
the
running
,
and
across
the
gulf
that
separated
them
she
had
seen
them
in
the
guise
of
shadow
people
,
flitting
in
and
out
of
the
ranks
of
the
living
—
eccentrics
,
undeveloped
human
beings
,
from
whose
substance
some
essential
part
had
been
cut
away
.
All
this
had
never
struck
her
so
clearly
as
it
did
this
afternoon
,
when
she
felt
that
her
lot
was
cast
with
them
for
ever
.
One
view
of
the
world
plunged
in
darkness
,
so
a
more
volatile
temperament
might
have
argued
after
a
season
of
despair
,
let
the
world
turn
again
and
show
another
,
more
splendid
,
perhaps
.
No
,
Mary
thought
,
with
unflinching
loyalty
to
what
appeared
to
her
to
be
the
true
view
,
having
lost
what
is
best
,
I
do
not
mean
to
pretend
that
any
other
view
does
instead
.
Whatever
happens
,
I
mean
to
have
no
presences
in
my
life
.
Her
very
words
had
a
sort
of
distinctness
which
is
sometimes
produced
by
sharp
,
bodily
pain
.
To
Mrs.
Seal’s
secret
jubilation
the
rule
which
forbade
discussion
of
shop
at
tea-time
was
overlooked
.
Mary
and
Mr.
Clacton
argued
with
a
cogency
and
a
ferocity
which
made
the
little
woman
feel
that
something
very
important
—
she
hardly
knew
what
—
was
taking
place
.
She
became
much
excited
;
one
crucifix
became
entangled
with
another
,
and
she
dug
a
considerable
hole
in
the
table
with
the
point
of
her
pencil
in
order
to
emphasize
the
most
striking
heads
of
the
discourse
;
and
how
any
combination
of
Cabinet
Ministers
could
resist
such
discourse
she
really
did
not
know
.
She
could
hardly
bring
herself
to
remember
her
own
private
instrument
of
justice
—
the
typewriter
.
The
telephone-bell
rang
,
and
as
she
hurried
off
to
answer
a
voice
which
always
seemed
a
proof
of
importance
by
itself
,
she
felt
that
it
was
at
this
exact
spot
on
the
surface
of
the
globe
that
all
the
subterranean
wires
of
thought
and
progress
came
together
.
When
she
returned
,
with
a
message
from
the
printer
,
she
found
that
Mary
was
putting
on
her
hat
firmly
;
there
was
something
imperious
and
dominating
in
her
attitude
altogether
.
“
Look
,
Sally
,
”
she
said
,
“
these
letters
want
copying
.
These
I’ve
not
looked
at
.
The
question
of
the
new
census
will
have
to
be
gone
into
carefully
.
But
I’m
going
home
now
.
Good
night
,
Mr.
Clacton
;
good
night
,
Sally
.
”
“
We
are
very
fortunate
in
our
secretary
,
Mr.
Clacton
,
”
said
Mrs.
Seal
,
pausing
with
her
hand
on
the
papers
,
as
the
door
shut
behind
Mary
.
Mr.
Clacton
himself
had
been
vaguely
impressed
by
something
in
Mary’s
behavior
towards
him
.
He
envisaged
a
time
even
when
it
would
become
necessary
to
tell
her
that
there
could
not
be
two
masters
in
one
office
—
but
she
was
certainly
able
,
very
able
,
and
in
touch
with
a
group
of
very
clever
young
men
.
No
doubt
they
had
suggested
to
her
some
of
her
new
ideas
.
He
signified
his
assent
to
Mrs.
Seal’s
remark
,
but
observed
,
with
a
glance
at
the
clock
,
which
showed
only
half
an
hour
past
five
:
“
If
she
takes
the
work
seriously
,
Mrs.
Seal
—
but
that’s
just
what
some
of
your
clever
young
ladies
don’t
do
.
”
So
saying
he
returned
to
his
room
,
and
Mrs.
Seal
,
after
a
moment’s
hesitation
,
hurried
back
to
her
labors
.
CHAPTER
XXI
Mary
walked
to
the
nearest
station
and
reached
home
in
an
incredibly
short
space
of
time
,
just
so
much
,
indeed
,
as
was
needed
for
the
intelligent
understanding
of
the
news
of
the
world
as
the
“
Westminster
Gazette
”
reported
it
.
Within
a
few
minutes
of
opening
her
door
,
she
was
in
trim
for
a
hard
evening’s
work
.
She
unlocked
a
drawer
and
took
out
a
manuscript
,
which
consisted
of
a
very
few
pages
,
entitled
,
in
a
forcible
hand
,
“
Some
Aspects
of
the
Democratic
State
.
”
The
aspects
dwindled
out
in
a
cries-cross
of
blotted
lines
in
the
very
middle
of
a
sentence
,
and
suggested
that
the
author
had
been
interrupted
,
or
convinced
of
the
futility
of
proceeding
,
with
her
pen
in
the
air
...
.
Oh
,
yes
,
Ralph
had
come
in
at
that
point
.
She
scored
that
sheet
very
effectively
,
and
,
choosing
a
fresh
one
,
began
at
a
great
rate
with
a
generalization
upon
the
structure
of
human
society
,
which
was
a
good
deal
bolder
than
her
custom
.
Ralph
had
told
her
once
that
she
couldn’t
write
English
,
which
accounted
for
those
frequent
blots
and
insertions
;
but
she
put
all
that
behind
her
,
and
drove
ahead
with
such
words
as
came
her
way
,
until
she
had
accomplished
half
a
page
of
generalization
and
might
legitimately
draw
breath
.
Directly
her
hand
stopped
her
brain
stopped
too
,
and
she
began
to
listen
.
A
paper-boy
shouted
down
the
street
;
an
omnibus
ceased
and
lurched
on
again
with
the
heave
of
duty
once
more
shouldered
;
the
dullness
of
the
sounds
suggested
that
a
fog
had
risen
since
her
return
,
if
,
indeed
,
a
fog
has
power
to
deaden
sound
,
of
which
fact
,
she
could
not
be
sure
at
the
present
moment
.
It
was
the
sort
of
fact
Ralph
Denham
knew
.
At
any
rate
,
it
was
no
concern
of
hers
,
and
she
was
about
to
dip
a
pen
when
her
ear
was
caught
by
the
sound
of
a
step
upon
the
stone
staircase
.
She
followed
it
past
Mr.
Chippen’s
chambers
;
past
Mr.
Gibson’s
;
past
Mr.
Turner’s
;
after
which
it
became
her
sound
.
A
postman
,
a
washerwoman
,
a
circular
,
a
bill
—
she
presented
herself
with
each
of
these
perfectly
natural
possibilities
;
but
,
to
her
surprise
,
her
mind
rejected
each
one
of
them
impatiently
,
even
apprehensively
.
The
step
became
slow
,
as
it
was
apt
to
do
at
the
end
of
the
steep
climb
,
and
Mary
,
listening
for
the
regular
sound
,
was
filled
with
an
intolerable
nervousness
.
Leaning
against
the
table
,
she
felt
the
knock
of
her
heart
push
her
body
perceptibly
backwards
and
forwards
—
a
state
of
nerves
astonishing
and
reprehensible
in
a
stable
woman
.
Grotesque
fancies
took
shape
.
Alone
,
at
the
top
of
the
house
,
an
unknown
person
approaching
nearer
and
nearer
—
how
could
she
escape
?
There
was
no
way
of
escape
.
She
did
not
even
know
whether
that
oblong
mark
on
the
ceiling
was
a
trap-door
to
the
roof
or
not
.
And
if
she
got
on
to
the
roof
—
well
,
there
was
a
drop
of
sixty
feet
or
so
on
to
the
pavement
.
But
she
sat
perfectly
still
,
and
when
the
knock
sounded
,
she
got
up
directly
and
opened
the
door
without
hesitation
.
She
saw
a
tall
figure
outside
,
with
something
ominous
to
her
eyes
in
the
look
of
it
.
“
What
do
you
want
?
”
she
said
,
not
recognizing
the
face
in
the
fitful
light
of
the
staircase
.
“
Mary
?
I’m
Katharine
Hilbery
!
”
Mary’s
self-possession
returned
almost
excessively
,
and
her
welcome
was
decidedly
cold
,
as
if
she
must
recoup
herself
for
this
ridiculous
waste
of
emotion
.
She
moved
her
green-shaded
lamp
to
another
table
,
and
covered
“
Some
Aspects
of
the
Democratic
State
”
with
a
sheet
of
blotting-paper
.
“
Why
can’t
they
leave
me
alone
?
”
she
thought
bitterly
,
connecting
Katharine
and
Ralph
in
a
conspiracy
to
take
from
her
even
this
hour
of
solitary
study
,
even
this
poor
little
defence
against
the
world
.
And
,
as
she
smoothed
down
the
sheet
of
blotting-paper
over
the
manuscript
,
she
braced
herself
to
resist
Katharine
,
whose
presence
struck
her
,
not
merely
by
its
force
,
as
usual
,
but
as
something
in
the
nature
of
a
menace
.
“
You’re
working
?
”
said
Katharine
,
with
hesitation
,
perceiving
that
she
was
not
welcome
.
“
Nothing
that
matters
,
”
Mary
replied
,
drawing
forward
the
best
of
the
chairs
and
poking
the
fire
.
“
I
didn’t
know
you
had
to
work
after
you
had
left
the
office
,
”
said
Katharine
,
in
a
tone
which
gave
the
impression
that
she
was
thinking
of
something
else
,
as
was
,
indeed
,
the
case
.
She
had
been
paying
calls
with
her
mother
,
and
in
between
the
calls
Mrs.
Hilbery
had
rushed
into
shops
and
bought
pillow-cases
and
blotting-books
on
no
perceptible
method
for
the
furnishing
of
Katharine’s
house
.
Katharine
had
a
sense
of
impedimenta
accumulating
on
all
sides
of
her
.
She
had
left
her
at
length
,
and
had
come
on
to
keep
an
engagement
to
dine
with
Rodney
at
his
rooms
.
But
she
did
not
mean
to
get
to
him
before
seven
o’clock
,
and
so
had
plenty
of
time
to
walk
all
the
way
from
Bond
Street
to
the
Temple
if
she
wished
it
.
The
flow
of
faces
streaming
on
either
side
of
her
had
hypnotized
her
into
a
mood
of
profound
despondency
,
to
which
her
expectation
of
an
evening
alone
with
Rodney
contributed
.
They
were
very
good
friends
again
,
better
friends
,
they
both
said
,
than
ever
before
.
So
far
as
she
was
concerned
this
was
true
.
There
were
many
more
things
in
him
than
she
had
guessed
until
emotion
brought
them
forth
—
strength
,
affection
,
sympathy
.
And
she
thought
of
them
and
looked
at
the
faces
passing
,
and
thought
how
much
alike
they
were
,
and
how
distant
,
nobody
feeling
anything
as
she
felt
nothing
,
and
distance
,
she
thought
,
lay
inevitably
between
the
closest
,
and
their
intimacy
was
the
worst
presence
of
all
.
For
,
“
Oh
dear
,
”
she
thought
,
looking
into
a
tobacconist’s
window
,
“
I
don’t
care
for
any
of
them
,
and
I
don’t
care
for
William
,
and
people
say
this
is
the
thing
that
matters
most
,
and
I
can’t
see
what
they
mean
by
it
.
”
She
looked
desperately
at
the
smooth-bowled
pipes
,
and
wondered
—
should
she
walk
on
by
the
Strand
or
by
the
Embankment
?
It
was
not
a
simple
question
,
for
it
concerned
not
different
streets
so
much
as
different
streams
of
thought
.
If
she
went
by
the
Strand
she
would
force
herself
to
think
out
the
problem
of
the
future
,
or
some
mathematical
problem
;
if
she
went
by
the
river
she
would
certainly
begin
to
think
about
things
that
didn’t
exist
—
the
forest
,
the
ocean
beach
,
the
leafy
solitudes
,
the
magnanimous
hero
.
No
,
no
,
no
!
A
thousand
times
no
!
—
it
wouldn’t
do
;
there
was
something
repulsive
in
such
thoughts
at
present
;
she
must
take
something
else
;
she
was
out
of
that
mood
at
present
.
And
then
she
thought
of
Mary
;
the
thought
gave
her
confidence
,
even
pleasure
of
a
sad
sort
,
as
if
the
triumph
of
Ralph
and
Mary
proved
that
the
fault
of
her
failure
lay
with
herself
and
not
with
life
.
An
indistinct
idea
that
the
sight
of
Mary
might
be
of
help
,
combined
with
her
natural
trust
in
her
,
suggested
a
visit
;
for
,
surely
,
her
liking
was
of
a
kind
that
implied
liking
upon
Mary’s
side
also
.
After
a
moment’s
hesitation
she
decided
,
although
she
seldom
acted
upon
impulse
,
to
act
upon
this
one
,
and
turned
down
a
side
street
and
found
Mary’s
door
.
But
her
reception
was
not
encouraging
;
clearly
Mary
didn’t
want
to
see
her
,
had
no
help
to
impart
,
and
the
half-formed
desire
to
confide
in
her
was
quenched
immediately
.
She
was
slightly
amused
at
her
own
delusion
,
looked
rather
absent-minded
,
and
swung
her
gloves
to
and
fro
,
as
if
doling
out
the
few
minutes
accurately
before
she
could
say
good-by
.
Those
few
minutes
might
very
well
be
spent
in
asking
for
information
as
to
the
exact
position
of
the
Suffrage
Bill
,
or
in
expounding
her
own
very
sensible
view
of
the
situation
.
But
there
was
a
tone
in
her
voice
,
or
a
shade
in
her
opinions
,
or
a
swing
of
her
gloves
which
served
to
irritate
Mary
Datchet
,
whose
manner
became
increasingly
direct
,
abrupt
,
and
even
antagonistic
.
She
became
conscious
of
a
wish
to
make
Katharine
realize
the
importance
of
this
work
,
which
she
discussed
so
coolly
,
as
though
she
,
too
,
had
sacrificed
what
Mary
herself
had
sacrificed
.
The
swinging
of
the
gloves
ceased
,
and
Katharine
,
after
ten
minutes
,
began
to
make
movements
preliminary
to
departure
.
At
the
sight
of
this
,
Mary
was
aware
—
she
was
abnormally
aware
of
things
to-night
—
of
another
very
strong
desire
;
Katharine
was
not
to
be
allowed
to
go
,
to
disappear
into
the
free
,
happy
world
of
irresponsible
individuals
.
She
must
be
made
to
realize
—
to
feel
.
“
I
don’t
quite
see
,
”
she
said
,
as
if
Katharine
had
challenged
her
explicitly
,
“
how
,
things
being
as
they
are
,
any
one
can
help
trying
,
at
least
,
to
do
something
.
”
“
No.
But
how
are
things
?
”
Mary
pressed
her
lips
,
and
smiled
ironically
;
she
had
Katharine
at
her
mercy
;
she
could
,
if
she
liked
,
discharge
upon
her
head
wagon-loads
of
revolting
proof
of
the
state
of
things
ignored
by
the
casual
,
the
amateur
,
the
looker-on
,
the
cynical
observer
of
life
at
a
distance
.
And
yet
she
hesitated
.
As
usual
,
when
she
found
herself
in
talk
with
Katharine
,
she
began
to
feel
rapid
alternations
of
opinion
about
her
,
arrows
of
sensation
striking
strangely
through
the
envelope
of
personality
,
which
shelters
us
so
conveniently
from
our
fellows
.
What
an
egoist
,
how
aloof
she
was
!
And
yet
,
not
in
her
words
,
perhaps
,
but
in
her
voice
,
in
her
face
,
in
her
attitude
,
there
were
signs
of
a
soft
brooding
spirit
,
of
a
sensibility
unblunted
and
profound
,
playing
over
her
thoughts
and
deeds
,
and
investing
her
manner
with
an
habitual
gentleness
.
The
arguments
and
phrases
of
Mr.
Clacton
fell
flat
against
such
armor
.
“
You’ll
be
married
,
and
you’ll
have
other
things
to
think
of
,
”
she
said
inconsequently
,
and
with
an
accent
of
condescension
.
She
was
not
going
to
make
Katharine
understand
in
a
second
,
as
she
would
,
all
she
herself
had
learnt
at
the
cost
of
such
pain
.
No.
Katharine
was
to
be
happy
;
Katharine
was
to
be
ignorant
;
Mary
was
to
keep
this
knowledge
of
the
impersonal
life
for
herself
.
The
thought
of
her
morning’s
renunciation
stung
her
conscience
,
and
she
tried
to
expand
once
more
into
that
impersonal
condition
which
was
so
lofty
and
so
painless
.
She
must
check
this
desire
to
be
an
individual
again
,
whose
wishes
were
in
conflict
with
those
of
other
people
.
She
repented
of
her
bitterness
.
Katharine
now
renewed
her
signs
of
leave-taking
;
she
had
drawn
on
one
of
her
gloves
,
and
looked
about
her
as
if
in
search
of
some
trivial
saying
to
end
with
.
Wasn’t
there
some
picture
,
or
clock
,
or
chest
of
drawers
which
might
be
singled
out
for
notice
?
something
peaceable
and
friendly
to
end
the
uncomfortable
interview
?
The
green-shaded
lamp
burnt
in
the
corner
,
and
illumined
books
and
pens
and
blotting-paper
.
The
whole
aspect
of
the
place
started
another
train
of
thought
and
struck
her
as
enviably
free
;
in
such
a
room
one
could
work
—
one
could
have
a
life
of
one’s
own
.
“
I
think
you’re
very
lucky
,
”
she
observed
.
“
I
envy
you
,
living
alone
and
having
your
own
things
”
—
and
engaged
in
this
exalted
way
,
which
had
no
recognition
or
engagement-ring
,
she
added
in
her
own
mind
.
Mary’s
lips
parted
slightly
.
She
could
not
conceive
in
what
respects
Katharine
,
who
spoke
sincerely
,
could
envy
her
.
“
I
don’t
think
you’ve
got
any
reason
to
envy
me
,
”
she
said
.
“
Perhaps
one
always
envies
other
people
,
”
Katharine
observed
vaguely
.
“
Well
,
but
you’ve
got
everything
that
any
one
can
want
.
”
Katharine
remained
silent
.
She
gazed
into
the
fire
quietly
,
and
without
a
trace
of
self-consciousness
.
The
hostility
which
she
had
divined
in
Mary’s
tone
had
completely
disappeared
,
and
she
forgot
that
she
had
been
upon
the
point
of
going
.
“
Well
,
I
suppose
I
have
,
”
she
said
at
length
.
“
And
yet
I
sometimes
think
—
”
She
paused
;
she
did
not
know
how
to
express
what
she
meant
.
“
It
came
over
me
in
the
Tube
the
other
day
,
”
she
resumed
,
with
a
smile
;
“
what
is
it
that
makes
these
people
go
one
way
rather
than
the
other
?
It’s
not
love
;
it’s
not
reason
;
I
think
it
must
be
some
idea
.
Perhaps
,
Mary
,
our
affections
are
the
shadow
of
an
idea
.
Perhaps
there
isn’t
any
such
thing
as
affection
in
itself
...
.
”
She
spoke
half-mockingly
,
asking
her
question
,
which
she
scarcely
troubled
to
frame
,
not
of
Mary
,
or
of
any
one
in
particular
.
But
the
words
seemed
to
Mary
Datchet
shallow
,
supercilious
,
cold-blooded
,
and
cynical
all
in
one
.
All
her
natural
instincts
were
roused
in
revolt
against
them
.
“
I’m
the
opposite
way
of
thinking
,
you
see
,
”
she
said
.
“
Yes
;
I
know
you
are
,
”
Katharine
replied
,
looking
at
her
as
if
now
she
were
about
,
perhaps
,
to
explain
something
very
important
.
Mary
could
not
help
feeling
the
simplicity
and
good
faith
that
lay
behind
Katharine’s
words
.
“
I
think
affection
is
the
only
reality
,
”
she
said
.
“
Yes
,
”
said
Katharine
,
almost
sadly
.
She
understood
that
Mary
was
thinking
of
Ralph
,
and
she
felt
it
impossible
to
press
her
to
reveal
more
of
this
exalted
condition
;
she
could
only
respect
the
fact
that
,
in
some
few
cases
,
life
arranged
itself
thus
satisfactorily
and
pass
on
.
She
rose
to
her
feet
accordingly
.
But
Mary
exclaimed
,
with
unmistakable
earnestness
,
that
she
must
not
go
;
that
they
met
so
seldom
;
that
she
wanted
to
talk
to
her
so
much
...
.
Katharine
was
surprised
at
the
earnestness
with
which
she
spoke
.
It
seemed
to
her
that
there
could
be
no
indiscretion
in
mentioning
Ralph
by
name
.
Seating
herself
“
for
ten
minutes
,
”
she
said
:
“
By
the
way
,
Mr.
Denham
told
me
he
was
going
to
give
up
the
Bar
and
live
in
the
country
.
Has
he
gone
?
He
was
beginning
to
tell
me
about
it
,
when
we
were
interrupted
.
”
“
He
thinks
of
it
,
”
said
Mary
briefly
.
The
color
at
once
came
to
her
face
.
“
It
would
be
a
very
good
plan
,
”
said
Katharine
in
her
decided
way
.
“
You
think
so
?
”
“
Yes
,
because
he
would
do
something
worth
while
;
he
would
write
a
book
.
My
father
always
says
that
he’s
the
most
remarkable
of
the
young
men
who
write
for
him
.
”
Mary
bent
low
over
the
fire
and
stirred
the
coal
between
the
bars
with
a
poker
.
Katharine’s
mention
of
Ralph
had
roused
within
her
an
almost
irresistible
desire
to
explain
to
her
the
true
state
of
the
case
between
herself
and
Ralph
.
She
knew
,
from
the
tone
of
her
voice
,
that
in
speaking
of
Ralph
she
had
no
desire
to
probe
Mary’s
secrets
,
or
to
insinuate
any
of
her
own
.
Moreover
,
she
liked
Katharine
;
she
trusted
her
;
she
felt
a
respect
for
her
.
The
first
step
of
confidence
was
comparatively
simple
;
but
a
further
confidence
had
revealed
itself
,
as
Katharine
spoke
,
which
was
not
so
simple
,
and
yet
it
impressed
itself
upon
her
as
a
necessity
;
she
must
tell
Katharine
what
it
was
clear
that
she
had
no
conception
of
—
she
must
tell
Katharine
that
Ralph
was
in
love
with
her
.
“
I
don’t
know
what
he
means
to
do
,
”
she
said
hurriedly
,
seeking
time
against
the
pressure
of
her
own
conviction
.
“
I’ve
not
seen
him
since
Christmas
.
”
Katharine
reflected
that
this
was
odd
;
perhaps
,
after
all
,
she
had
misunderstood
the
position
.
She
was
in
the
habit
of
assuming
,
however
,
that
she
was
rather
unobservant
of
the
finer
shades
of
feeling
,
and
she
noted
her
present
failure
as
another
proof
that
she
was
a
practical
,
abstract-minded
person
,
better
fitted
to
deal
with
figures
than
with
the
feelings
of
men
and
women
.
Anyhow
,
William
Rodney
would
say
so
.
“
And
now
—
”
she
said
.
“
Oh
,
please
stay
!
”
Mary
exclaimed
,
putting
out
her
hand
to
stop
her
.
Directly
Katharine
moved
she
felt
,
inarticulately
and
violently
,
that
she
could
not
bear
to
let
her
go
.
If
Katharine
went
,
her
only
chance
of
speaking
was
lost
;
her
only
chance
of
saying
something
tremendously
important
was
lost
.
Half
a
dozen
words
were
sufficient
to
wake
Katharine’s
attention
,
and
put
flight
and
further
silence
beyond
her
power
.
But
although
the
words
came
to
her
lips
,
her
throat
closed
upon
them
and
drove
them
back
.
After
all
,
she
considered
,
why
should
she
speak
?
Because
it
is
right
,
her
instinct
told
her
;
right
to
expose
oneself
without
reservations
to
other
human
beings
.
She
flinched
from
the
thought
.
It
asked
too
much
of
one
already
stripped
bare
.
Something
she
must
keep
of
her
own
.
But
if
she
did
keep
something
of
her
own
?
Immediately
she
figured
an
immured
life
,
continuing
for
an
immense
period
,
the
same
feelings
living
for
ever
,
neither
dwindling
nor
changing
within
the
ring
of
a
thick
stone
wall
.
The
imagination
of
this
loneliness
frightened
her
,
and
yet
to
speak
—
to
lose
her
loneliness
,
for
it
had
already
become
dear
to
her
,
was
beyond
her
power
.
Her
hand
went
down
to
the
hem
of
Katharine’s
skirt
,
and
,
fingering
a
line
of
fur
,
she
bent
her
head
as
if
to
examine
it
.
“
I
like
this
fur
,
”
she
said
,
“
I
like
your
clothes
.
And
you
mustn’t
think
that
I’m
going
to
marry
Ralph
,
”
she
continued
,
in
the
same
tone
,
“
because
he
doesn’t
care
for
me
at
all
.
He
cares
for
some
one
else
.
”
Her
head
remained
bent
,
and
her
hand
still
rested
upon
the
skirt
.
“
It’s
a
shabby
old
dress
,
”
said
Katharine
,
and
the
only
sign
that
Mary’s
words
had
reached
her
was
that
she
spoke
with
a
little
jerk
.
“
You
don’t
mind
my
telling
you
that
?
”
said
Mary
,
raising
herself
.
“
No
,
no
,
”
said
Katharine
;
“
but
you’re
mistaken
,
aren’t
you
?
”
She
was
,
in
truth
,
horribly
uncomfortable
,
dismayed
,
indeed
,
disillusioned
.
She
disliked
the
turn
things
had
taken
quite
intensely
.
The
indecency
of
it
afflicted
her
.
The
suffering
implied
by
the
tone
appalled
her
.
She
looked
at
Mary
furtively
,
with
eyes
that
were
full
of
apprehension
.
But
if
she
had
hoped
to
find
that
these
words
had
been
spoken
without
understanding
of
their
meaning
,
she
was
at
once
disappointed
.
Mary
lay
back
in
her
chair
,
frowning
slightly
,
and
looking
,
Katharine
thought
,
as
if
she
had
lived
fifteen
years
or
so
in
the
space
of
a
few
minutes
.
“
There
are
some
things
,
don’t
you
think
,
that
one
can’t
be
mistaken
about
?
”
Mary
said
,
quietly
and
almost
coldly
.
“
That
is
what
puzzles
me
about
this
question
of
being
in
love
.
I’ve
always
prided
myself
upon
being
reasonable
,
”
she
added
.
“
I
didn’t
think
I
could
have
felt
this
—
I
mean
if
the
other
person
didn’t
.
I
was
foolish
.
I
let
myself
pretend
.
”
Here
she
paused
.
“
For
,
you
see
,
Katharine
,
”
she
proceeded
,
rousing
herself
and
speaking
with
greater
energy
,
“
I
am
in
love
.
There’s
no
doubt
about
that
...
.
I’m
tremendously
in
love
...
with
Ralph
.
”
The
little
forward
shake
of
her
head
,
which
shook
a
lock
of
hair
,
together
with
her
brighter
color
,
gave
her
an
appearance
at
once
proud
and
defiant
.
Katharine
thought
to
herself
,
“
That’s
how
it
feels
then
.
”
She
hesitated
,
with
a
feeling
that
it
was
not
for
her
to
speak
;
and
then
said
,
in
a
low
tone
,
“
You’ve
got
that
.
”
“
Yes
,
”
said
Mary
;
“
I’ve
got
that
.
One
wouldn’t
not
be
in
love
...
.
But
I
didn’t
mean
to
talk
about
that
;
I
only
wanted
you
to
know
.
There’s
another
thing
I
want
to
tell
you
...
”
She
paused
.
“
I
haven’t
any
authority
from
Ralph
to
say
it
;
but
I’m
sure
of
this
—
he’s
in
love
with
you
.
”
Katharine
looked
at
her
again
,
as
if
her
first
glance
must
have
been
deluded
,
for
,
surely
,
there
must
be
some
outward
sign
that
Mary
was
talking
in
an
excited
,
or
bewildered
,
or
fantastic
manner
.
No
;
she
still
frowned
,
as
if
she
sought
her
way
through
the
clauses
of
a
difficult
argument
,
but
she
still
looked
more
like
one
who
reasons
than
one
who
feels
.
“
That
proves
that
you’re
mistaken
—
utterly
mistaken
,
”
said
Katharine
,
speaking
reasonably
,
too
.
She
had
no
need
to
verify
the
mistake
by
a
glance
at
her
own
recollections
,
when
the
fact
was
so
clearly
stamped
upon
her
mind
that
if
Ralph
had
any
feeling
towards
her
it
was
one
of
critical
hostility
.
She
did
not
give
the
matter
another
thought
,
and
Mary
,
now
that
she
had
stated
the
fact
,
did
not
seek
to
prove
it
,
but
tried
to
explain
to
herself
,
rather
than
to
Katharine
,
her
motives
in
making
the
statement
.
She
had
nerved
herself
to
do
what
some
large
and
imperious
instinct
demanded
her
doing
;
she
had
been
swept
on
the
breast
of
a
wave
beyond
her
reckoning
.
“
I’ve
told
you
,
”
she
said
,
“
because
I
want
you
to
help
me
.
I
don’t
want
to
be
jealous
of
you
.
And
I
am
—
I’m
fearfully
jealous
.
The
only
way
,
I
thought
,
was
to
tell
you
.
”
She
hesitated
,
and
groped
in
her
endeavor
to
make
her
feelings
clear
to
herself
.
“
If
I
tell
you
,
then
we
can
talk
;
and
when
I’m
jealous
,
I
can
tell
you
.
And
if
I’m
tempted
to
do
something
frightfully
mean
,
I
can
tell
you
;
you
could
make
me
tell
you
.
I
find
talking
so
difficult
;
but
loneliness
frightens
me
.
I
should
shut
it
up
in
my
mind
.
Yes
,
that’s
what
I’m
afraid
of
.
Going
about
with
something
in
my
mind
all
my
life
that
never
changes
.
I
find
it
so
difficult
to
change
.
When
I
think
a
thing’s
wrong
I
never
stop
thinking
it
wrong
,
and
Ralph
was
quite
right
,
I
see
,
when
he
said
that
there’s
no
such
thing
as
right
and
wrong
;
no
such
thing
,
I
mean
,
as
judging
people
—
”
“
Ralph
Denham
said
that
?
”
said
Katharine
,
with
considerable
indignation
.
In
order
to
have
produced
such
suffering
in
Mary
,
it
seemed
to
her
that
he
must
have
behaved
with
extreme
callousness
.
It
seemed
to
her
that
he
had
discarded
the
friendship
,
when
it
suited
his
convenience
to
do
so
,
with
some
falsely
philosophical
theory
which
made
his
conduct
all
the
worse
.
She
was
going
on
to
express
herself
thus
,
had
not
Mary
at
once
interrupted
her
.
“
No
,
no
,
”
she
said
;
“
you
don’t
understand
.
If
there’s
any
fault
it’s
mine
entirely
;
after
all
,
if
one
chooses
to
run
risks
—
”
Her
voice
faltered
into
silence
.
It
was
borne
in
upon
her
how
completely
in
running
her
risk
she
had
lost
her
prize
,
lost
it
so
entirely
that
she
had
no
longer
the
right
,
in
talking
of
Ralph
,
to
presume
that
her
knowledge
of
him
supplanted
all
other
knowledge
.
She
no
longer
completely
possessed
her
love
,
since
his
share
in
it
was
doubtful
;
and
now
,
to
make
things
yet
more
bitter
,
her
clear
vision
of
the
way
to
face
life
was
rendered
tremulous
and
uncertain
,
because
another
was
witness
of
it
.
Feeling
her
desire
for
the
old
unshared
intimacy
too
great
to
be
borne
without
tears
,
she
rose
,
walked
to
the
farther
end
of
the
room
,
held
the
curtains
apart
,
and
stood
there
mastered
for
a
moment
.
The
grief
itself
was
not
ignoble
;
the
sting
of
it
lay
in
the
fact
that
she
had
been
led
to
this
act
of
treachery
against
herself
.
Trapped
,
cheated
,
robbed
,
first
by
Ralph
and
then
by
Katharine
,
she
seemed
all
dissolved
in
humiliation
,
and
bereft
of
anything
she
could
call
her
own
.
Tears
of
weakness
welled
up
and
rolled
down
her
cheeks
.
But
tears
,
at
least
,
she
could
control
,
and
would
this
instant
,
and
then
,
turning
,
she
would
face
Katharine
,
and
retrieve
what
could
be
retrieved
of
the
collapse
of
her
courage
.
She
turned
.
Katharine
had
not
moved
;
she
was
leaning
a
little
forward
in
her
chair
and
looking
into
the
fire
.
Something
in
the
attitude
reminded
Mary
of
Ralph
.
So
he
would
sit
,
leaning
forward
,
looking
rather
fixedly
in
front
of
him
,
while
his
mind
went
far
away
,
exploring
,
speculating
,
until
he
broke
off
with
his
,
“
Well
,
Mary
?
”
—
and
the
silence
,
that
had
been
so
full
of
romance
to
her
,
gave
way
to
the
most
delightful
talk
that
she
had
ever
known
.
Something
unfamiliar
in
the
pose
of
the
silent
figure
,
something
still
,
solemn
,
significant
about
it
,
made
her
hold
her
breath
.
She
paused
.
Her
thoughts
were
without
bitterness
.
She
was
surprised
by
her
own
quiet
and
confidence
.
She
came
back
silently
,
and
sat
once
more
by
Katharine’s
side
.
Mary
had
no
wish
to
speak
.
In
the
silence
she
seemed
to
have
lost
her
isolation
;
she
was
at
once
the
sufferer
and
the
pitiful
spectator
of
suffering
;
she
was
happier
than
she
had
ever
been
;
she
was
more
bereft
;
she
was
rejected
,
and
she
was
immensely
beloved
.
Attempt
to
express
these
sensations
was
vain
,
and
,
moreover
,
she
could
not
help
believing
that
,
without
any
words
on
her
side
,
they
were
shared
.
Thus
for
some
time
longer
they
sat
silent
,
side
by
side
,
while
Mary
fingered
the
fur
on
the
skirt
of
the
old
dress
.
CHAPTER
XXII
The
fact
that
she
would
be
late
in
keeping
her
engagement
with
William
was
not
the
only
reason
which
sent
Katharine
almost
at
racing
speed
along
the
Strand
in
the
direction
of
his
rooms
.
Punctuality
might
have
been
achieved
by
taking
a
cab
,
had
she
not
wished
the
open
air
to
fan
into
flame
the
glow
kindled
by
Mary’s
words
.
For
among
all
the
impressions
of
the
evening’s
talk
one
was
of
the
nature
of
a
revelation
and
subdued
the
rest
to
insignificance
.
Thus
one
looked
;
thus
one
spoke
;
such
was
love
.
“
She
sat
up
straight
and
looked
at
me
,
and
then
she
said
,
‘I’m
in
love
,
’
”
Katharine
mused
,
trying
to
set
the
whole
scene
in
motion
.
It
was
a
scene
to
dwell
on
with
so
much
wonder
that
not
a
grain
of
pity
occurred
to
her
;
it
was
a
flame
blazing
suddenly
in
the
dark
;
by
its
light
Katharine
perceived
far
too
vividly
for
her
comfort
the
mediocrity
,
indeed
the
entirely
fictitious
character
of
her
own
feelings
so
far
as
they
pretended
to
correspond
with
Mary’s
feelings
.
She
made
up
her
mind
to
act
instantly
upon
the
knowledge
thus
gained
,
and
cast
her
mind
in
amazement
back
to
the
scene
upon
the
heath
,
when
she
had
yielded
,
heaven
knows
why
,
for
reasons
which
seemed
now
imperceptible
.
So
in
broad
daylight
one
might
revisit
the
place
where
one
has
groped
and
turned
and
succumbed
to
utter
bewilderment
in
a
fog
.
“
It’s
all
so
simple
,
”
she
said
to
herself
.
“
There
can’t
be
any
doubt
.
I’ve
only
got
to
speak
now
.
I’ve
only
got
to
speak
,
”
she
went
on
saying
,
in
time
to
her
own
footsteps
,
and
completely
forgot
Mary
Datchet
.
William
Rodney
,
having
come
back
earlier
from
the
office
than
he
expected
,
sat
down
to
pick
out
the
melodies
in
“
The
Magic
Flute
”
upon
the
piano
.
Katharine
was
late
,
but
that
was
nothing
new
,
and
,
as
she
had
no
particular
liking
for
music
,
and
he
felt
in
the
mood
for
it
,
perhaps
it
was
as
well
.
This
defect
in
Katharine
was
the
more
strange
,
William
reflected
,
because
,
as
a
rule
,
the
women
of
her
family
were
unusually
musical
.
Her
cousin
,
Cassandra
Otway
,
for
example
,
had
a
very
fine
taste
in
music
,
and
he
had
charming
recollections
of
her
in
a
light
fantastic
attitude
,
playing
the
flute
in
the
morning-room
at
Stogdon
House
.
He
recalled
with
pleasure
the
amusing
way
in
which
her
nose
,
long
like
all
the
Otway
noses
,
seemed
to
extend
itself
into
the
flute
,
as
if
she
were
some
inimitably
graceful
species
of
musical
mole
.
The
little
picture
suggested
very
happily
her
melodious
and
whimsical
temperament
.
The
enthusiasms
of
a
young
girl
of
distinguished
upbringing
appealed
to
William
,
and
suggested
a
thousand
ways
in
which
,
with
his
training
and
accomplishments
,
he
could
be
of
service
to
her
.
She
ought
to
be
given
the
chance
of
hearing
good
music
,
as
it
is
played
by
those
who
have
inherited
the
great
tradition
.
Moreover
,
from
one
or
two
remarks
let
fall
in
the
course
of
conversation
,
he
thought
it
possible
that
she
had
what
Katharine
professed
to
lack
,
a
passionate
,
if
untaught
,
appreciation
of
literature
.
He
had
lent
her
his
play
.
Meanwhile
,
as
Katharine
was
certain
to
be
late
,
and
“
The
Magic
Flute
”
is
nothing
without
a
voice
,
he
felt
inclined
to
spend
the
time
of
waiting
in
writing
a
letter
to
Cassandra
,
exhorting
her
to
read
Pope
in
preference
to
Dostoevsky
,
until
her
feeling
for
form
was
more
highly
developed
.
He
set
himself
down
to
compose
this
piece
of
advice
in
a
shape
which
was
light
and
playful
,
and
yet
did
no
injury
to
a
cause
which
he
had
near
at
heart
,
when
he
heard
Katharine
upon
the
stairs
.
A
moment
later
it
was
plain
that
he
had
been
mistaken
,
it
was
not
Katharine
;
but
he
could
not
settle
himself
to
his
letter
.
His
temper
had
changed
from
one
of
urbane
contentment
—
indeed
of
delicious
expansion
—
to
one
of
uneasiness
and
expectation
.
The
dinner
was
brought
in
,
and
had
to
be
set
by
the
fire
to
keep
hot
.
It
was
now
a
quarter
of
an
hour
beyond
the
specified
time
.
He
bethought
him
of
a
piece
of
news
which
had
depressed
him
in
the
earlier
part
of
the
day
.
Owing
to
the
illness
of
one
of
his
fellow-clerks
,
it
was
likely
that
he
would
get
no
holiday
until
later
in
the
year
,
which
would
mean
the
postponement
of
their
marriage
.
But
this
possibility
,
after
all
,
was
not
so
disagreeable
as
the
probability
which
forced
itself
upon
him
with
every
tick
of
the
clock
that
Katharine
had
completely
forgotten
her
engagement
.
Such
things
had
happened
less
frequently
since
Christmas
,
but
what
if
they
were
going
to
begin
to
happen
again
?
What
if
their
marriage
should
turn
out
,
as
she
had
said
,
a
farce
?
He
acquitted
her
of
any
wish
to
hurt
him
wantonly
,
but
there
was
something
in
her
character
which
made
it
impossible
for
her
to
help
hurting
people
.
Was
she
cold
?
Was
she
self-absorbed
?
He
tried
to
fit
her
with
each
of
these
descriptions
,
but
he
had
to
own
that
she
puzzled
him
.
“
There
are
so
many
things
that
she
doesn’t
understand
,
”
he
reflected
,
glancing
at
the
letter
to
Cassandra
which
he
had
begun
and
laid
aside
.
What
prevented
him
from
finishing
the
letter
which
he
had
so
much
enjoyed
beginning
?
The
reason
was
that
Katharine
might
,
at
any
moment
,
enter
the
room
.
The
thought
,
implying
his
bondage
to
her
,
irritated
him
acutely
.
It
occurred
to
him
that
he
would
leave
the
letter
lying
open
for
her
to
see
,
and
he
would
take
the
opportunity
of
telling
her
that
he
had
sent
his
play
to
Cassandra
for
her
to
criticize
.
Possibly
,
but
not
by
any
means
certainly
,
this
would
annoy
her
—
and
as
he
reached
the
doubtful
comfort
of
this
conclusion
,
there
was
a
knock
on
the
door
and
Katharine
came
in
.
They
kissed
each
other
coldly
and
she
made
no
apology
for
being
late
.
Nevertheless
,
her
mere
presence
moved
him
strangely
;
but
he
was
determined
that
this
should
not
weaken
his
resolution
to
make
some
kind
of
stand
against
her
;
to
get
at
the
truth
about
her
.
He
let
her
make
her
own
disposition
of
clothes
and
busied
himself
with
the
plates
.
“
I’ve
got
a
piece
of
news
for
you
,
Katharine
,
”
he
said
directly
they
sat
down
to
table
;
“
I
shan’t
get
my
holiday
in
April
.
We
shall
have
to
put
off
our
marriage
.
”
He
rapped
the
words
out
with
a
certain
degree
of
briskness
.
Katharine
started
a
little
,
as
if
the
announcement
disturbed
her
thoughts
.
“
That
won’t
make
any
difference
,
will
it
?
I
mean
the
lease
isn’t
signed
,
”
she
replied
.
“
But
why
?
What
has
happened
?
”
He
told
her
,
in
an
off-hand
way
,
how
one
of
his
fellow-clerks
had
broken
down
,
and
might
have
to
be
away
for
months
,
six
months
even
,
in
which
case
they
would
have
to
think
over
their
position
.
He
said
it
in
a
way
which
struck
her
,
at
last
,
as
oddly
casual
.
She
looked
at
him
.
There
was
no
outward
sign
that
he
was
annoyed
with
her
.
Was
she
well
dressed
?
She
thought
sufficiently
so
.
Perhaps
she
was
late
?
She
looked
for
a
clock
.
“
It’s
a
good
thing
we
didn’t
take
the
house
then
,
”
she
repeated
thoughtfully
.
“
It’ll
mean
,
too
,
I’m
afraid
,
that
I
shan’t
be
as
free
for
a
considerable
time
as
I
have
been
,
”
he
continued
.
She
had
time
to
reflect
that
she
gained
something
by
all
this
,
though
it
was
too
soon
to
determine
what
.
But
the
light
which
had
been
burning
with
such
intensity
as
she
came
along
was
suddenly
overclouded
,
as
much
by
his
manner
as
by
his
news
.
She
had
been
prepared
to
meet
opposition
,
which
is
simple
to
encounter
compared
with
—
she
did
not
know
what
it
was
that
she
had
to
encounter
.
The
meal
passed
in
quiet
,
well-controlled
talk
about
indifferent
things
.
Music
was
not
a
subject
about
which
she
knew
anything
,
but
she
liked
him
to
tell
her
things
;
and
could
,
she
mused
,
as
he
talked
,
fancy
the
evenings
of
married
life
spent
thus
,
over
the
fire
;
spent
thus
,
or
with
a
book
,
perhaps
,
for
then
she
would
have
time
to
read
her
books
,
and
to
grasp
firmly
with
every
muscle
of
her
unused
mind
what
she
longed
to
know
.
The
atmosphere
was
very
free
.
Suddenly
William
broke
off
.
She
looked
up
apprehensively
,
brushing
aside
these
thoughts
with
annoyance
.
“
Where
should
I
address
a
letter
to
Cassandra
?
”
he
asked
her
.
It
was
obvious
again
that
William
had
some
meaning
or
other
to-night
,
or
was
in
some
mood
.
“
We’ve
struck
up
a
friendship
,
”
he
added
.
“
She’s
at
home
,
I
think
,
”
Katharine
replied
.
“
They
keep
her
too
much
at
home
,
”
said
William
.
“
Why
don’t
you
ask
her
to
stay
with
you
,
and
let
her
hear
a
little
good
music
?
I’ll
just
finish
what
I
was
saying
,
if
you
don’t
mind
,
because
I’m
particularly
anxious
that
she
should
hear
to-morrow
.
”
Katharine
sank
back
in
her
chair
,
and
Rodney
took
the
paper
on
his
knees
,
and
went
on
with
his
sentence
.
“
Style
,
you
know
,
is
what
we
tend
to
neglect
—
“
;
but
he
was
far
more
conscious
of
Katharine’s
eye
upon
him
than
of
what
he
was
saying
about
style
.
He
knew
that
she
was
looking
at
him
,
but
whether
with
irritation
or
indifference
he
could
not
guess
.
In
truth
,
she
had
fallen
sufficiently
into
his
trap
to
feel
uncomfortably
roused
and
disturbed
and
unable
to
proceed
on
the
lines
laid
down
for
herself
.
This
indifferent
,
if
not
hostile
,
attitude
on
William’s
part
made
it
impossible
to
break
off
without
animosity
,
largely
and
completely
.
Infinitely
preferable
was
Mary’s
state
,
she
thought
,
where
there
was
a
simple
thing
to
do
and
one
did
it
.
In
fact
,
she
could
not
help
supposing
that
some
littleness
of
nature
had
a
part
in
all
the
refinements
,
reserves
,
and
subtleties
of
feeling
for
which
her
friends
and
family
were
so
distinguished
.
For
example
,
although
she
liked
Cassandra
well
enough
,
her
fantastic
method
of
life
struck
her
as
purely
frivolous
;
now
it
was
socialism
,
now
it
was
silkworms
,
now
it
was
music
—
which
last
she
supposed
was
the
cause
of
William’s
sudden
interest
in
her
.
Never
before
had
William
wasted
the
minutes
of
her
presence
in
writing
his
letters
.
With
a
curious
sense
of
light
opening
where
all
,
hitherto
,
had
been
opaque
,
it
dawned
upon
her
that
,
after
all
,
possibly
,
yes
,
probably
,
nay
,
certainly
,
the
devotion
which
she
had
almost
wearily
taken
for
granted
existed
in
a
much
slighter
degree
than
she
had
suspected
,
or
existed
no
longer
.
She
looked
at
him
attentively
as
if
this
discovery
of
hers
must
show
traces
in
his
face
.
Never
had
she
seen
so
much
to
respect
in
his
appearance
,
so
much
that
attracted
her
by
its
sensitiveness
and
intelligence
,
although
she
saw
these
qualities
as
if
they
were
those
one
responds
to
,
dumbly
,
in
the
face
of
a
stranger
.
The
head
bent
over
the
paper
,
thoughtful
as
usual
,
had
now
a
composure
which
seemed
somehow
to
place
it
at
a
distance
,
like
a
face
seen
talking
to
some
one
else
behind
glass
.
He
wrote
on
,
without
raising
his
eyes
.
She
would
have
spoken
,
but
could
not
bring
herself
to
ask
him
for
signs
of
affection
which
she
had
no
right
to
claim
.
The
conviction
that
he
was
thus
strange
to
her
filled
her
with
despondency
,
and
illustrated
quite
beyond
doubt
the
infinite
loneliness
of
human
beings
.
She
had
never
felt
the
truth
of
this
so
strongly
before
.
She
looked
away
into
the
fire
;
it
seemed
to
her
that
even
physically
they
were
now
scarcely
within
speaking
distance
;
and
spiritually
there
was
certainly
no
human
being
with
whom
she
could
claim
comradeship
;
no
dream
that
satisfied
her
as
she
was
used
to
be
satisfied
;
nothing
remained
in
whose
reality
she
could
believe
,
save
those
abstract
ideas
—
figures
,
laws
,
stars
,
facts
,
which
she
could
hardly
hold
to
for
lack
of
knowledge
and
a
kind
of
shame
.
When
Rodney
owned
to
himself
the
folly
of
this
prolonged
silence
,
and
the
meanness
of
such
devices
,
and
looked
up
ready
to
seek
some
excuse
for
a
good
laugh
,
or
opening
for
a
confession
,
he
was
disconcerted
by
what
he
saw
.
Katharine
seemed
equally
oblivious
of
what
was
bad
or
of
what
was
good
in
him
.
Her
expression
suggested
concentration
upon
something
entirely
remote
from
her
surroundings
.
The
carelessness
of
her
attitude
seemed
to
him
rather
masculine
than
feminine
.
His
impulse
to
break
up
the
constraint
was
chilled
,
and
once
more
the
exasperating
sense
of
his
own
impotency
returned
to
him
.
He
could
not
help
contrasting
Katharine
with
his
vision
of
the
engaging
,
whimsical
Cassandra
;
Katharine
undemonstrative
,
inconsiderate
,
silent
,
and
yet
so
notable
that
he
could
never
do
without
her
good
opinion
.
She
veered
round
upon
him
a
moment
later
,
as
if
,
when
her
train
of
thought
was
ended
,
she
became
aware
of
his
presence
.
“
Have
you
finished
your
letter
?
”
she
asked
.
He
thought
he
heard
faint
amusement
in
her
tone
,
but
not
a
trace
of
jealousy
.
“
No
,
I’m
not
going
to
write
any
more
to-night
,
”
he
said
.
“
I’m
not
in
the
mood
for
it
for
some
reason
.
I
can’t
say
what
I
want
to
say
.
”
“
Cassandra
won’t
know
if
it’s
well
written
or
badly
written
,
”
Katharine
remarked
.
“
I’m
not
so
sure
about
that
.
I
should
say
she
has
a
good
deal
of
literary
feeling
.
”
“
Perhaps
,
”
