herthe
story
of
Mademoiselle
Aïssé
,
it
was
as
if
Anne
had
been
suddenly
confronted
by
her
own
wraith
,
surrounded
by
strange
and
tragic
lights
;
and
the
shock
was
very
violent
.
But
Miss
Brown
was
too
honest
not
to
see
after
a
minute
that
between
her
and
Aïssé
there
was
an
unfathomable
difference
.
M
.
de
Ferréol
was
a
mere
experimentalising
old
roué
,
who
had
had
a
mistress
prepared
as
he
might
have
had
a
goose
fattened
;
and
what
he
claimed
of
Aïssé
was
her
infamy
.
Anne’s
conscience
smote
her
;
she
was
very
ungrateful
.
And
she
thought
over
all
those
scenes
at
the
Villa
Arnolfini
,
at
Florence
,
nay
,
here
in
England
not
so
long
ago
;
she
thought
of
Hamlin’s
generosity
and
delicacy
of
mind
—
of
the
quixotic
way
in
which
he
had
bound
himself
while
leaving
her
free
—
of
the
chivalrous
way
in
which
he
had
dowered
her
,
making
her
feel
almost
as
if
all
this
money
,
which
placed
her
on
his
own
level
,
was
her
own
inheritance
,
and
not
his
charity
.
She
remembered
all
the
respect
,
which
was
more
of
a
brother
than
of
a
lover
,
with
which
he
treated
her
—
the
constant
manner
in
which
he
hid
all
her
obligations
to
him
,
never
letting
any
taunt
or
harsh
word
of
hers
get
the
better
of
his
resolution
that
Anne
should
feel
that
she
owed
nothing
to
him
,
and
that
he
craved
for
her
love
as
he
might
have
done
for
that
of
a
queen
.
And
it
came
home
to
her
how
pure
,
nay
,
how
poetically
and
romantically
noble
was
the
love
which
he
asked
for
;
and
she
felt
almost
wicked
when
she
reflected
that
what
he
wanted
was
to
make
her
into
the
very
highest
thing
which
a
man
can
make
a
woman
—
a
sort
of
Beatrice
,
a
creature
to
love
whom
will
be
spiritual
redemption
.
All
these
things
did
Anne
say
to
herself
;
but
it
cost
her
an
effort
,
and
the
strain
could
not
be
kept
up
.
The
fact
was
that
she
had
,
in
her
terror
of
being
unjust
,
refused
to
listen
to
her
own
plea
.
But
it
came
back
to
her
like
an
overwhelming
flood
.
She
could
not
love
Hamlin
;
her
soul
recoiled
from
contact
with
his
as
her
body
might
have
recoiled
from
the
forced
embrace
of
a
corpse
:
such
a
union
,
it
seemed
,
would
mean
the
death
of
her
own
nature
.
To
be
Hamlin’s
wife
,
to
spend
all
her
life
by
his
side
,
hopelessly
watching
his
growing
callousness
to
everything
for
which
she
felt
born
,
—
to
feel
one
generous
impulse
after
another
gradually
waxing
feebler
,
one
energy
after
another
for
good
becoming
paralysed
by
the
deathly
moral
chill
of
his
utter
heartlessness
,
—
was
this
not
much
worse
than
any
mere
dishonour
of
the
body
,
this
prostitution
of
the
spirit
?
Aïssé’s
soul
at
least
was
free
;
her
Ferréol
could
not
deprive
her
of
her
moral
freedom
,
her
aspirations
,
her
powers
of
self‐sacrifice
;
but
with
her
,
Anne
Brown
,
it
was
different
.
And
she
repeated
to
herself
with
bitterness
the
warning
words
which
Richard
Brown
had
spoken
in
vain
so
long
,
long
ago
:
“
You
will
be
his
to
do
what
he
chooses
;
worse
than
his
slave
,
his
mere
chattel
and
plaything
.
”
How
little
Dick
had
guessed
the
much
more
terrible
meaning
which
these
words
would
come
to
have
for
her
!
Unconsciously
Anne’s
mind
reverted
to
the
business
of
Marjory
and
Harry
Collett
;
and
her
mind’s
eye
rested
for
a
moment
upon
those
two
lovers
,
to
each
of
whom
,
through
whatsoever
of
discrepancy
there
might
be
,
the
other
represented
his
or
her
highest
ideal
,
that
other’s
opinion
his
or
her
highest
conscience
;
not
passionately
in
love
,
like
Othello
and
Desdemona
,
or
Romeo
and
Juliet
,
but
persuaded
to
their
inmost
soul
that
in
living
by
each
other’s
side
,
and
sympathising
with
and
helping
in
the
other’s
work
,
each
would
be
fulfilling
his
or
her
best
destiny
in
the
world
.
Another
woman
situated
like
Anne
might
have
let
herself
be
tempted
into
cynicism
by
unconscious
envy
;
but
this
was
not
within
Miss
Brown’s
honest
,
and
open‐eyed
,
and
stern
nature
.
She
never
once
said
to
herself
—
“
Marjory
and
Harry
will
awake
one
day
from
their
dream
.
”
She
had
dreamed
,
alas
!
and
had
awakened
;
but
she
recognised
that
these
two
were
broad
awake
,
and
that
their
happiness
was
a
reality
.
Anne
looked
at
these
two
lovers
for
a
moment
,
but
without
any
envy
or
bitterness
.
It
never
even
entered
her
mind
to
covet
their
happiness
,
to
imagine
that
she
might
have
a
right
to
anything
similar
.
Anne
,
though
leaning
towards
socialism
in
her
theories
,
was
not
in
the
least
a
communistic
mind
;
she
did
not
ask
,
“
Why
should
I
not
get
the
same
advantages
as
my
neighbours
?
”
She
envied
no
one
the
prize
in
the
lottery
;
she
begged
only
for
a
chance
.
To
be
the
wife
of
a
man
whom
she
loved
,
and
who
loved
her
—
to
be
the
companion
and
helpmate
of
some
one
who
was
striving
after
her
own
ideals
;
such
hankerings
had
never
passed
through
her
mind
—
or
,
if
they
had
,
they
had
long
since
been
banished
.
What
Anne
longed
for
,
what
her
soul
hungered
after
,
was
merely
negative
freedom
.
Freedom
to
sympathise
and
to
aspire
—
to
do
whatever
little
she
still
might
to
carve
herself
out
a
spiritual
life
of
her
own
,
no
matter
how
mean
and
insignificant
;
freedom
to
live
in
that
portion
of
her
which
was
most
worthy
of
life
.
To
gain
her
bread
,
no
matter
how
harshly
;
to
be
of
some
use
,
to
teach
at
a
school
or
nurse
at
a
hospital
;
nay
,
to
be
able
merely
to
encourage
others
to
do
what
she
might
not
,
—
this
was
all
that
Anne
asked
;
and
this
,
in
her
future
as
the
wife
of
Hamlin
,
as
the
queen
of
this
æsthetic
world
,
which
seemed
to
poison
and
paralyse
her
soul
,
was
what
she
knew
she
could
not
have
,
what
she
knew
she
must
do
without
.
“
I
am
a
selfish
brute
,
”
she
suddenly
said
to
herself
,
“
wasting
the
time
which
is
still
mine
,
”
—
and
she
took
down
her
books
of
political
economy
,
and
tried
to
fix
her
attention
upon
them
,
and
think
out
a
scheme
of
the
lessons
and
exercises
which
she
would
give
to
the
shop‐girls
at
the
Working
Women’s
Club
.
But
what
was
the
use
of
doing
this
?
Hamlin
,
she
knew
,
loathed
the
notion
of
her
teaching
at
the
Club
;
he
would
never
let
her
teach
there
;
and
,
once
his
wife
,
she
understood
him
sufficiently
to
be
fully
aware
that
he
would
consider
himself
completely
empowered
to
make
her
do
or
leave
alone
whatever
he
chose
.
Still
Anne
tried
to
work
on
courageously
.
In
the
afternoon
she
went
to
hear
one
of
Professor
Richmond’s
lectures
.
This
was
the
fervent
young
positivist
whom
Cousin
Dick
so
much
admired
,
and
whose
intense
moral
convictions
had
done
a
good
deal
to
keep
Anne
out
of
the
slough
of
desponding
pessimism
round
which
she
had
been
some
time
hovering
.
Andrew
Richmond
was
a
man
who
had
many
slanderers
,
many
of
whom
he
has
now
left
behind
him
—
their
misrepresentations
having
been
more
long‐lived
than
he
;
for
he
had
passed
through
many
phases
of
thought
,
and
,
being
perfectly
honest
,
he
had
never
been
able
to
become
unjust
to
any
,
and
thus
had
made
enemies
not
merely
among
the
men
whose
beliefs
he
had
abandoned
,
but
among
those
also
whose
beliefs
he
had
accepted
without
accepting
their
follies
.
He
stood
very
alone
;
and
it
was
perhaps
this
isolation
—
this
obvious
indifference
of
the
man
to
all
save
his
own
reason
and
conscience
—
which
added
to
the
solemnity
of
his
convictions
;
and
made
him
appear
,
more
than
any
one
else
,
in
the
light
of
a
priest
of
morality
,
of
a
prophet
of
the
advent
of
justice
.
Anne
had
never
spoken
to
Richmond
;
but
she
felt
that
,
of
all
human
souls
,
this
one
did
the
most
to
keep
up
the
courage
of
her
own
.
This
was
one
of
the
last
discourses
which
the
poor
dying
positivist
ever
delivered
;
and
it
was
the
more
earnest
for
the
sense
of
his
approaching
end
.
He
spoke
this
time
,
or
,
as
his
ridiculers
called
it
,
he
preached
upon
the
relation
of
duty
to
progress
;
upon
the
value
of
each
good
impulse
carried
out
,
and
each
evil
one
resisted
,
in
making
morality
more
natural
and
spontaneous
in
the
world
;
and
he
insisted
especially
upon
the
danger
,
to
people
whose
ideas
of
right
and
wrong
rested
no
longer
upon
any
priestly
authority
,
of
the
individual
sophisticating
himself
into
the
belief
that
in
yielding
to
the
preferences
of
his
own
nature
he
was
following
the
highest
law
,
and
that
any
special
usefulness
ought
legitimately
to
be
bought
at
the
expense
of
departing
from
the
moral
rules
of
the
world
.
“
The
danger
of
our
epoch
of
moral
transition
,
”
he
said
,
“
lies
in
the
temptation
of
the
individual
to
say
to
himself
—
‘If
I
am
willing
to
sacrifice
myself
,
have
I
not
a
right
also
to
sacrifice
the
established
opinions
of
others
?
’
”
“
I
detest
that
man
Richmond
,
”
Madame
Elaguine
had
once
said
;
“
he
puts
an
end
to
all
self‐sacrifice
.
”
“
If
you
mean
the
sacrifice
of
one’s
peace
of
mind
and
social
dignity
to
the
passion
of
another
person
and
to
one’s
own
,
he
certainly
does
,
”
Richard
Brown
had
answered
sternly
.
At
the
door
of
the
lecture‐room
Anne
met
her
cousin
.
“
Are
you
driving
to
Hammersmith
?
”
he
asked
.
“
No
;
I
am
going
to
walk
.
”
Anne
had
made
it
a
rule
for
the
last
two
or
three
months
to
deprive
herself
of
all
luxuries
.
She
did
not
wish
to
enjoy
everything
that
she
had
a
right
to
;
she
had
also
a
stern
pleasure
in
doing
the
things
most
repugnant
to
her
;
and
a
walk
through
the
London
streets
,
in
murky
spring
weather
,
was
to
Anne’s
Italian
temper
,
nurtured
with
æsthetic
delicacy
,
one
of
the
most
disagreeable
of
expeditions
.
“
But
it
is
drizzling
and
horribly
muddy
,
”
said
Richard
Brown
,
looking
at
her
as
he
buttoned
her
ulster
over
her
massive
figure
.
“
Surely
Hamlin
will
be
very
much
shocked
if
you
come
into
the
house
with
mud
on
your
shoes
?
But
if
you
are
really
going
to
walk
I
will
accompany
you
,
if
you
don’t
mind
,
because
I’m
going
in
that
direction
.
”
“
Where
are
you
going
?
”
“
To
Hammersmith
;
I
have
some
business
there
.
”
And
Brown
looked
once
more
at
his
cousin
as
he
opened
his
umbrella
over
her
.
“
Will
you
take
my
arm
,
Anne
?
”
Richard
Brown
was
not
a
lady’s
man
,
and
there
was
something
awkward
and
unaccustomed
in
his
request
.
“
I
am
big
enough
to
take
care
of
myself
,
I
think
,
Dick
.
And
I
know
you
hate
having
women
to
drag
along
;
I
have
watched
you
going
into
dinner‐parties
often
enough
.
”
“
It
is
out
of
my
line
,
you’re
right
.
”
For
some
time
they
walked
along
in
silence
through
the
black
oozy
streets
,
crammed
with
barrows
of
fruit
,
round
which
gathered
the
draggled
dripping
women
,
their
babies
huddled
up
in
their
torn
shawls
,
their
hair
untidy
and
dank
beneath
their
once
lilac
or
pale‐pink
smut‐engrained
bonnets
;
the
cabs
,
shining
blue‐black
,
ploughed
through
the
mud
;
the
heavy
drays
splashed
from
gutter
to
gutter
;
the
houses
were
black
and
oozy
;
the
very
raindrops
on
the
railings
looked
black
;
the
sky
was
a
dirty
dull‐grey
waste
;
only
the
scarlet
letter‐boxes
stood
out
coloured
in
the
general
smutty
,
foggy
,
neutral
tint
.
“
Do
you
remark
that
public‐houses
are
the
only
places
which
make
an
attempt
at
architecture
and
ornament
?
”
said
Dick
grimly
,
as
they
passed
the
ground‐glass
windows
and
colonnade
and
coloured
glass
globes
of
one
of
these
establishments
.
“
Did
it
not
strike
you
,
Italian
as
you
are
,
that
in
this
country
,
which
has
invented
high
art
,
the
only
things
called
palaces
,
except
those
inhabited
by
royalty
,
are
pot‐houses
?
Why
do
your
æsthetic
friends
keep
all
their
æstheticism
for
indoors
?
Why
don’t
they
build
themselves
houses
which
will
be
some
pleasure
to
the
poor
people
who
pass
?
”
Always
that
indirect
attack
upon
Hamlin
and
his
friends
:
it
was
just
and
reasonable
;
yet
,
coming
from
Brown
,
it
somehow
grated
upon
Anne
.
“
That
will
come
later
,
”
she
said
.
“
The
first
thing
is
that
the
upper
classes
become
accustomed
to
beautiful
things
.
You
can’t
expect
them
to
mind
hideous
outsides
to
their
houses
if
they
are
indifferent
to
hideous
insides
.
I
don’t
think
,
”
she
added
boldly
,
“
that
æstheticism
has
had
much
generosity
of
aspiration
in
it
so
far
,
except
in
isolated
men
like
Ruskin
and
Morris
;
but
I
am
sure
it
will
eventually
improve
some
matters
even
for
the
lower
classes
.
”
“
Nero
rebuilt
Rome
,
didn’t
he
,
”
sneered
Brown
,
“
after
he
had
amused
himself
burning
it
down
?
”
They
fell
to
talking
about
the
lecture
,
and
then
about
Richard
Brown’s
plans
.
“
I
hope
to
get
into
Parliament
next
elections
,
”
he
said
,
“
and
then
I
shall
retire
from
Mr
Gillespie’s
firm
.
”
“
Why
?
They
say
you
can
make
a
big
fortune
if
you
keep
on
.
”
“
I
have
quite
money
enough
;
I
am
a
rich
man
.
You
wouldn’t
have
thought
that
possible
,
would
you
,
Nan
,
two
or
three
years
ago
?
Almost
as
rich
as
Hamlin
,
do
you
know
,
young
woman
?
”
and
he
turned
and
looked
at
her
.
There
was
a
curious
expression
,
what
she
could
not
understand
,
except
that
it
was
defiant
,
in
Dick’s
face
.
“
I
am
glad
to
hear
it
.
It
is
a
fine
thing
to
have
money
;
it
enables
one
to
do
generous
things
—
like
what
Mr
Hamlin
did
for
me
,
for
instance
.
”
Anne
could
not
have
explained
why
she
felt
bound
,
at
this
particular
moment
,
to
throw
Hamlin’s
generosity
in
her
cousin’s
face
.
“
Ah
,
well
,
”
answered
Brown
,
suppressing
something
he
had
been
about
to
retort
,
“
of
course
I
could
not
formerly
have
done
what
he
did
for
you
;
but
I
would
have
gladly
spent
every
shilling
I
had
,
Anne
,
to
educate
you
,
so
that
your
father
might
have
been
proud
of
you
.
”
“
I
know
you
would
,
Dick
—
you
are
very
kind
.
”
And
yet
,
thought
Anne
,
until
he
had
been
piqued
by
Hamlin’s
offer
,
he
had
forgotten
all
about
her
.
“
But
why
do
you
intend
to
leave
your
business
?
”
“
Because
I
want
to
give
myself
up
entirely
to
studying
social
questions
,
and
my
business
would
suffer
if
I
gave
it
only
partial
attention
.
”
And
he
proceeded
to
explain
the
various
questions
which
he
intended
studying
,
the
various
evils
into
whose
reason
he
wished
to
look
.
“
Reform
has
been
too
much
the
leisure‐time
amusement
of
men
,
”
he
said
.
“
People
have
thought
that
it
requires
less
training
to
touch
,
nay
,
to
sound
,
social
wounds
,
than
to
set
a
broken
arm
or
dress
a
wound
.
We
must
find
the
scientific
basis
for
our
art
.
And
it
is
a
very
,
very
long
art
,
and
life
is
very
,
very
short
.
For
my
part
,
I
feel
that
my
knowledge
is
to
what
it
should
be
what
the
knowledge
you
may
get
out
of
a
school
primer
of
physiology
is
to
the
knowledge
required
by
a
great
surgeon
.
I
don’t
suppose
I
or
any
of
my
generation
will
succeed
in
doing
much
practical
good
;
but
we
shall
have
made
the
public
ready
for
certain
views
on
our
subjects
,
and
rendered
it
easier
for
our
practical
followers
to
get
their
education
.
There
is
nothing
very
glorious
to
be
done
at
present
:
no
giving
out
of
brilliant
new
ideas
or
making
of
successful
revolutions
;
only
patient
grubbing
at
facts
and
patient
working
on
the
public
mind
.
”
“
Is
that
enough
for
an
ambitious
man
?
”
“
One
must
pocket
one’s
ambition
.
What
we
want
is
knowledge
,
not
conspicuous
personalities
.
”
Anne
was
silent
.
Dick’s
words
were
like
military
music
to
her
.
Oh
to
be
able
to
join
him
,
to
march
by
his
side
,
to
carry
his
arms
!
“
Go
on
Dick
,
please
.
It
does
one
good
to
hear
of
these
things
.
”
Dick
went
on
.
“
You
must
not
overwork
yourself
,
”
said
Anne
,
anxiously
.
“
Just
think
if
you
were
to
break
down
,
as
so
many
men
have
done
—
as
poor
Richmond
is
doing
.
”
“
Oh
,
I
am
strong
.
The
only
thing
which
concerns
me
is
my
sight
.
I
find
I
am
already
unable
to
read
of
an
evening
.
There’s
no
danger
of
blindness
,
but
the
doctor
says
I
must
not
work
by
candle‐light
.
Oh
,
there’s
no
mischief
.
I
shall
engage
a
secretary
.
I
know
plenty
of
young
men
who
would
come
,
even
for
a
small
salary
.
There
is
the
son
of
one
of
our
head
workmen
,
a
very
intelligent
lad
,
of
whom
I
am
thinking
;
but
perhaps
he
is
not
sufficiently
educated
yet
.
I
must
have
some
one
who
knows
German
and
French
,
and
so
forth
.
”
Anne
felt
a
lump
in
her
throat
.
Oh
that
she
had
been
a
man
,
instead
of
being
this
useless
,
base
creature
of
mere
comely
looks
,
a
woman
,
set
apart
for
the
contemplation
of
æsthetes
!
If
she
had
been
a
man
,
and
could
have
helped
a
man
like
Richard
Brown
!
“
But
I
am
not
certain
of
my
plans
just
yet
,
”
added
Brown
,
and
he
dropped
the
subject
.
They
walked
on
for
some
moments
in
silence
;
then
he
began
questioning
her
about
Lewis
,
and
Chough
,
and
Dennistoun
.
“
Chough
is
a
dear
good
little
man
,
”
said
Anne
;
“
he
is
very
absurd
and
vain
,
and
fond
of
talking
and
writing
about
wicked
things
,
which
I
am
sure
he
doesn’t
understand
any
more
than
I
.
But
he
is
so
self‐sacrificing
,
and
warm‐hearted
,
and
true
.
Dennistoun
,
poor
creature
,
is
very
morbid
and
faddy
,
and
,
I
think
,
hates
me
;
but
I
am
very
sorry
for
him
.
As
to
Lewis
,
he
may
be
a
very
good
man
,
but
I
don’t
like
him
—
”
“
I
suppose
you
have
heard
what
people
say
,
—
that
Mr
Lewis
had
rather
a
bad
influence
upon
Hamlin
some
years
ago
—
in
short
,
made
him
take
to
eating
opium
,
or
haschisch
,
or
something
similar
?
”
“
No
—
I
had
never
heard
that
,
”
and
Anne
seemed
suddenly
to
understand
her
instinctive
horror
of
Lewis
.
“
Does
Hamlin
see
much
of
him
now
?
”
“
A
great
deal
—
more
than
I
can
at
all
sympathise
with
.
Lewis
is
rather
a
sore
subject
between
us
;
he
knows
I
don’t
like
him
,
and
yet
he
is
very
fond
of
him
.
”
“
I
suppose
Lewis
flatters
him
very
much
.
”
“
I
suppose
so
.
”
Anne
resented
being
thus
cross‐questioned
about
Hamlin
,
but
she
was
quite
unable
to
prevaricate
in
her
answers
—
her
nature
was
too
frank
,
and
Richard’s
questions
were
too
direct
.
“
You
are
not
very
happy
with
Mr
Hamlin
,
”
he
suddenly
asked
,
or
rather
affirmed
.
Anne
flushed
,
but
did
not
answer
at
once
.
“
I
have
an
unlucky
temper
,
”
she
said
,
after
a
moment
.
“
I
am
too
exacting
with
people
.
I
can’t
get
out
of
my
own
individuality
sufficiently
,
I
fear
.
”
Richard
looked
at
her
with
pity
,
and
at
the
same
time
with
that
implacable
scrutiny
of
his
.
“
You
feel
your
nature
narrowed
by
all
this
æsthetic
world
around
you
,
”
he
said
.
“
You
find
these
men
selfish
,
mean
,
weak
,
shallow
—
”
“
Chough
is
not
selfish
.
As
to
Dennistoun
and
Lewis
,
I
told
you
I
disliked
them
.
”
“
You
are
equivocating
,
Anne
.
You
know
I
am
not
speaking
of
Dennistoun
,
or
Lewis
,
or
Chough
.
You
find
that
Hamlin
drags
you
down
,
freezes
all
your
best
aspirations
.
”
Anne
turned
very
white
and
trembled
.
“
Mr
Hamlin
is
a
poet
,
an
artist
;
he
is
not
a
philanthropist
or
a
thinker
.
But
he
has
done
for
me
more
than
I
believe
any
man
has
ever
done
for
any
woman
.
”
“
But
—
you
don’t
love
him
?
”
Richard
had
stopped
as
they
walked
along
the
Hammersmith
embankment
.
It
was
a
very
quiet
spot
,
and
not
a
soul
was
out
in
the
thin
,
grey
,
drizzly
fog
.
Anne
hesitated
for
a
moment
.
“
I
feel
very
much
attached
to
Mr
Hamlin
on
account
of
his
generosity
towards
me
—
and
I
feel
I
can
never
repay
it
.
”
She
did
not
look
in
Brown’s
face
as
she
answered
,
but
stared
vaguely
at
the
river
,
at
the
dripping
trees
,
the
grey
willow
branches
pulled
backwards
and
forwards
by
the
grey
current
;
at
the
houses
opposite
,
and
the
boats
dim
in
the
fog
.
“
You
don’t
love
him
?
”
repeated
Richard
in
a
whisper
.
“
Anne
,
answer
me
.
”
“
I
don’t
see
what
right
you
have
to
ask
me
such
a
question
,
Richard
.
”
“
No
?
Well
,
I
do
—
and
you
shall
see
why
.
You
are
not
his
wife
;
why
should
you
try
and
tell
lies
?
Do
you
or
do
you
not
love
Hamlin
,
Anne
?
”
Anne
looked
for
a
moment
at
the
swirling
waters
,
at
the
willow
twigs
whirled
hither
and
thither
.
“
I
suppose
I
do
not
.
”
There
was
a
pause
.
“
You
do
not
love
him
,
and
you
still
contemplate
marrying
him
?
”
“
I
contemplate
nothing
at
all
.
Mr
Hamlin
has
not
yet
asked
me
to
marry
him
,
and
perhaps
he
never
may
.
”
“
Nonsense
,
Anne
.
And
when
he
does
ask
you
,
what
will
you
answer
?
”
“
I
shall
answer
Yes
.
I
am
bound
to
do
it
.
Mr
Hamlin
has
done
all
,
all
for
me
.
If
he
wish
to
marry
me
,
I
cannot
refuse
him
the
only
thing
which
I
can
give
in
return
for
his
generosity
.
”
Richard
Brown
burst
into
a
strange
shrill
laugh
.
“
The
only
thing
which
you
can
give
in
return
for
his
generosity
!
”
he
exclaimed
,
but
always
in
the
same
undertone
.
“
Who
first
made
use
of
those
words
,
Nan
?
The
only
thing
which
you
can
give
in
return
for
his
generosity
!
Did
not
some
one
use
those
very
words
to
you
,
long
,
long
ago
in
Florence
,
when
Mr
Hamlin
first
proposed
to
educate
you
,
and
your
cousin
said
that
you
were
running
the
risk
of
selling
yourself
?
But
,
by
God
!
you
shall
not
sell
yourself
,
Anne
.
Do
you
know
what
you
are
giving
him
in
return
for
what
you
call
his
generosity
?
—
that
is
to
say
,
in
return
for
the
whim
which
made
him
educate
a
beautiful
woman
,
that
he
might
show
her
off
and
have
a
beautiful
wife
,
if
he
chose
.
Do
you
know
what
it
is
?
Your
love
,
eh
?
You
have
none
to
give
;
you
have
said
so
yourself
.
Your
body
?
your
honour
?
Nay
,
every
prostitute
,
every
kitchen
slut
can
give
him
that
.
And
I
suppose
such
things
do
not
exist
for
a
delicately
nurtured
lady
,
a
ward
of
Mr
Walter
Hamlin’s
.
No
;
you
are
giving
him
your
soul
,
selling
it
to
him
,
prostituting
it
as
any
common
woman
would
prostitute
her
body
.
”
“
Richard
,
”
said
Anne
,
hotly
,
“
you
are
my
cousin
,
and
have
been
very
good
to
me
,
but
that
gives
you
no
right
to
insult
me
.
”
“
My
words
are
ugly
;
and
what
are
the
things
which
you
would
do
?
Anne
,
you
shall
listen
to
me
,
”
and
he
laid
his
hand
heavily
on
her
arm
.
“
You
can
make
me
stand
here
,
”
she
answered
icily
,
“
but
you
cannot
make
me
listen
.
”
“
I
can
make
you
listen
.
Oh
,
Anne
,
”
and
his
voice
became
suddenly
supplicating
,
“
do
not
be
womanish
,
and
refuse
to
listen
because
I
speak
disagreeable
things
.
Answer
me
,
on
your
honour
:
have
I
a
right
to
let
you
sacrifice
your
happiness
,
your
honour
,
your
usefulness
in
the
world
,
to
let
you
defile
and
ruin
all
these
,
by
becoming
what
is
equivalent
to
a
mere
legalised
mistress
—
the
wife
of
a
man
whom
you
despise
?
You
have
a
debt
towards
Hamlin
:
I
grant
it
,
though
you
must
be
well
aware
how
little
real
generosity
there
was
in
his
choice
of
you
;
but
you
have
a
debt
also
towards
yourself
.
You
have
no
right
to
pay
for
Hamlin’s
kindness
by
the
falsehood
,
the
degradation
,
of
marrying
a
man
whom
you
do
not
love
,
by
the
sacrifice
of
all
the
nobler
part
of
your
nature
which
that
man
will
crush
out
in
you
.
”
“
If
there
is
anything
noble
in
me
,
Dick
,
no
one
can
ever
crush
it
out
;
and
I
do
not
see
what
real
degradation
there
will
be
in
honestly
carrying
out
my
part
of
a
bargain
which
has
been
honestly
carried
out
towards
me
.
”
Richard
paused
for
a
minute
.
“
But
,
”
he
cried
,
“
you
mistake
,
Anne
;
you
forget
what
that
bargain
was
.
”
“
No
,
I
do
not
.
Mr
Hamlin
promised
to
marry
me
whenever
I
should
ask
him
to
do
so
,
and
—
”
“
And
he
left
you
free
,
perfectly
free
to
marry
him
or
not
as
you
pleased
!
”
“
He
left
me
free
;
and
it
is
just
that
generosity
of
his
,
in
binding
himself
,
and
not
me
,
which
obliges
me
,
if
he
wants
me
,
to
say
Yes
.
”
“
That
is
an
absurd
quibble
,
Anne
.
If
Hamlin’s
leaving
you
free
bound
you
all
the
more
,
why
,
then
,
he
did
not
leave
you
free
,
and
you
need
not
be
bound
by
a
piece
of
magnanimity
which
never
existed
.
”
“
On
the
contrary
,
you
are
quibbling
,
Dick
.
You
know
very
well
that
Mr
Hamlin
meant
to
leave
me
free
;
and
it
is
for
this
intention
that
I
am
,
more
than
for
anything
else
,
grateful
.
”
Richard
turned
round
.
“
Fool
that
I
am
!
”
he
cried
,
“
to
believe
in
you
and
not
see
through
your
woman’s
tergiversation
!
You
say
you
do
not
love
Hamlin
,
but
you
do
;
you
may
despise
him
,
feel
his
emptiness
—
I
grant
it
all
—
be
dissatisfied
with
him
.
Oh
,
I
know
it
!
But
you
love
him
all
the
same
,
and
you
would
not
for
the
world
give
him
up
,
even
if
he
asked
you
to
.
”
Anne
laughed
bitterly
.
“
The
usual
generalisations
about
women
.
Because
I
will
not
do
a
dishonourable
thing
,
I
must
needs
be
a
self‐deluding
fool
.
No
;
I
do
not
love
Hamlin
.
I
love
him
no
more
than
this
!
”
And
Anne
broke
a
twig
off
a
bush
and
threw
it
into
the
stream
.
“
You
do
not
?
Then
,
if
Hamlin
were
to
release
you
,
—
if
he
were
to
say
,
‘I
want
to
marry
some
one
else
,
’
—
would
you
—
would
you
not
regret
him
,
his
poetry
,
his
good
looks
,
his
fame
,
his
fortune
?
”
“
It
would
be
the
happiest
day
of
my
life
!
”
cried
poor
Anne
,
despairingly
.
“
Then
that
day
must
come
.
Anne
,
I
cannot
see
you
sacrificed
.
I
cannot
see
you
lost
to
yourself
and
to
the
world
.
You
must
not
marry
Hamlin
.
I
will
provide
for
you
;
I
will
take
care
of
you
.
You
shall
help
me
in
my
work
!
”
“
Poor
Dick
!
”
said
Anne
gently
,
touched
by
this
enthusiasm
,
“
you
are
very
good
;
but
I
fear
—
I
fear
I
shall
never
have
any
need
of
your
help
;
and
I
would
never
burden
another
man
—
never
have
a
debt
again
—
if
I
were
remitted
this
one
.
”
“
You
would
have
no
debt
,
”
cried
Brown
.
“
Anne
,
I
am
not
a
woman’s
man
.
I
don’t
know
how
to
say
such
things
.
But
ever
since
I
have
got
really
to
know
you
,
I
have
felt
if
only
I
could
have
such
a
woman
as
that
always
by
my
side
—
to
tell
her
all
my
plans
,
and
be
helped
in
all
my
work
.
.
.
”
Richard
looked
straight
before
him
:
Anne
could
see
his
face
quiver
.
A
coldness
came
all
over
her
:
a
coldness
and
a
heat
.
She
felt
as
if
she
must
cry
out
.
It
was
too
sudden
,
too
wonderful
.
The
vision
of
being
Richard
Brown’s
wife
overcame
her
like
some
celestial
vision
a
fasting
saint
.
But
she
made
an
effort
over
herself
.
“
I
am
bound
,
bound
,
”
she
said
;
“
but
if
ever
I
be
released
.
.
.
”
She
hesitated
:
the
longing
for
what
she
knew
herself
to
be
renouncing
was
too
great
.
“
Anne
,
”
cried
Richard
,
seizing
her
hand
,
“
I
love
you
—
I
love
you
—
I
want
you
—
I
must
have
you
!
”
It
was
like
the
outburst
of
another
nature
,
a
strange
,
unsuspected
ego
,
bursting
out
from
beneath
the
philanthropist’s
cool
and
self‐sacrificing
surface
.
That
sudden
contact
gave
Anne
a
shock
which
woke
her
,
restored
her
to
herself
;
it
horrified
her
almost
.
She
made
him
let
go
her
hand
.
“
If
ever
I
be
released
,
”
she
said
,
“
I
will
remain
free
.
I
do
not
love
you
,
Dick
.
”
She
was
sorry
the
moment
after
she
had
said
it
.
“
I
have
gone
too
far
,
”
cried
Richard
.
“
Good‐bye
,
”
said
Anne
.
“
We
have
been
talking
too
long
—
and
—
you
won’t
resume
the
subject
,
will
you
?
”
There
was
a
command
,
a
threat
implied
in
her
voice
.
Brown
somehow
felt
ashamed
of
himself
.
“
Not
since
you
wish
it
,
”
he
said
flatly
.
“
Good‐bye
,
”
said
Anne
.
And
she
walked
away
and
entered
the
house
—
Hamlin’s
house
.
CHAPTER
V.
THE
sudden
revelation
of
her
cousin’s
feeling
was
more
than
a
shock
,
it
was
a
blow
to
Anne
.
In
her
loneliness
,
in
her
dreary
waiting
for
the
hour
of
sacrifice
,
Richard
Brown’s
friendship
had
,
almost
without
her
knowing
it
,
been
her
great
consolation
and
support
.
It
had
given
her
a
sense
of
safety
and
repose
to
think
that
,
in
the
midst
of
all
the
morbid
passion
and
fantastic
vanity
which
seemed
to
surround
her
,
there
was
a
possibility
of
honest
companionship
,
of
affection
which
meant
merely
reciprocal
esteem
and
sympathy
in
the
objects
of
life
;
wholesome
prose
in
the
middle
of
unhealthy
poetry
.
This
was
now
gone
:
Richard
Brown
loved
her
,
wanted
her
;
it
was
the
old
nauseous
story
over
again
;
the
sympathy
,
the
comradeship
,
the
quiet
brotherly
and
sisterly
affection
had
all
been
a
sham
,
a
sham
for
her
and
for
himself
.
Was
Mrs
Macgregor
right
,
and
was
there
,
of
really
genuine
and
vital
in
the
world
,
only
the
desire
of
the
man
for
the
woman
and
of
the
woman
for
the
man
,
with
all
its
brood
of
vanity
and
baseness
,
and
all
its
trappings
of
poetry
and
sympathy
and
self‐sacrifice
?
Anne
looked
round
her
,
and
she
saw
men
like
Chough
and
Dennistoun
and
Lewis
,
base
or
doing
their
best
to
become
it
;
Hamlin
,
her
girlish
ideal
of
poetical
love
,
had
gone
the
same
way
;
and
now
the
one
man
who
had
remained
to
her
as
an
object
of
friendship
and
respect
,
her
cousin
Dick
,
had
preached
against
selfish
æstheticism
,
had
talked
her
into
his
positivistic
philanthropy
—
had
conjured
her
to
respect
her
nobler
nature
,
her
soul
,
her
generous
instincts
—
had
supplicated
her
not
to
degrade
herself
,
—
nay
,
had
quibbled
with
right
and
wrong
,
had
urged
her
to
break
her
trust
,
—
what
for
?
that
he
might
satisfy
his
whim
of
possessing
her
.
The
solitude
and
the
chilliness
around
Anne
had
increased
;
she
wished
for
good
,
but
she
disbelieved
in
its
existence
.
Add
to
this
that
she
felt
she
was
now
no
longer
at
liberty
to
see
so
much
of
Dick
as
she
had
formerly
done
;
instead
of
a
consolation
and
a
support
,
his
presence
seemed
to
her
now
more
of
a
danger
and
an
insult
.
So
she
waited
,
hopeless
and
solitary
,
for
the
hour
of
the
sacrifice
to
strike
;
for
Hamlin
to
claim
her
.
To
fulfil
that
debt
,
to
suffer
that
moral
death‐blow
,
seemed
to
her
now
the
one
certainty
,
the
one
aim
of
her
life
.
Such
was
the
bulk
of
Miss
Brown’s
condition
;
but
there
were
streakings
of
another
colour
which
made
it
,
on
the
whole
,
only
more
gloomy
.
The
possibility
,
the
vision
which
had
for
a
moment
been
projected
on
to
her
mind
,
of
becoming
Richard
Brown’s
wife
,
of
sharing
in
all
those
thoughts
and
endeavours
which
were
her
highest
ideal
,
would
return
to
her
every
now
and
then
in
strange
sudden
gleams
.
And
this
possibility
,
or
rather
this
which
was
an
impossibility
,
made
the
real
necessity
of
her
life
only
the
gloomier
for
the
contrast
.
Anne
had
vaguely
aspired
after
a
life
of
nobler
sympathies
and
stronger
aims
,
but
she
had
never
gone
so
far
as
to
dream
of
sharing
the
life
of
her
cousin
;
and
she
thought
that
,
had
matters
been
different
,
had
she
been
free
,
had
Hamlin
not
claimed
her
,
had
Richard
not
loved
her
(
for
his
love
,
his
selfish
tempting
her
away
from
her
duty
,
seemed
to
her
a
sort
of
dishonour
to
him
and
her
)
,
she
would
have
had
the
fulfilment
of
her
most
far‐fetched
desires
within
her
grasp
,
—
merely
increased
moral
numbness
,
the
sullen
pain
of
resignation
,
towards
a
fate
which
was
too
slow
in
coming
.
Anne
did
not
pay
much
heed
to
Hamlin
and
his
doings
:
it
seemed
to
her
,
whose
life
in
the
last
months
had
appeared
like
years
,
that
it
was
always
the
same
monotony
;
Hamlin
was
waiting
for
her
to
fall
in
love
with
him
,
watching
whether
she
was
not
in
love
already
;
offering
her
,
in
those
vague
,
Platonic
,
elegiac
speeches
of
his
about
the
necessity
of
a
higher
life
of
which
he
no
longer
had
much
hope
,
of
a
pure
passion
which
he
feared
he
was
unworthy
to
experience
,
an
opportunity
for
saying
“
I
will
teach
you
how
to
love
.
”
Veiled
in
Dantesque
mysticism
,
muffled
in
Shakespearian
obscurity
,
such
was
,
to
her
who
understood
and
was
expected
to
understand
,
the
gist
of
all
the
poems
which
he
wrote
.
The
day
would
come
,
Anne
saw
it
clearly
,
when
some
trifling
quarrel
,
some
trifling
jealousy
,
some
rebuff
to
his
vanity
,
or
some
sense
of
more
than
usual
vacuity
,
would
get
the
better
of
Hamlin’s
patience
,
and
when
he
would
say
to
Anne
that
he
loved
her
and
that
her
love
was
his
life
.
She
had
gone
over
it
all
so
often
in
fancy
,
with
the
bitter
sarcasm
of
understanding
that
whole
,
to
her
so
tragic
,
little
comedy
.
But
had
she
been
a
person
more
observant
and
penetrating
than
she
was
(
for
her
long
delusion
about
her
cousin
Richard
plainly
shows
that
she
was
neither
)
,
or
had
she
been
less
engrossed
in
her
own
conception
of
events
,
Miss
Brown
might
have
noticed
,
as
spring
turned
into
summer
,
that
certain
slight
changes
were
taking
place
in
Hamlin
.
He
had
,
without
any
intentional
rupture
,
taken
to
seeing
much
less
of
Chough
and
Dennistoun
;
he
scarcely
ever
visited
his
old
master
,
Mrs
Spencer
,
or
any
others
of
the
school
;
he
refused
invitations
to
parties
,
or
if
he
had
accepted
,
found
them
too
great
a
bore
at
the
last
moment
;
the
only
house
,
except
that
at
Hammersmith
,
which
he
frequented
,
was
Madame
Elaguine’s
.
He
used
to
attend
all
her
spiritualistic
séances
,
and
alternate
between
finding
spiritualism
a
vulgar
fraud
and
a
mystic
possibility
;
he
used
to
quarrel
with
Edmund
Lewis
,
and
at
the
same
time
to
seek
his
company
more
than
any
other
man’s
.
He
would
vacillate
also
between
the
most
extreme
opinions
about
his
cousin
Sacha
.
One
day
he
would
entertain
Anne
by
the
hour
about
her
virtues
,
her
talents
,
her
persecution
;
the
next
he
would
be
captiously
fault‐finding
,
accusing
Madame
Elaguine
of
being
a
brainless
little
flirt
,
a
mere
ordinary
Russian
,
who
cared
only
for
excitement
and
being
perpetually
en
scène
.
“
What
is
the
use
of
asking
people
to
be
intense
when
it
is
not
their
nature
?
”
Anne
would
ask
,
not
without
bitterness
in
her
own
heart
.
“
If
you
find
a
pleasant
friend
,
be
satisfied
and
thankful
for
your
good
luck
.
”
Be
it
as
it
may
,
Hamlin
was
restless
,
subject
to
strange
ups
and
downs
of
humour
,
sometimes
in
a
state
of
vague
unaccountable
cheerfulness
,
sometimes
horribly
depressed
.
To
any
one
but
Anne
it
would
have
occurred
that
there
must
be
some
novelty
in
his
life
.
But
Anne
did
not
see
;
indeed
,
from
a
sort
of
instinct
,
she
observed
Hamlin
as
little
as
possible
:
she
had
loved
him
when
she
had
not
known
him
;
the
less
she
saw
,
except
his
gentle
,
chivalric
,
poetic
,
idealising
surface
,
the
better
.
But
one
day
—
it
might
be
a
fortnight
after
the
memorable
walk
home
from
Richmond’s
lecture
—
Anne
found
among
her
letters
one
,
evidently
delivered
by
hand
or
dropped
into
the
letterbox
,
the
address
upon
which
.
puzzled
her
considerably
.
It
was
not
merely
that
the
handwriting
was
unknown
to
her
,
but
that
it
was
so
utterly
unlike
any
human
handwriting
that
could
be
conceived
;
it
was
like
a
child’s
elaborate
copy
of
print
,
but
executed
with
a
precision
,
and
at
the
same
time
a
certain
artistic
chic
,
of
which
a
child
is
incapable
.
Had
she
been
in
Italy
,
Anne
would
have
expected
to
find
within
that
envelope
one
of
those
marvellously
written
out
and
illuminated
sonnets
which
certain
needy
individuals
,
counts
and
marquises
fallen
into
bad
circumstances
and
anxious
to
redeem
their
only
bed
from
the
pawnbroker’s
,
serve
up
at
regular
intervals
to
English
and
Americans
,
“
the
many
illustrious
qualities
of
whose
mind
and
heart
,
as
well
known
as
their
noble
family
,
”
are
supposed
to
include
munificence
to
beggars
.
To
Anne’s
astonishment
the
letter
which
she
found
actually
was
in
Italian
.
But
it
was
Italian
of
Stratford‐atte‐Bow
,
and
her
first
impulse
was
to
burst
out
laughing
.
But
the
next
moment
she
reddened
with
surprise
and
indignation
.
“
MADONNA
MIA
,
”
began
this
epistle
,
which
had
evidently
been
concocted
with
a
‘Decameron’
and
a
Baedeker’s
travelling
phrase‐book
,
and
which
sounded
like
English
written
by
a
German
waiter
who
should
have
taken
to
Spenser
after
the
first
dozen
lessons
,
—
“
Inasmuch
as
it
always
is
the
duty
of
the
honest
to
warn
the
unsuspecting
,
and
the
most
honourable
are
always
those
who
suspect
least
,
your
true
friend
and
well‐wisher
desires
you
may
keep
an
eye
upon
the
machinations
of
a
base
woman
;
and
be
on
your
guard
against
the
friendship
[
underlined
]
of
cousins
.
”
Anne
turned
the
note
round
and
round
,
and
read
and
re‐read
it
,
her
heart
beating
as
if
she
had
received
a
slap
in
the
face
.
“
The
friendship
of
cousins
.
”
Her
first
thought
was
that
this
was
an
allusion
to
herself
and
Richard
Brown
;
some
one
had
understood
what
she
had
not
,
and
was
suspecting
what
was
not
true
.
But
then
her
mind
picked
up
that
other
mysterious
phrase
,
“
the
machinations
of
a
base
woman
.
”
The
cousins
were
not
herself
and
Dick
,
but
Hamlin
and
Sacha
Elaguine
,
and
that
was
the
base
woman
alluded
to
.
It
was
as
if
a
great
light
had
shone
in
Anne’s
face
;
she
was
dazzled
,
dazed
.
The
friendship
of
two
cousins
!
Was
there
,
then
,
more
than
friendship
between
them
?
Did
Hamlin
love
Sacha
,
or
Sacha
Hamlin
?
Anne
gave
a
great
sigh
;
but
it
was
a
sigh
of
relief
,
—
the
sigh
of
the
drowning
wretch
who
is
dragged
on
shore
—
the
sigh
of
the
hunted
fugitive
who
sees
his
pursuers
turn
back
.
The
friendship
of
cousins
?
Why
,
then
,
she
was
saved
,
she
was
free
!
But
her
excitement
lasted
only
a
minute
.
Was
she
to
believe
an
anonymous
letter
,
evidently
malicious
,
evidently
intended
to
slander
an
innocent
woman
,
to
sow
discord
or
to
ruin
her
own
happiness
?
It
was
evidently
from
an
enemy
of
Madame
Elaguine’s
;
it
could
not
be
from
a
friend
of
her
own
;
for
a
friend
would
have
spoken
to
her
clearly
and
openly
,
or
would
have
spared
her
what
,
in
the
eyes
of
the
world
,
which
regarded
her
as
Hamlin’s
affianced
bride
,
must
have
been
a
horrible
revelation
.
It
was
an
infamous
or
ridiculous
calumny
.
From
whom
did
it
come
?
Anne
thought
for
a
long
time
;
she
counted
up
her
own
enemies
and
Madame
Elaguine’s
.
At
one
moment
she
suspected
Edmund
Lewis
,
at
another
Mrs
Spencer
;
but
she
was
too
honest
to
credit
any
one
of
them
with
such
a
piece
of
treachery
.
Madame
Elaguine’s
mysterious
enemies
—
yes
,
it
must
be
they
!
thought
Anne
;
it
must
be
a
new
trick
of
theirs
,
a
device
for
alienating
her
from
her
new
friends
.
Anne’s
heart
sank
.
Why
must
such
terrible
temptations
be
put
upon
her
?
Miss
Brown
meditated
for
some
time
upon
what
she
ought
to
do
.
She
felt
indignant
with
the
mysterious
author
of
the
letter
;
and
she
felt
that
,
as
it
contained
a
slander
,
it
was
her
duty
to
let
those
whom
it
accused
know
the
whole
matter
.
Should
she
show
that
paper
to
Hamlin
?
Once
in
her
life
,
Anne
gave
way
to
a
movement
of
cowardice
.
That
letter
,
shown
by
her
to
Hamlin
,
would
,
she
knew
,
bring
the
catastrophe
.
Hamlin
would
be
furious
and
delighted
;
he
would
think
she
was
jealous
and
unhappy
;
he
would
on
the
spot
declare
that
he
loved
her
,
and
ask
her
to
be
his
wife
.
This
consummation
of
her
sacrifice
,
which
,
in
the
dull
apathy
of
the
last
fortnight
,
she
had
almost
prayed
for
,
now
terrified
her
.
When
it
came
,
she
was
ready
;
but
to
hasten
it
—
to
bring
it
down
untimely
on
herself
—
to
do
that
,
Anne
had
not
the
heart
.
After
all
,
it
concerned
Madame
Elaguine
most
,
and
she
would
doubtless
have
some
clue
to
the
writer
of
the
letter
,
and
consequently
take
the
matter
less
to
heart
.
Anne
determined
to
show
the
letter
to
her
.
She
thought
she
would
go
to
her
at
once
,
or
write
;
but
a
faint
,
faint
,
almost
unconscious
instinct
of
self‐preservation
bade
her
wait
awhile
;
wait
till
she
should
have
an
opportunity
of
seeing
Madame
Elaguine
in
the
natural
course
of
events
.
Miss
Brown
had
made
up
her
mind
that
the
mysterious
letter
had
no
sort
of
truth
in
it
;
yet
despite
this
decision
,
which
lay
,
cut
and
dry
,
on
the
surface
of
her
consciousness
,
a
hidden
imperceptible
movement
was
going
on
within
her
.
She
seemed
suddenly
to
remember
things
which
she
had
not
at
the
time
noticed
,
to
see
things
which
had
not
before
existed
,
and
must
still
have
been
there
yesterday
as
well
as
to‐day
.
Things
which
had
been
meaningless
acquired
a
meaning
;
things
which
had
seemed
without
connection
began
to
group
themselves
.
A
change
had
taken
place
of
late
in
Hamlin
;
he
had
become
solitary
and
morose
,
and
more
than
usually
up
and
down
in
spirits
—
he
had
seen
only
Sacha
and
her
.
How
much
had
he
seen
of
Sacha
?
Anne
did
not
know
,
but
she
imagined
a
great
deal
.
Then
she
remembered
how
he
had
taken
to
finding
fault
with
the
little
woman
,
to
running
her
down
systematically
to
himself
and
to
Anne
.
Could
it
be
that
he
felt
himself
tempted
to
break
his
engagement
?
Anne
knew
Hamlin
too
well
by
this
time
to
credit
him
with
that
.
If
such
a
thing
should
happen
,
—
if
,
finding
insensibly
that
Anne
was
not
what
he
had
imagined
,
disappointed
with
her
coldness
,
hurt
by
her
censoriousness
,
and
attracted
by
a
woman
who
was
everything
that
she
was
not
—
Hamlin
should
ever
come
to
feel
for
Sacha
more
than
mere
friendship
,
it
was
not
in
his
nature
to
perceive
his
danger
and
to
struggle
;
he
would
let
himself
go
to
sleep
in
the
pleasantness
of
a
new
sensation
,
he
would
drift
on
vaguely
,
and
start
up
in
surprise
.
A
new
love
was
for
him
the
most
poignant
of
temptations
,
—
a
new
love
in
its
still
half‐unconscious
,
Platonic
,
vague
condition
;
and
he
was
not
a
man
to
resist
such
a
temptation
;
indeed
he
had
gone
through
life
with
the
philosophy
that
a
poet
may
dally
with
any
emotion
,
however
questionable
,
as
long
as
he
does
not
actually
commit
a
dishonourable
action
.
Oh
no
,
Hamlin’s
ups
and
downs
could
not
be
struggles
or
remorse
;
so
Anne
decided
that
it
was
all
fancy
,
all
calumny
.
And
she
determined
to
give
the
letter
to
Sacha
on
the
first
opportunity
.
Madame
Elaguine
at
last
made
up
her
mind
that
her
little
Helen
ought
to
learn
something
;
and
with
the
impulsiveness
of
her
nature
,
she
determined
that
she
,
whom
she
had
always
kept
under
her
own
eyes
,
should
go
to
school
.
Why
there
should
be
such
a
swing
of
the
pendulum
,
and
why
Madame
Elaguine
should
not
rather
hire
a
governess
to
teach
the
child
in
her
own
house
,
Miss
Brown
could
not
explain
,
except
by
the
capriciousness
,
the
tendency
always
to
be
in
extremes
,
of
Hamlin’s
cousin
.
Anyhow
,
Sacha
had
determined
that
Helen
must
soon
go
to
school
,
and
she
had
written
to
Anne
begging
her
,
before
the
child
went
,
to
permit
her
to
share
for
a
week
or
two
the
lessons
which
Miss
Brown
was
giving
the
little
Choughs
.
“
I
know
,
”
she
wrote
,
“
that
my
poor
little
child
is
not
fit
to
be
turned
loose
among
other
children
yet
;
I
know
she
is
too
ignorant
,
too
sensitive
,
too
much
accustomed
to
life
with
her
elders
.
To
learn
with
Mr
Chough’s
children
,
to
play
with
them
,
will
take
the
keen
edge
off
;
and
also
,
I
know
,
my
dearest
Anne
,
that
if
anything
can
make
this
(
I
fear
,
alas
!
alas
!
to
my
shame
)
over‐sensitive
and
self‐willed
little
savage
more
human
,
more
desirous
of
being
good
,
and
of
raising
herself
,
it
will
be
your
influence
.
I
have
often
felt
what
it
would
have
been
for
me
to
have
had
a
friend
like
you
,
and
I
feel
what
it
will
be
for
my
child
.
”
Anne
was
touched
by
this
letter
.
Poor
Madame
Elaguine
,
although
she
did
care
too
much
for
Baudelaire
and
Gautier
,
and
did
tell
too
many
anecdotes
about
married
women’s
lovers
and
married
men’s
cocottes
for
Anne’s
taste
,
was
yet
a
good
and
brave
little
woman
;
and
she
must
be
helped
,
if
one
could
help
her
.
And
Anne
was
doubly
indignant
about
that
anonymous
letter
she
put
in
her
pocket
,
and
went
to
call
on
Hamlin’s
cousin
.
Madame
Elaguine
was
in
one
of
her
unstrung
moments
.
Anne
found
her
lying
on
a
sofa
,
a
heap
of
books
about
her
,
reading
none
,
fidgety
and
vacant
.
She
brightened
up
for
a
moment
on
Miss
Brown’s
entry
,
and
received
her
with
a
kind
of
rapturous
gratitude
,
quite
out
of
all
proportion
;
but
she
speedily
relapsed
into
her
depressed
condition
.
Anne
thought
it
better
not
to
introduce
the
business
at
once
.
“
I
want
to
know
,
”
she
said
,
“
why
you
are
suddenly
so
anxious
to
send
your
little
Helen
to
school
,
when
you
said
,
only
a
few
days
ago
,
that
you
could
not
bear
even
that
a
stranger
should
have
any
influence
upon
her
.
”
Madame
Elaguine
hesitated
.
“
Oh
,
dear
Anne
,
”
she
suddenly
exclaimed
,
“
I
am
a
poor
,
weak
,
vacillating
creature
,
always
in
excesses
.
You
must
have
pity
on
me
.
I
suppose
it
is
just
because
I
was
so
horribly
selfish
about
my
child
that
I
have
been
crushed
suddenly
with
the
necessity
of
sacrificing
my
feelings
completely
.
It
comes
home
to
me
—
and
oh
,
you
cannot
think
what
it
means
to
me
!
—
that
I
am
ruining
my
child
,
that
she
will
turn
out
merely
another
myself
—
another
wretched
,
weak
,
unhappy
creature
,
with
just
morality
enough
to
make
her
utterly
miserable
,
and
just
common‐sense
enough
to
make
her
feel
her
own
silliness
.
It
is
a
terrible
thing
for
a
mother
to
say
;
but
it
is
true
,
and
I
must
say
it
:
I
am
not
fit
to
bring
up
my
own
child
—
I
am
not
worthy
to
do
it
.
”
Anne
looked
at
the
Russian
,
who
had
raised
herself
on
her
sofa
convulsively
,
and
thatched
and
torn
to
pieces
a
flower
which
was
lying
on
her
,
with
a
great
look
of
pity
.
“
I
am
not
bad
!
”
cried
Sacha
—
“
I
am
not
bad
!
I
want
to
be
good
;
but
I
can’t
.
Oh
,
and
I
can’t
teach
my
child
anything
,
not
even
the
multiplication
table
,
”
and
she
suddenly
burst
out
laughing
.
Anne
did
not
know
whether
to
cry
or
to
laugh
.
“
I
quite
understand
your
wishing
that
Helen
should
get
the
habit
of
work
,
and
should
learn
something
,
”
she
said
,
in
her
business‐like
way
;
“
but
I
cannot
see
the
advantage
of
sending
her
to
school
.
She
is
far
too
nervous
and
delicate
,
and
far
too
much
accustomed
to
indulgence
,
to
get
anything
but
harm
from
a
school
.
Were
she
a
mere
strong
,
sturdy
,
spoilt
child
,
it
would
do
her
an
immense
deal
of
good
;
but
a
child
,
you
admit
it
yourself
,
so
morbidly
and
almost
physically
sensitive
,
would
only
be
miserable
at
school
,
and
probably
be
terrified
by
unaccustomed
discipline
and
want
of
sympathy
.
Don’t
you
think
it
would
be
wiser
to
get
Helen
a
thoroughly
good
governess
,
so
that
she
could
learn
something
,
and
yet
be
in
your
house
?
”
“
I
won’t
have
a
governess
;
they
are
all
good‐for‐nothings
.
I
won’t
have
spies
in
the
house
!
”
exclaimed
Madame
Elaguine
,
vehemently
.
“
Nonsense
!
”
said
Anne
;
“
how
can
you
talk
like
that
?
You
know
that
governesses
are
just
as
good
as
schoolmistresses
;
and
for
you
and
Helen
such
a
plan
would
be
in
every
way
preferable
.
”
“
I
won’t
have
any
one
in
the
house
to
pry
into
my
affairs
!
”
repeated
Sacha
,
hotly
.
“
Helen
must
go
to
school
.
”
Anne
felt
angry
with
the
little
woman
.
“
Of
course
it
is
for
you
to
choose
,
”
she
said
;
“
but
I
confess
I
can’t
see
why
you
should
not
have
a
governess
any
more
than
other
people
.
”
She
felt
as
if
there
were
something
wrong
here
.
“
And
do
you
forget
what
my
life
is
?
”
cried
Sacha
;
“
do
you
forget
that
I
am
the
daily
,
hourly
victim
of
unseen
enemies
?
Would
you
have
me
admit
some
one
to
my
house
,
that
she
might
play
into
their
hands
,
or
,
at
all
events
,
pry
into
my
misfortune
?
”
Anne
had
forgotten
that
.
How
unjust
she
was
!
“
True
,
”
she
said
;
“
I
think
we
might
find
a
governess
who
,
even
under
your
circumstances
,
might
be
safely
admitted
into
the
house
.
But
I
can
understand
your
unconquerable
aversion
to
the
idea
,
so
we
had
better
look
out
for
a
school
,
and
,
till
one
is
found
,
I
shall
be
delighted
if
you
will
send
Helen
to
me
.
I
fear
I
can’t
do
much
for
her
,
but
at
all
events
she
will
meet
the
Choughs
,
who
are
very
good
little
girls
.
”
Madame
Elaguine
rose
,
and
,
to
Anne’s
immeasurable
surprise
,
she
flung
herself
on
her
neck
,
and
began
to
sob
.
“
Oh
Anne
,
dearest
Anne
,
”
she
said
,
“
you
are
so
good
to
me
—
so
good
,
so
very
good
—
and
I
don’t
deserve
it
at
all
—
indeed
I
know
I
don’t
.
”
“
Nonsense
;
you
are
unwell
and
unstrung
about
Helen
,
and
you
are
just
making
yourself
miserable
.
Do
try
and
be
quiet
,
and
reflect
that
there
is
nothing
whatever
to
be
miserable
about
.
”
Somehow
or
other
Miss
Brown
,
for
all
her
good‐nature
,
always
had
a
harsh
instinct
whenever
she
saw
Sacha
in
such
a
condition
as
this
—
an
instinct
that
the
Russian
could
prevent
it
—
that
such
fits
of
tears
and
abjectness
were
mere
self‐indulgence
,
and
self‐indulgence
which
was
utterly
incompatible
with
Anne’s
idea
of
self‐respect
.
But
Madame
Elaguine
could
not
be
reined
in
.
She
fell
back
in
an
arm‐chair
in
an
agony
of
hysterical
sobbing
,
mixed
with
ghastly
laughing
.
“
It
is
not
nonsense
;
it
is
true
—
it
is
true
;
I
don’t
deserve
it
.
I
deserve
that
you
should
hate
me
.
Oh
Anne
,
you
must
hate
me
;
but
it
is
not
my
fault
.
I
hate
him
!
I
have
always
hated
him
!
I
have
told
him
so
;
but
he
won’t
believe
.
Oh
,
indeed
it
is
not
my
fault
.
But
of
course
you
hate
me
,
you
.
.
.
”
and
she
suddenly
burst
out
laughing
.
Anne
was
very
white
.
She
had
heard
and
she
had
understood
;
but
she
had
no
right
to
have
heard
or
to
have
understood
.
Suddenly
Sacha
started
up
and
looked
strangely
about
her
.
“
What
!
you
are
here
