other.
You
will
have
to
fight
against
that
penalty
.
I
know
you
will
not
have
a
smooth
time
of
it
;
but
who
has
,
except
cowards
and
weakliings
?
Your
safeguard
will
be
in
your
work
.
”
“
And
my
difficulty
,
”
said
Hadria
.
“
In
the
world
that
I
was
born
into
(
for
my
sins
)
,
when
one
tries
to
do
something
that
other
people
do
n't
do
,
it
is
like
trying
to
get
up
early
in
a
house
where
the
breakfast-hour
is
late
.
Nothing
fits
in
with
one
's
eccentric
custom
;
everything
conspires
to
discourage
it
.
”
“
I
wish
I
could
give
you
a
helping
hand
,
”
said
the
Professor
wistfully
;
“
but
one
is
so
powerless
.
Each
of
us
has
to
fight
the
real
battle
of
life
alone
.
Nobody
can
see
with
our
eyes
,
or
feel
with
our
nerves
.
The
crux
of
the
difficulty
each
bears
for
himself
.
But
friendship
can
help
us
to
believe
the
struggle
worth
while
;
it
can
sustain
our
courage
and
it
can
offer
sympathy
in
victory
,
—
but
still
more
faithfully
in
defeat
.
”
CHAPTER
XII
.
HADRIA
had
determined
upon
making
a
strong
and
patient
effort
to
pursue
her
work
during
the
winter
,
while
doing
her
best
,
at
the
same
time
,
to
please
her
mother
,
and
to
make
up
to
her
,
as
well
as
she
could
,
for
Algitha
's
departure
.
She
would
not
be
dismayed
by
difficulties
:
as
the
Professor
said
,
only
cowards
and
weaklings
escaped
these
.
She
treated
herself
austerely
,
and
found
her
power
of
concentration
increasing
,
and
her
hold
on
herself
greater
.
But
,
as
usual
,
her
greatest
effort
had
to
be
given
,
not
to
the
work
itself
,
but
to
win
opportunity
to
pursue
it
.
Mrs.
Fullerton
opposed
her
daughter
's
endeavours
as
firmly
as
ever
.
It
was
not
good
for
a
girl
to
be
selfishly
pre-occupied
.
She
ought
to
think
of
others
.
If
Hadria
yielded
the
point
on
any
particular
occasion
,
her
mood
and
her
work
were
destroyed
:
if
she
resisted
,
they
were
equally
destroyed
,
through
the
nervous
disturbance
and
the
intense
depression
which
followed
the
winning
of
a
liberty
too
dearly
bought
.
The
incessant
rising
and
quelling
of
her
impulse
and
her
courage
—
like
the
ebb
and
flow
of
tides
—
represented
a
vast
amount
of
force
not
merely
wasted
,
but
expended
in
producing
a
dangerous
wear
and
tear
upon
the
system
.
The
process
told
upon
her
health
,
and
was
the
beginning
of
the
weakening
and
unbalancing
of
the
splendid
constitution
which
Hadria
,
in
common
with
every
member
of
the
family
,
enjoyed
as
a
birthright
.
The
injury
was
insidious
but
serious
.
Hadria
,
unable
to
command
any
certain
part
of
the
day
,
began
to
sit
up
at
night
.
This
led
to
a
direct
clash
of
wills
.
Mr.
Fullerton
said
that
the
girl
was
doing
her
best
to
ruin
her
health
for
life
;
Mrs.
Fullerton
wished
to
know
why
Hadria
,
who
had
all
the
day
at
her
disposal
,
could
not
spend
the
night
rationally
.
“
But
I
have
n't
all
the
day
,
or
any
part
of
it
,
for
certain
,
”
said
Hadria
.
“
If
you
grudge
the
little
services
you
do
for
me
,
pray
abandon
them
,
”
said
the
mother
,
genuinely
hurt
.
Hadria
entered
her
room
,
one
evening
,
tired
out
and
profoundly
depressed
.
A
table
,
covered
with
books
,
stood
beside
the
fire
.
She
gave
the
top-heavy
pile
an
impatient
thrust
and
the
mass
fell
,
with
a
great
crash
,
to
the
floor
.
A
heap
of
manuscript
—
her
musical
achievement
for
the
past
year
—
was
involved
in
the
fall
.
She
contemplated
the
wreck
gravely
.
“
Yes
,
it
is
I
who
am
weak
,
not
circumstance
that
is
strong
.
If
I
could
keep
my
mind
unmoved
by
the
irritations
;
if
I
could
quarrel
with
mother
,
and
displease
father
,
and
offend
all
the
world
without
a
qualm
,
or
without
losing
the
delicate
balance
of
thought
and
mood
necessary
for
composition
,
then
I
should
,
to
some
extent
,
triumph
over
my
circumstances
;
I
should
not
lose
so
much
time
in
this
wretched
unstringing
.
Only
were
I
so
immovably
constituted
,
is
it
probable
that
I
should
be
able
to
compose
at
all
?
”
She
drew
the
score
towards
her
.
“
People
are
surprised
that
women
have
never
done
anything
noteworthy
in
music
.
People
are
so
intelligent
!
”
She
turned
over
the
pages
critically
.
If
only
this
instinct
were
not
so
overwhelmingly
strong
!
Hadria
wondered
how
many
other
women
,
from
the
beginning
of
history
,
had
cursed
the
impulse
to
create
!
Fortunately
,
it
was
sometimes
extinguished
altogether
,
as
to-night
,
for
instance
,
when
every
impression
,
every
desire
was
swept
clean
out
of
her
,
and
her
mind
presented
a
creditable
blank
,
such
as
really
ought
to
satisfy
the
most
exacting
social
mentor
.
In
such
a
state
,
a
woman
might
be
induced
to
accept
anything
!
Hadria
brought
out
two
letters
from
her
pocket
;
one
from
the
Professor
,
the
other
from
Miss
Du
Prel
.
The
latter
had
been
writing
frequently
of
late
,
pointing
out
the
danger
of
Hadria
's
exaggerated
ideas
,
and
the
probability
of
their
ruining
her
happiness
in
life
.
Valeria
had
suffered
herself
from
“
ideas
,
”
and
knew
how
fatal
they
were
.
Life
could
not
be
exactly
as
one
would
have
it
,
and
it
was
absolutely
necessary
,
in
order
to
avoid
misery
for
oneself
and
others
,
to
consent
to
take
things
more
or
less
as
they
were
;
to
make
up
one
's
mind
to
bend
a
little
,
rather
than
have
to
break
,
in
the
end
.
Things
were
never
quite
so
shocking
as
they
seemed
to
one
's
youthful
imagination
.
The
world
was
made
up
of
compromises
.
Good
was
mixed
with
evil
everywhere
.
The
domestic
idea
,
as
Hadria
called
it
,
might
be
,
in
its
present
phase
,
somewhat
offensive
,
but
it
could
be
redeemed
in
its
application
,
in
the
details
and
“
extenuating
circumstances
.
”
Valeria
could
not
warn
Hadria
too
earnestly
against
falling
into
the
mistake
that
Valeria
herself
had
made
.
She
had
repudiated
the
notion
of
anything
short
of
an
ideal
union
;
a
perfect
comradeship
,
without
the
shadow
of
restraint
or
bondage
in
the
relationship
;
and
not
having
found
it
,
she
had
refused
the
tie
altogether
.
She
could
not
bring
herself
to
accept
the
lesser
thing
,
having
conceived
the
possibility
of
the
greater
.
She
now
saw
her
error
,
and
repented
it
.
She
was
reaping
the
penalty
in
a
lonely
and
unsatisfied
life
.
For
a
long
time
her
work
had
seemed
to
suffice
,
but
she
felt
now
that
she
had
been
trusting
to
a
broken
reed
.
She
was
terrified
at
her
solitude
.
She
could
not
face
the
thought
of
old
age
,
without
a
single
close
tie
,
without
a
home
,
without
a
hold
upon
her
race
.
She
ended
by
entreating
Hadria
not
to
refuse
marriage
merely
because
she
could
not
find
a
man
to
agree
with
her
in
everything
,
or
capable
of
entering
into
the
spirit
of
the
relationship
that
perhaps
would
unite
the
men
and
women
of
the
future
.
It
was
a
pity
that
Hadria
had
not
been
born
a
generation
later
,
but
since
she
had
come
into
the
world
at
this
time
of
transition
,
she
must
try
to
avoid
the
tragedy
that
threatens
all
spirits
who
are
pointing
towards
the
new
order
,
while
the
old
is
still
working
out
its
unexhausted
impetus
.
This
reiterated
advice
had
begun
to
trouble
Hadria
.
It
did
not
convince
her
,
but
Valeria
's
words
were
incessantly
repeating
themselves
in
her
mind
working
as
a
ferment
among
her
thoughts
.
The
letters
from
Miss
Du
Prel
and
the
Professor
were
to
her
,
a
source
of
great
pleasure
and
of
great
pain
.
In
her
depressed
moods
,
they
would
often
rather
increase
her
despondency
,
because
the
writers
used
to
take
for
granted
so
many
achievements
that
she
had
not
been
able
to
accomplish
.
“
They
think
I
am
living
and
progressing
as
they
are
;
they
do
not
know
that
the
riot
and
stir
of
intellectual
life
has
ceased
.
I
am
like
a
creature
struggling
in
a
quicksand
.
”
On
the
Professor
's
letter
,
the
comments
were
of
a
different
character
.
He
had
recommended
her
to
read
certain
books
,
and
reminded
her
that
no
possessor
of
good
books
could
lack
the
privilege
of
spiritual
sanctuary
.
“
Ah
!
yes
,
I
know
few
pleasures
so
great
as
that
of
finding
one
's
own
idea
,
or
hope
,
or
longing
,
finely
expressed
,
half-born
thoughts
alive
and
of
stately
stature
;
and
then
the
exquisite
touches
of
art
upon
quick
nerves
,
the
enlarging
of
the
realms
of
imagination
,
knowledge
,
the
heightening
of
perceptions
,
intuitions
;
finally
the
blessed
power
of
escaping
from
oneself
,
with
the
paradoxical
reward
of
greater
self-realization
!
But
,
ah
,
Professor
,
to
me
there
is
a
‘but’
even
here
.
I
am
oppressed
by
a
sense
of
the
discrepancy
between
the
world
that
books
disclose
to
me
,
and
the
world
that
I
myself
inhabit
.
In
books
,
the
impossibilities
are
all
left
out
.
They
give
you
no
sense
of
the
sordid
Inevitable
that
looms
so
large
on
the
grey
horizon
.
Another
more
personal
quarrel
that
I
have
with
books
is
on
account
of
their
attacking
all
my
pet
prejudices
,
and
sneering
at
the
type
of
woman
that
I
have
the
misfortune
to
belong
to
.
I
am
always
exhorted
to
cure
myself
of
being
myself
.
Nothing
less
would
suffice
.
Now
this
is
wounding
.
All
my
particular
feelings
,
my
strongest
beliefs
,
are
condemned
,
directly
or
by
inference
.
I
could
almost
believe
that
there
is
a
literary
conspiracy
to
reform
me
.
The
“
true
women
”
of
literature
infallibly
think
and
feel
precisely
as
I
do
not
think
and
feel
,
while
the
sentiments
that
I
detest
—
woe
is
me
—
are
lauded
to
the
skies
.
Truly
,
if
we
women
do
n't
know
exactly
what
we
ought
to
think
and
feel
,
it
is
not
for
want
of
telling
.
Yet
you
say
,
Professor
,
in
this
very
letter
,
that
the
sense
of
having
a
peculiar
experience
is
always
an
illusion
,
that
every
feeling
of
ours
has
been
felt
before
,
if
not
in
our
own
day
,
then
in
the
crowded
past
,
with
its
throngs
of
forgotten
lives
and
unrecorded
experiences
.
I
wish
to
heaven
I
could
meet
those
who
have
had
exactly
mine
!
”
Hadria
did
not
keep
up
an
active
correspondence
with
Miss
Du
Prel
or
with
the
Professor
.
She
had
no
idea
of
adding
to
the
burden
of
their
busy
lives
,
by
wails
for
sympathy
.
It
seemed
to
her
feeble
,
and
contemptible
,
to
ask
to
be
dragged
up
by
their
strength
,
instead
of
exerting
her
own
.
If
that
were
insufficient
,
why
then
let
her
go
down
,
as
thousands
had
gone
down
before
her
.
As
a
miser
telling
his
gold
,
she
would
read
and
re-read
those
occasional
letters
,
written
amidst
the
stress
of
life
at
high
pressure
,
and
bearing
evidence
of
that
life
of
thought
and
work
,
in
their
tense
,
full-packed
phrases
.
With
what
a
throb
of
longing
and
envy
Hadria
used
to
feel
the
vibration
through
her
own
nerves
!
It
was
only
when
completely
exhausted
and
harassed
that
the
response
was
lacking
.
To-night
everything
seemed
to
be
obliterated
.
Her
hope
,
her
interest
were
,
for
the
moment
,
tired
out
.
Her
friends
would
be
disappointed
in
her
,
but
there
was
no
help
for
it
.
She
picked
up
the
score
of
her
music
,
and
stood
,
with
a
handful
of
the
once
precious
offspring
of
her
brain
held
out
towards
the
flames
.
Then
she
drew
it
back
,
and
half
closed
her
eyes
in
self-scrutinizing
thought
.
“
Come
now
,
”
she
said
to
herself
,
“
are
you
sincere
in
your
intention
of
giving
up
?
Are
you
pot
doing
this
in
a
fit
of
spite
against
destiny
?
as
if
destiny
cared
two
straws
.
Heavens
!
what
a
poor
little
piece
of
melodrama
.
And
to
think
that
you
should
have
actually
taken
yourself
in
it
by
it
.
One
acts
so
badly
with
only
oneself
for
audience
.
You
know
perfectly
well
that
you
are
not
going
to
give
in
,
you
are
not
going
to
attempt
to
stifle
that
which
is
the
centre
of
your
life
:
you
have
not
courage
for
such
slow
suicide
.
Do
n't
add
insincerity
to
the
other
faults
that
are
laid
to
your
account
—
”
She
mused
over
the
little
self-administered
lecture
.
And
probing
down
into
her
consciousness
,
she
realized
that
she
could
not
face
the
thought
of
surrender
.
She
meant
to
fight
on
.
The
notion
of
giving
in
had
been
seized
instinctively
,
for
a
moment
of
rest
.
Nothing
should
really
make
her
cease
the
struggle
,
until
the
power
itself
had
been
destroyed
.
She
was
sure
of
it
,
in
her
heart
,
in
spite
of
failures
and
miserably
inadequate
expressions
of
it
.
Suddenly
,
as
a
shaft
of
light
through
parting
clouds
,
came
bursting
forth
,
radiant
,
rejoicing
,
that
sense
of
power
,
large
,
resistless
,
genial
as
morning
sunshine
.
Yes
,
yes
,
let
them
say
what
they
might
,
discourage
,
smile
,
or
frown
as
they
would
,
the
faculty
was
given
to
her
,
and
she
would
fight
for
opportunity
to
use
it
while
she
had
breath
.
CHAPTER
XIII
.
AS
if
it
had
all
been
ingeniously
planned
,
the
minutest
incidents
and
conditions
of
Hadria
's
life
conspired
towards
the
event
that
was
to
decide
its
drift
for
ever
.
Often
,
in
the
dim
afternoon
,
she
would
sit
by
the
window
and
watch
the
rain
sweeping
across
the
country
,
longing
then
for
Temperley
's
music
,
which
used
to
make
the
wild
scene
so
unspeakably
beautiful
.
Now
there
was
no
music
,
no
music
anywhere
,
only
this
fierce
and
mournful
rush
of
the
wind
,
which
seemed
as
if
it
were
trying
to
utter
some
universal
grief
.
At
sunset
,
braving
the
cold
,
she
would
mount
the
creaking
staircase
,
pass
along
the
silent
upper
corridors
,
and
on
through
the
empty
rooms
to
the
garret
in
the
tower
.
The
solitude
was
a
relief
;
the
strangeness
of
the
scene
appealed
to
some
wild
instinct
,
and
to
the
intense
melancholy
that
lurks
in
the
Celtic
nature
.
Even
at
night
,
she
did
not
shrink
from
braving
the
glooms
and
silences
of
the
deserted
upper
floor
,
nor
the
solitude
of
the
garret
,
which
appeared
the
deeper
,
from
the
many
memories
of
happy
evenings
that
it
evoked
.
She
wished
Ernest
would
come
home
.
It
was
so
long
since
she
had
seen
her
favourite
brother
.
She
could
not
bear
the
thought
of
his
drifting
away
from
her
.
What
talks
they
had
had
in
this
old
garret
!
These
nights
in
the
tower
,
among
the
winds
,
soothed
the
trouble
of
her
spirit
as
nothing
else
had
power
to
do
.
The
mystery
of
life
,
the
thrill
of
existence
,
touched
her
with
a
strange
joy
that
ran
perilously
near
to
pain
.
What
vast
dim
possibilities
lurked
out
there
,
in
the
hollows
of
the
hills
!
What
inspiration
thundered
in
the
voice
of
the
prophet
wind
!
Once
,
she
had
gone
downstairs
and
out
,
alone
,
in
a
tearing
storm
,
to
wander
across
the
bleak
pastures
,
wrapt
round
by
the
wind
as
by
a
flame
;
at
one
with
the
desperate
elemental
thing
.
The
wanderer
felt
herself
caught
into
the
heart
of
some
vast
unknown
power
,
of
which
the
wind
was
but
a
thrall
,
until
she
became
,
for
a
moment
,
consciously
part
of
that
which
was
universal
.
Her
personality
grew
dim
she
stood
,
as
it
seemed
,
face
to
face
with
Nature
,
divided
from
the
ultimate
truth
by
only
a
thin
veil
,
to
temper
the
splendour
and
the
terror
.
Then
the
tension
of
personal
feeling
was
loosened
.
She
saw
how
entirely
vain
and
futile
were
the
things
of
life
that
we
grieve
and
struggle
over
.
It
was
not
a
side
,
an
aspect
of
existence
,
but
the
whole
of
it
that
seemed
to
storm
round
her
,
in
the
darkness
.
No
wonder
,
when
the
wind
was
let
loose
among
the
mountains
,
that
the
old
Highland
people
thought
that
their
dead
were
about
them
.
All
night
long
,
after
Hadria
returned
to
her
room
in
the
keep
,
the
wind
kept
up
its
cannonade
against
the
walls
,
hooting
in
the
chimneys
with
derisive
voices
,
and
flinging
itself
,
in
mad
revolt
,
against
the
old-established
hills
and
the
stable
earth
,
which
changed
its
forms
only
in
slow
obedience
to
the
persuadings
of
the
elements
,
in
the
passing
of
centuries
.
It
cared
nothing
for
the
passion
of
a
single
storm
.
And
then
came
reaction
,
doubt
.
After
all
,
humanity
was
a
puny
production
of
the
Ages
.
Men
and
women
were
like
the
struggling
animalculæ
that
her
father
had
so
often
shewn
the
boys
,
in
a
drop
of
magnified
ditch-water
;
yet
not
quite
like
those
microscopic
insects
,
for
the
stupendous
processes
of
life
had
at
last
created
a
widening
consciousness
,
a
mind
which
could
perceive
the
bewildering
vastness
of
Nature
and
its
own
smallness
,
which
could
,
in
some
measure
,
get
outside
its
own
particular
ditch
,
and
the
strife
and
struggle
of
it
,
groping
upwards
for
larger
realities
—
“
Over
us
stars
and
under
us
graves
.
”
To
go
down
next
morning
to
breakfast
;
to
meet
the
usual
homely
events
,
was
bewildering
after
such
a
night
.
Which
was
dream
:
this
or
that
?
So
solid
and
convincing
seemed
,
at
times
,
the
interests
and
objects
of
every
day
,
that
Hadria
would
veer
round
to
a
sudden
conviction
that
these
things
,
or
what
they
symbolized
,
were
indeed
the
solid
facts
of
human
life
,
and
that
all
other
impressions
arose
from
the
disorderly
working
of
overcharged
brain-cells
.
It
was
a
little
ailment
of
youth
and
would
pass
off
.
Had
it
been
possible
to
describe
to
her
father
the
impressions
made
upon
her
by
the
world
and
Nature
,
as
they
had
presented
themselves
to
her
imagination
from
her
childhood
,
he
would
have
prescribed
change
of
air
and
gymnastics
.
Perhaps
that
was
the
really
rational
view
of
the
matter
.
But
what
if
these
hygienic
measures
cured
her
of
the
haunting
consciousness
of
mystery
and
vastness
;
what
if
she
became
convinced
of
the
essential
importance
of
the
Gordon
pedigree
,
or
of
the
amount
of
social
consideration
due
to
the
family
who
had
taken
Clarenoc
?
Would
that
alter
the
bewildring
truths
of
which
she
would
have
ceased
to
think
?
No
;
it
would
only
mean
that
the
animalcule
had
returned
to
the
occupations
of
its
ditch
,
while
the
worlds
and
the
peoples
went
spinning
to
their
destiny
.
“
Do
the
duty
that
lies
nearest
thee
,
”
counselled
everybody
:
people
of
all
kinds
,
books
of
all
kinds
.
“
Cheap
,
well-sounding
advice
,
”
thought
Hadria
,
“
sure
of
popularity
!
Continue
to
wriggle
industriously
,
O
animalcule
,
in
that
particular
ditch
wherein
it
has
pleased
heaven
to
place
thee
;
seek
not
the
flowing
stream
and
the
salt
ocean
;
and
if
,
some
clear
night
,
a
star
finds
room
to
mirror
itself
in
thy
little
stagnant
world
,
shining
through
the
fat
weeds
and
slime
that
almost
shut
out
the
heavens
,
pray
be
careful
not
to
pay
too
much
heed
to
the
high-born
luminary
.
Look
to
your
wriggling
;
that
is
your
proper
business
.
An
animalcule
that
does
not
wriggle
must
be
morbid
or
peculiar
.
All
will
tender
,
in
different
forms
of
varying
elegance
,
the
safe
and
simple
admonition
:
‘Wriggle
and
be
damned
to
you
!
’
”
It
was
at
this
somewhat
fevered
moment
,
that
Hubert
Temperley
appeared
,
once
more
,
upon
the
scene
.
Hadria
was
with
her
mother
,
taking
tea
at
Drumgarren
,
when
Mrs.
Gordon
,
catching
the
sounds
of
carriage
wheels
,
announced
that
she
was
expecting
Hubert
and
his
sister
for
a
visit
.
In
another
second
,
the
travellers
were
in
the
drawing-room
.
Hubert
's
self-possession
was
equal
to
the
occasion
.
He
introduced
his
sister
to
Mrs.
Fullerton
and
Hadria
.
Miss
Temperley
was
his
junior
by
a
year
;
a
slight
,
neatly-built
young
woman
,
with
a
sort
of
tact
that
went
on
brilliantly
up
to
a
certain
point
,
and
then
suddenly
collapsed
altogether
.
She
had
her
brother
's
self-complacency
,
and
an
air
of
encouragement
which
Mrs.
Gordon
seemed
to
find
most
gratifying
.
She
dressed
perfectly
,
in
quiet
Parisian
fashion
.
Hadria
saw
that
her
brother
had
taken
her
into
his
confidence
,
or
she
concluded
so
from
something
in
Miss
Temperley
's
manner
.
The
latter
treated
Hadria
with
a
certain
familiarity
,
as
if
she
had
known
her
for
some
time
,
and
she
had
a
way
of
seeming
to
take
her
apart
,
when
addressing
her
,
as
if
there
were
a
sort
of
understanding
between
them
.
It
was
here
that
her
instinct
failed
her
;
for
she
seemed
unaware
that
this
assumption
of
an
intimacy
that
did
not
exist
was
liable
to
be
resented
,
and
that
it
might
be
unpleasant
to
be
expected
to
catch
special
remarks
sent
over
the
heads
of
the
others
,
although
ostensibly
for
the
common
weal
.
Hadria
thought
that
she
had
never
seen
so
strange
a
contrast
as
this
young
woman
's
behaviour
,
within
and
without
the
circle
of
her
perceptions
.
It
was
the
more
remarkable
,
since
her
mind
was
bent
upon
the
details
and
niceties
of
conduct
,
and
the
nuances
of
existence
.
“
I
shall
come
and
see
you
as
soon
as
I
can
,
”
she
promised
,
when
Mrs.
Fullerton
rose
to
leave
.
Miss
Temperley
kept
her
word
.
She
was
charmed
with
the
old
house
,
praising
authoritatively
.
“
This
is
an
excellent
piece
of
carving
;
far
superior
to
the
one
in
the
dining-room
.
Ah
,
yes
,
that
is
charming
;
so
well
arranged
.
You
ought
to
have
a
touch
of
blue
there
to
make
it
perfect
.
”
Hubert
shewed
good
taste
in
keeping
away
from
Dunaghee
,
except
to
pay
his
call
on
Mr.
and
Mrs.
Fullerton
.
“
Hadria
,
”
said
his
sister
,
“
I
am
going
to
call
you
by
your
pretty
Christian
name
,
and
I
want
you
to
call
me
Henriette
.
I
feel
I
have
known
you
much
longer
than
ten
days
,
because
Hubert
has
told
me
so
much
about
you
,
and
your
music
.
You
play
charmingly
.
So
much
native
talent
.
You
want
good
training
,
of
course
;
but
you
really
might
become
a
brilliant
performer
.
Hubert
is
quite
distressed
that
you
should
not
enjoy
more
advantages
.
I
should
like
so
much
if
you
could
come
and
stay
with
us
in
town
,
and
have
some
good
lessons
.
Do
think
of
it
.
”
Hadria
flushed
.
“
Oh
,
thank
you
,
I
could
not
do
that
—
I
—
”
“
I
understand
you
,
dear
Hadria
,
”
said
Henriette
,
drawing
her
chair
closer
to
the
fire
.
“
You
know
,
Hubert
can
never
keep
anything
of
great
importance
from
me
.
”
She
looked
arch
.
Hadria
muttered
something
that
might
have
discouraged
a
less
persistent
spirit
,
but
Miss
Temperley
paid
no
attention
.
“
Poor
Hubert
!
I
have
had
to
be
a
ministering
angel
to
him
during
these
last
months
.
”
“
Why
do
you
open
up
this
subject
,
Miss
Temperley
?
”
“
Henriette
,
if
you
please
,
”
cried
that
young
woman
,
with
the
air
of
a
playful
potentate
who
has
requested
a
favoured
courtier
to
drop
the
ceremonious
“
Your
Majesty
”
in
private
conversation
.
“
It
was
I
who
made
him
accept
Mrs.
Gordon
's
invitation
.
He
very
nearly
refused
it
.
He
feared
that
it
would
be
unpleasant
for
you
.
But
I
insisted
on
his
coming
.
Why
should
he
not
?
He
would
like
so
much
to
come
here
more
often
,
but
again
he
fears
to
displease
you
.
He
is
not
a
Temperley
for
nothing
.
They
are
not
of
the
race
of
fools
who
rush
in
where
angels
fear
to
tread
.
”
“
Are
they
not
?
”
asked
Hadria
absently
.
“
We
both
see
your
difficulty
,
”
Miss
Temperley
went
on
.
“
Hubert
would
not
so
misunderstand
you
—
the
dear
fellow
is
full
of
delicacy
—
and
I
should
dearly
love
to
hear
him
play
to
your
accompaniment
;
he
used
to
enjoy
those
practices
so
much
.
Would
you
think
him
intrusive
if
he
brought
his
'
cello
some
afternoon
?
”
Hadria
,
not
without
an
uneasy
qualm
,
agreed
to
the
suggestion
,
though
by
no
means
cordially
.
Accordingly
brother
and
sister
arrived
,
one
afternoon
,
for
the
practice
.
Henriette
took
the
leadership
,
visibly
employed
tact
and
judgment
,
talked
a
great
deal
,
and
was
surprisingly
delicate
,
as
beseemed
a
Temperley
.
Hadria
found
the
occasion
somewhat
trying
nevertheless
,
and
Hubert
stumbled
,
at
first
,
in
his
playing
.
In
a
few
minutes
,
however
,
both
musicians
became
possessed
by
the
music
,
and
then
all
went
well
.
Henriette
sat
in
an
easy
chair
and
listened
critically
.
Now
and
then
she
would
call
out
“
bravo
,
”
or
“
admirable
,
”
and
when
the
performance
was
over
,
she
was
warm
in
her
congratulations
.
Hadria
was
flushed
with
the
effort
and
pleasure
of
the
performance
.
“
I
never
heard
Hubert
's
playing
to
such
advantage
,
”
said
his
sister
.
“
I
seem
to
hear
it
for
the
first
time
.
You
really
ought
to
practise
together
often
.
”
Another
afternoon
was
appointed
;
Henriette
left
Hadria
almost
no
choice
.
After
the
next
meeting
,
the
constraint
had
a
little
worn
off
,
and
the
temptation
to
continue
the
practising
was
very
strong
.
Henriette
's
presence
was
reassuring
.
And
then
Hubert
seemed
so
reasonable
,
and
had
apparently
put
the
past
out
of
his
mind
altogether
.
After
the
practice
,
brother
and
sister
would
linger
a
little
in
the
drawing-room
,
chatting
.
Hubert
appeared
to
advantage
in
his
sister
's
society
.
She
had
a
way
of
striking
his
best
vein
.
Her
own
talent
ran
with
his
,
appealed
to
it
,
and
created
the
conditions
for
its
display
.
Her
presence
and
inspiration
seemed
to
produce
,
on
his
ability
,
a
sort
of
cumulative
effect
.
Henriette
set
all
the
familiar
machinery
in
motion
;
pressed
the
right
button
,
and
her
brother
became
brilliant
.
A
slight
touch
of
diffidence
in
his
manner
softened
the
effect
of
his
usual
complacency
.
Hadria
liked
him
better
than
she
had
liked
him
on
his
previous
visit
.
His
innate
refinement
appealed
to
her
powerfully
.
Moreover
,
he
was
cultivated
and
well-read
,
and
his
society
was
agreeable
.
Oh
,
why
did
this
everlasting
,
matrimonial
idea
come
in
and
spoil
everything
?
Why
could
not
men
and
women
have
interests
in
common
,
without
wishing
instantly
to
plunge
into
a
condition
of
things
which
hampered
and
crippled
them
so
miserably
?
Hadria
was
disposed
to
under-rate
all
defects
,
and
to
make
the
most
of
all
virtues
in
Hubert
,
at
the
present
moment
.
He
had
come
at
just
the
right
time
to
make
a
favourable
impression
upon
her
;
for
the
loneliness
of
her
life
had
begun
to
leave
its
mark
,
and
to
render
her
extremely
sensitive
to
influence
.
She
was
an
alien
among
the
people
of
her
circle
;
and
she
felt
vaguely
guilty
in
failing
to
share
their
ideas
and
ambitions
.
Their
glances
,
their
silences
,
conveyed
a
world
of
cold
surprise
and
condemnation
.
Hubert
was
tolerance
itself
compared
with
the
majority
of
her
associates
.
She
felt
almost
as
if
he
had
done
her
a
personal
kindness
when
he
omitted
to
look
astonished
at
her
remarks
,
or
to
ignore
them
as
“
awkward
.
”
Yet
she
felt
uneasy
about
this
renewal
of
the
practices
,
and
tried
to
avoid
them
as
often
as
possible
,
though
sorely
against
her
inclination
.
They
were
so
great
a
relief
and
enjoyment
.
Her
inexperience
,
and
her
carelessness
of
conventional
standards
,
put
her
somewhat
off
her
guard
.
Hubert
showed
no
signs
of
even
remembering
the
interview
of
last
year
,
that
had
been
cut
short
by
her
father
's
entrance
.
Why
should
she
insist
on
keeping
it
in
mind
?
It
was
foolish
.
Moreover
she
had
been
expressly
given
to
understand
,
in
a
most
pointed
manner
,
that
her
conduct
would
not
be
misinterpreted
if
she
allowed
him
to
come
occasionally
.
From
several
remarks
that
Temperley
made
,
she
saw
that
he
too
regarded
the
ordinary
domestic
existence
with
distaste
.
It
offended
his
fastidiousness
.
He
was
fastidious
to
his
finger-tips
.
It
amused
Hadria
to
note
the
contrast
between
him
and
Mr.
Gordon
,
who
was
a
typical
father
of
a
family
;
limited
in
his
interests
to
that
circle
;
an
amiable
ruler
of
a
tiny
,
somewhat
absurd
little
world
,
pompous
and
important
and
inconceivably
dull
.
The
bourgeois
side
of
this
life
was
evidently
displeasing
to
Hubert
.
Good
taste
was
his
fetish
.
From
his
remarks
about
women
,
Hadria
was
led
to
observe
how
subtly
critical
he
was
with
regard
to
feminine
qualities
,
and
wondered
if
his
preference
for
herself
ought
to
be
regarded
as
a
great
compliment
.
Henriette
congratulated
her
on
having
been
admired
by
the
fastidious
Hubert
.
“
Let
us
hope
it
speaks
well
for
me
,
”
Hadria
replied
with
a
cynical
smile
,
“
but
I
have
so
often
noticed
that
men
who
are
very
difficult
to
please
,
choose
for
the
domestic
hearth
the
most
dreary
and
unattractive
woman
of
their
acquaintance
!
I
sometimes
doubt
if
men
ever
do
marry
the
women
they
most
admire
.
”
“
They
do
,
when
they
can
win
them
,
”
said
Henriette
.
CHAPTER
XIV
.
DURING
Henriette
's
visit
,
one
of
the
meetings
of
the
Preposterous
Society
fell
due
,
and
she
expressed
a
strong
wish
to
be
present
.
She
also
craved
the
privilege
of
choosing
the
subject
of
discussion
.
Finally
,
she
received
a
formal
request
from
the
members
to
give
the
lecture
herself
.
She
was
full
of
enthusiasm
about
the
Society
(
such
an
educating
influence
!
)
,
and
prepared
her
paper
with
great
care
.
There
had
been
a
tendency
among
the
circle
,
to
politely
disagree
with
Henriette
.
Her
ideas
respecting
various
burning
topics
were
at
variance
with
the
trend
of
opinion
at
Dunaghee
,
and
Miss
Temperley
was
expected
to
take
this
opportunity
of
enlightening
the
family
.
The
family
was
equally
resolved
not
to
be
enlightened
.
“
I
have
chosen
for
my
subject
to-night
,
”
said
the
lecturer
,
“
one
that
is
beginning
to
occupy
public
attention
very
largely
:
I
mean
the
sphere
of
woman
in
society
.
”
The
audience
,
among
whom
Hubert
had
been
admitted
at
his
sister
's
earnest
request
,
drew
themselves
together
,
and
a
little
murmur
of
battle
ran
along
the
line
.
Henriette
's
figure
,
in
her
well-fitting
Parisian
gown
,
looked
singularly
out
of
place
in
the
garret
,
with
the
crazy
old
candle-holder
beside
her
,
the
yellow
flame
of
the
candle
flinging
fantastic
shadows
on
the
vaulted
roof
,
preposterously
distorting
her
neat
form
,
as
if
in
wicked
mockery
.
The
moonlight
streamed
in
,
as
usual
on
the
nights
chosen
by
the
Society
for
their
meetings
.
Henriette
's
paper
was
neatly
expressed
,
and
its
sentiments
were
admirable
.
She
maintained
a
perfect
balance
between
the
bigotry
of
the
past
and
the
violence
of
the
present
.
Her
phrases
seemed
to
rock
,
like
a
pair
of
scales
,
from
excess
to
excess
,
on
either
side
.
She
came
to
rest
in
the
exact
middle
.
This
led
to
the
Johnsonian
structure
,
or
,
as
Hadria
afterwards
said
,
to
the
style
of
a
Times
leading
article
:
“
While
we
remember
on
the
one
hand
,
we
must
not
forget
on
the
other
—
”
At
the
end
of
the
lecture
,
the
audience
found
themselves
invited
to
sympathize
cautiously
and
circumspectly
with
the
advancement
of
women
,
but
led
,
at
the
same
time
,
to
conclude
that
good
taste
and
good
feeling
forbade
any
really
nice
woman
from
moving
a
little
finger
to
attain
,
or
to
help
others
to
attain
,
the
smallest
fraction
more
of
freedom
,
or
an
inch
more
of
spiritual
territory
,
than
was
now
enjoyed
by
her
sex
.
When
,
at
some
future
time
,
wider
privileges
should
have
been
conquered
by
the
exertions
of
someone
else
,
then
the
really
nice
woman
could
saunter
in
and
enjoy
the
booty
.
But
till
then
,
let
her
leave
boisterous
agitation
to
others
,
and
endear
herself
to
all
around
her
by
her
patience
and
her
loving
self-sacrifice
.
“
That
pays
better
for
the
present
,
”
Hadria
was
heard
to
mutter
to
an
adjacent
member
.
The
lecturer
,
in
her
concluding
remarks
,
gave
a
smile
of
ineffable
sweetness
,
sadly
marred
,
however
,
by
the
grotesque
effect
of
the
flickering
shadows
that
were
cast
on
her
face
by
the
candle
.
After
all
,
duty
not
right
was
the
really
important
matter
,
and
the
lecturer
thought
that
it
would
be
better
if
one
heard
the
former
word
rather
oftener
in
connection
with
the
woman
's
question
,
and
the
latter
word
rather
more
seldom
.
Then
,
with
new
sweetness
,
and
in
a
tone
not
to
be
described
,
she
went
on
to
speak
of
the
natural
responsibilities
and
joys
of
her
sex
,
drawing
a
moving
,
if
somewhat
familiar
picture
of
those
avocations
,
than
which
she
was
sure
there
could
be
nothing
higher
or
holier
.
For
some
not
easily
explained
cause
,
the
construction
of
this
sentence
gave
it
a
peculiar
unctuous
force
:
“
than
which
,
”
as
Fred
afterwards
remarked
,
“
would
have
bowled
over
any
but
the
most
hardened
sinner
.
”
For
weeks
after
this
memorable
lecture
,
if
any
very
lofty
altitude
had
to
be
ascended
in
conversational
excursions
,
the
aspirant
invariably
smiled
with
ineffable
tenderness
and
lightly
scaled
the
height
,
murmuring
“
than
which
”
to
a
vanquished
audience
.
The
lecture
was
followed
by
a
discussion
that
rather
took
the
stiffness
out
of
Miss
Temperley
's
phrases
.
The
whole
party
was
roused
.
Algitha
had
to
whisper
a
remonstrance
to
the
boys
,
for
their
solemn
questions
were
becoming
too
preposterous
.
The
lecture
was
discussed
with
much
warmth
.
There
was
a
tendency
to
adopt
the
form
“
than
which
”
with
some
frequency
.
Bursts
of
laughter
startled
a
company
of
rats
in
the
wainscoting
,
and
there
was
a
lively
scamper
behind
the
walls
.
No
obvious
opposition
was
offered
.
Miss
Temperley
's
views
were
examined
with
gravity
,
and
indeed
in
a
manner
almost
pompous
.
But
by
the
end
of
that
trying
process
,
they
had
a
sadly
bedraggled
and
plucked
appearance
,
much
to
their
parent
's
bewilderment
.
She
endeavoured
to
explain
further
,
and
was
met
by
guilelessly
intelligent
questions
,
which
had
the
effect
of
depriving
the
luckless
objects
of
their
solitary
remaining
feather
.
The
members
of
the
society
continued
to
pine
for
information
,
and
Miss
Temperley
endeavoured
to
provide
it
,
till
late
into
the
night
.
The
discussion
finally
drifted
on
to
dangerous
ground
.
Algitha
declared
that
she
considered
that
no
man
had
any
just
right
to
ask
a
woman
to
pledge
herself
to
love
him
and
live
with
him
for
the
rest
of
her
life
.
How
could
she
?
Hubert
suggested
that
the
woman
made
the
same
claim
on
the
man
.
“
Which
is
equally
absurd
,
”
said
Algitha
.
“
Just
as
if
any
two
people
,
when
they
are
beginning
to
form
their
characters
,
could
possibly
be
sure
of
their
sentiments
for
the
rest
of
their
days
.
They
have
no
business
to
marry
at
such
an
age
.
They
are
bound
to
alter
.
”
“
But
they
must
regard
it
as
their
duty
not
to
alter
with
regard
to
one
another
,
”
said
Henriette
.
“
Quite
so
;
just
as
they
ought
to
regard
it
as
their
duty
among
other
things
,
not
to
grow
old
,
”
suggested
Fred
.
“
Then
,
Algitha
,
do
you
mean
that
they
may
fall
in
love
elsewhere
?
”
Ernest
inquired
.
“
They
very
likely
will
do
so
,
if
they
make
such
an
absurd
start
,
”
Algitha
declared
.
“
And
if
they
do
?
”
“
Then
,
if
the
sentiment
stands
test
and
trial
,
and
proves
genuine
,
and
not
a
silly
freak
,
the
fact
ought
to
be
frankly
faced
.
Husband
and
wife
have
no
business
to
go
on
keeping
up
a
bond
that
has
become
false
and
irksome
.
”
Miss
Temperley
broke
into
protest
.
“
But
surely
you
do
n't
mean
to
defend
such
faithlessness
.
”
Algitha
would
not
admit
that
it
was
faithlessness
.
She
said
it
was
mere
honesty
.
She
could
see
nothing
inherently
wrong
in
falling
in
love
genuinely
after
one
arrived
at
years
of
discretion
.
She
thought
it
inherently
idiotic
,
and
worse
,
to
make
a
choice
that
ought
to
be
for
life
,
at
years
of
in
discretion
.
Still
,
people
were
idiotic
,
and
that
must
be
considered
,
as
well
as
all
the
other
facts
,
such
as
the
difficulty
of
really
knowing
each
other
before
marriage
,
owing
to
social
arrangements
,
and
also
owing
to
the
training
,
which
made
men
and
women
always
pose
so
ridiculously
towards
one
another
,
pretending
to
be
something
that
they
were
not
.
“
Well
done
,
Algitha
,
”
cried
Ernest
,
laughing
;
“
I
like
to
hear
you
speak
out
.
Now
tell
me
frankly
:
supposing
you
married
quite
young
,
before
you
had
had
much
experience
;
supposing
you
afterwards
found
that
you
and
your
husband
had
both
been
deceiving
yourselves
and
each
other
,
unconsciously
perhaps
;
and
suppose
,
when
more
fully
awakened
and
developed
,
you
met
another
fellow
and
fell
in
love
with
him
genuinely
,
what
would
you
do
?
”
“
Oh
,
she
would
just
mention
it
to
her
husband
casually
,
”
Fred
interposed
with
a
chuckle
,
“
and
disappear
.
”
“
I
should
certainly
not
go
through
terrific
emotions
and
self-accusations
,
and
think
the
end
of
the
world
had
come
,
”
said
Algitha
serenely
.
“
I
should
calmly
face
the
situation
.
”
“
Calmly
!
She
by
supposition
being
madly
in
love
!
”
ejaculated
Fred
,
with
a
chuckle
.
“
Calmly
,
”
repeated
Algitha
.
“
And
I
should
consider
carefully
what
would
be
best
for
all
concerned
.
If
I
decided
,
after
mature
consideration
and
self-testing
,
that
I
ought
to
leave
my
husband
,
I
should
leave
him
,
as
I
should
hope
he
would
leave
me
,
in
similar
circumstances
.
That
is
my
idea
of
right
.
”
“
And
is
this
also
your
idea
of
right
,
Miss
Fullerton
?
”
asked
Temperley
,
turning
,
in
some
trepidation
,
to
Hadria
.
“
That
seems
to
me
right
in
the
abstract
.
One
ca
n't
pronounce
for
particular
cases
where
circumstances
are
entangled
.
”
Hubert
sank
back
in
his
chair
,
and
ran
his
hand
over
his
brow
.
He
seemed
about
to
speak
,
but
he
checked
himself
.
“
Where
did
you
get
such
extraordinary
ideas
from
?
”
cried
Miss
Temperley
.
“
They
were
like
Topsy
;
they
growed
,
”
said
Fred
.
“
We
have
been
in
the
habit
of
speculating
freely
on
all
subjects
,
”
said
Ernest
,
“
ever
since
we
could
talk
.
This
is
the
blessed
result
!
”
“
I
am
not
quite
so
sure
now
,
that
the
Preposterous
Society
meets
with
my
approval
,
”
observed
Miss
Temperley
.
“
If
you
had
been
brought
up
in
the
bosom
of
this
Society
,
Miss
Temperley
,
you
too
,
perhaps
,
would
have
come
to
this
.
Think
of
it
!
”
“
Does
your
mother
know
what
sort
of
subjects
you
discuss
?
”
There
was
a
shout
of
laughter
.
“
Mother
used
often
to
come
into
the
nursery
and
surprise
us
in
hot
discussion
on
the
origin
of
evil
,
”
said
Hadria
.
“
Do
n't
you
believe
what
she
says
,
Miss
Temperley
,
”
cried
Fred
;
“
mother
never
could
teach
Hadria
the
most
rudimentary
notions
of
accuracy
.
”
“
Her
failure
with
my
brothers
,
was
in
the
department
of
manners
,
”
Hadria
observed
.
“
Then
she
does
not
know
what
you
talk
about
?
”
persisted
Henriette
.
“
You
ask
her
,
”
prompted
Fred
,
with
undisguised
glee
.
“
She
never
attends
our
meetings
,
”
said
Algitha
.
“
Well
,
well
,
I
cannot
understand
it
!
”
cried
Miss
Temperley
.
“
However
,
you
do
n't
quite
know
what
you
are
talking
about
,
and
one
must
n't
blame
you
.
”
“
No
,
do
n't
,
”
urged
Fred
;
“
we
are
a
sensitive
family
.
”
“
Shut
up
!
”
cried
Ernest
with
a
warning
frown
.
“
Oh
,
you
are
a
coarse-grained
exception
;
I
speak
of
the
family
average
,
”
Fred
answered
with
serenity
.
Henriette
felt
that
nothing
more
could
be
done
with
this
strange
audience
.
Her
business
was
really
with
the
President
of
the
Society
.
The
girl
was
bent
on
ruining
her
life
with
these
wild
notions
.
Miss
Temperley
decided
that
it
would
be
better
to
talk
to
Hadria
quietly
in
her
own
room
,
away
from
the
influence
of
these
eccentric
brothers
and
that
extraordinary
sister
.
After
all
,
it
was
Algitha
who
had
originated
the
shocking
view
,
not
Hadria
,
who
had
merely
agreed
,
doubtless
out
of
a
desire
to
support
her
sister
.
“
I
have
not
known
you
for
seven
years
,
but
I
am
going
to
poke
your
fire
,
”
said
Henriette
,
when
they
were
established
in
Hadria
's
room
.
“
I
never
thought
you
would
wait
so
long
as
that
,
”
was
Hadria
's
ambiguous
reply
.
Then
Henriette
opened
her
batteries
.
She
talked
without
interruption
,
her
companion
listening
,
agreeing
occasionally
with
her
adversary
,
in
a
disconcerting
manner
;
then
falling
into
silence
.
“
It
seems
to
me
that
you
are
making
a
very
terrible
mistake
in
your
life
,
Hadria
.
You
have
taken
up
a
fixed
idea
about
domestic
duties
and
all
that
,
and
are
going
to
throw
away
your
chances
of
forming
a
happy
home
of
your
own
,
out
of
a
mere
prejudice
.
You
may
not
admire
Mrs.
Gordon
's
existence
;
for
my
part
I
think
she
leads
a
very
good
,
useful
life
,
but
there
is
no
reason
why
all
married
lives
should
be
like
hers
.
”
“
Why
are
they
,
then
?
”
“
I
do
n't
see
that
they
are
.
”
“
It
is
the
prevailing
type
.
It
shows
the
why
the
domestic
wind
blows
.
Fancy
having
to
be
always
resisting
such
a
wind
.
What
an
oblique
,
shorn-looking
object
one
would
be
after
a
few
years
!
”
Henriette
grew
eloquent
.
She
recalled
instances
of
women
who
had
fulfilled
all
their
home
duties
,
and
been
successful
in
other
walks
as
well
;
she
drew
pictures
in
attractive
colours
of
Hadria
in
a
home
of
her
own
,
with
far
more
liberty
than
was
possible
under
her
parents
'
roof
:
and
then
she
drew
another
picture
of
Hadria
fifteen
years
hence
at
Dunaghee
.
Hadria
covered
her
face
with
her
hands
.
“
You
who
uphold
all
these
social
arrangements
,
how
do
you
feel
when
you
find
yourself
obliged
to
urge
me
to
marry
,
not
for
the
sake
of
the
positive
joys
of
domestic
existence
,
but
for
the
merely
negative
advantage
of
avoiding
a
hapless
and
forlorn
state
?
You
propose
it
as
a
pis-aller
.
Does
that
argue
that
all
is
sound
in
the
state
of
Denmark
?
”
“
If
you
had
not
this
unreasonable
objection
to
what
is
really
a
woman
's
natural
destiny
,
the
difficulty
would
not
exist
.
”
“
Have
women
no
pride
?
”
Henriette
did
not
answer
.
“
Have
they
no
sense
of
dignity
?
If
one
marries
(
accepting
things
on
the
usual
basis
,
of
course
)
one
gives
to
another
person
rights
and
powers
over
one
's
life
that
are
practically
boundless
.
To
retain
one
's
self-direction
in
case
of
dispute
would
be
possible
only
on
pain
of
social
ruin
.
I
have
little
enough
freedom
now
,
heaven
knows
;
but
if
I
married
,
why
my
very
thoughts
would
become
the
property
of
another
.
Thought
,
emotion
,
love
itself
,
must
pass
under
the
yoke
!
There
would
be
no
nook
or
corner
entirely
and
indisputably
my
own
.
”
“
I
should
not
regard
that
as
a
hardship
,
”
said
Henriette
,
“
if
I
loved
my
husband
.
”
“
I
should
consider
it
not
only
a
hardship
,
but
beyond
endurance
.
”
“
But
,
my
dear
,
you
are
impracticable
.
”
“
That
is
what
I
think
domestic
life
is
!
”
Hadria
's
quiet
tone
was
suddenly
changed
to
one
of
scorn
.
“
You
talk
of
love
;
what
has
love
worthy
of
the
name
to
do
with
this
preposterous
interference
with
the
freedom
of
another
person
?
If
that
is
what
love
means
—
the
craving
to
possess
and
restrain
and
demand
and
hamper
and
absorb
,
and
generally
make
mince-meat
of
the
beloved
object
,
then
preserve
me
from
the
master-passion
.
”
Henriette
was
baffled
.
“
I
do
n't
know
how
to
make
you
see
this
in
a
truer
light
,
”
she
said
.
“
There
is
something
to
my
mind
so
beautiful
in
the
close
union
of
two
human
beings
,
who
pledge
themselves
to
love
and
honour
one
another
,
to
face
life
hand
in
hand
,
to
share
every
thought
,
every
hope
,
to
renounce
each
his
own
wishes
for
the
sake
of
the
other
.
”
“
That
sounds
very
elevating
;
in
practice
it
breeds
Mr.
and
Mrs.
Gordon
.
”
“
Do
you
mean
to
tell
me
you
will
never
marry
on
this
account
?
”
“
I
would
never
marry
anyone
who
would
exact
the
usual
submissions
and
renunciations
,
or
even
desire
them
,
which
I
suppose
amounts
almost
to
saying
that
I
shall
never
marry
at
all
.
What
man
would
endure
a
wife
who
demanded
to
retain
her
absolute
freedom
,
as
in
the
case
of
a
close
friendship
?
The
man
is
not
born
!
”
“
You
seem
to
forget
,
dear
Hadria
,
in
objecting
to
place
yourself
under
the
yoke
,
as
you
call
it
,
that
your
husband
would
also
be
obliged
to
resign
part
of
his
independence
to
you
.
The
prospect
of
loss
of
liberty
in
marriage
often
prevents
a
man
from
marrying
(
“
Wise
man
!
”
ejaculated
Hadria
)
,
so
you
see
the
disadvantage
is
not
all
on
one
side
,
if
so
you
choose
to
consider
it
.
”
“
Good
heavens
!
do
you
think
that
the
opportunity
to
interfere
with
another
person
would
console
me
for
being
interfered
with
myself
?
I
do
n't
want
my
share
of
the
constraining
power
.
I
would
as
soon
accept
the
lash
of
a
slave-driver
.
This
moral
lash
is
almost
more
odious
than
the
other
,
for
its
thongs
are
made
of
the
affections
and
the
domestic
‘virtues
,
’
than
which
there
can
be
nothing
sneakier
or
more
detestable
!
”
Henriette
heaved
a
discouraged
sigh
.
“
You
are
wrong
,
my
dear
Hadria
,
”
she
said
emphatically
;
“
you
are
wrong
,
wrong
,
wrong
.
”
“
How
?
why
?
”
“
One
ca
n't
have
everything
in
this
life
.
You
must
be
willing
to
resign
part
of
your
privileges
for
the
sake
of
the
far
greater
privileges
that
you
acquire
.
”
“
I
can
imagine
nothing
that
would
compensate
for
the
loss
of
freedom
,
the
right
to
oneself
.
”
“
What
about
love
?
”
murmured
Henriette
.
“
Love
!
”
echoed
Hadria
scornfully
.
“
Do
you
suppose
I
could
ever
love
a
man
who
had
the
paltry
,
ungenerous
instinct
to
enchain
me
?
”
“
Why
use
such
extreme
terms
?
Love
does
not
enchain
.
”
“
Exactly
what
I
contend
,
”
interrupted
Hadria
.
“
But
naturally
husband
and
wife
have
claims
.
”
“
Naturally
.
I
have
just
been
objecting
to
them
in
what
you
describe
as
extreme
terms
.
”
“
But
I
mean
,
when
people
care
for
one
another
,
it
is
a
joy
to
them
to
acknowledge
ties
and
obligations
of
affection
.
”
“
Ah
!
one
knows
what
that
euphemism
means
!
”
“
Pray
what
does
it
mean
?
”
“
That
the
one
serious
endeavour
in
the
life
of
married
people
is
to
be
able
to
call
each
other
's
souls
their
own
.
”
Henriette
stared
.
“
My
language
may
not
be
limpid
.
”
“
Oh
,
I
see
what
you
mean
.
I
was
only
wondering
who
can
have
taught
you
all
these
strange
ideas
.
”
Hadria
at
length
gave
way
to
a
laugh
that
had
been
threatening
for
some
time
.
“
My
mother
,
”
she
observed
simply
.
Henriette
gave
it
up
.
CHAPTER
XV
.
THE
family
had
reassembled
for
the
New
Year
's
festivities
.
The
change
in
Algitha
since
her
departure
from
home
was
striking
.
She
was
gentler
,
more
affectionate
to
her
parents
,
than
of
yore
.
The
tendency
to
grow
hard
and
fretful
had
entirely
disappeared
.
The
sense
of
self
was
obviously
lessened
with
the
need
for
self-defence
.
Hadria
discovered
that
an
attachment
was
springing
up
between
her
sister
and
Wilfred
Burton
,
about
whom
she
wrote
so
frequently
,
and
that
this
development
of
her
emotional
nature
,
united
with
her
work
,
had
given
a
glowing
centre
to
her
life
which
showed
itself
in
a
thousand
little
changes
of
manner
and
thought
.
Hadria
told
her
sister
that
she
felt
herself
unreal
and
fanciful
in
her
presence
.
“
I
go
twirling
things
round
and
round
in
my
head
till
I
grow
dizzy
.
But
you
compare
ideas
with
fact
;
you
even
turn
ideas
into
fact
;
while
I
can
get
no
hold
on
fact
at
all
.
Thoughts
rise
as
mists
rise
from
the
river
,
but
nothing
happens
.
I
feel
them
begin
to
prey
upon
me
,
working
inwards
.
”
Algitha
shook
her
head
.
“
It
is
a
mad
world
,
”
she
said
.
“
Week
after
week
goes
by
,
and
there
seems
no
lifting
of
the
awful
darkness
in
which
the
lives
of
these
millions
are
passed
.
We
want
workers
by
the
thousand
.
Yet
,
as
if
in
mockery
,
the
Devil
keeps
these
well-fed
thousands
eating
their
hearts
out
in
idleness
or
artificial
occupations
till
they
become
diseased
merely
for
want
of
something
to
do
.
Then
,
”
added
Algitha
,
“
His
Majesty
marries
them
,
and
sets
them
to
work
to
create
another
houseful
of
idle
creatures
,
who
have
to
be
supported
by
the
deathly
toil
of
those
who
labour
too
much
.
”
“
The
devil
is
full
of
resources
!
”
said
Hadria
.
Miss
Temperley
had
been
asked
to
stay
at
Dunaghee
for
the
New
Year
.
Algitha
conceived
for
her
a
sentiment
almost
vindictive
.
Hadria
and
the
boys
enjoyed
nothing
better
than
to
watch
Miss
Temperley
giving
forth
her
opinions
,
while
Algitha
's
figure
gradually
stiffened
and
her
neck
drew
out
,
as
Fred
said
,
in
truly
telescopic
fashion
,
like
that
of
Alice
in
Wonderland
.
The
boys
constructed
a
figure
of
cushions
,
stuffed
into
one
of
Algitha
's
old
gowns
,
the
neck
being
a
padded
broom-handle
,
made
to
work
up
and
down
at
pleasure
;
and
with
this
counterfeit
presentment
of
their
sister
,
they
used
to
act
the
scene
amidst
shouts
of
applause
,
Miss
Temperley
entering
,
on
one
occasion
,
when
the
improvised
cocoa-nut
head
had
reached
its
culminating
point
of
high
disdain
,
somewhere
about
the
level
of
the
curtain-poles
.
On
New-Year's-eve
,
Dunaghee
was
full
of
guests
.
There
was
to
be
a
children
's
party
,
to
which
however
most
of
the
grown-up
neighbours
were
also
invited
.
“
What
a
charming
sight
!
”
cried
Henriette
,
standing
with
her
neat
foot
on
the
fender
in
the
hall
,
where
the
children
were
playing
blind
man
's
buff
.
Mrs.
Fullerton
sat
watching
them
with
a
dreamy
smile
.
The
scene
recalled
many
an
old
memory
.
Mr.
Fullerton
was
playing
with
the
children
.
Everyone
remarked
how
well
the
two
girls
looked
in
their
new
evening
gowns
.
They
had
made
them
themselves
,
in
consequence
of
a
wager
with
Fred
,
who
had
challenged
them
to
combine
pink
and
green
satisfactorily
.
“
The
gowns
are
perfect
!
”
Temperley
ventured
to
remark
.
“
So
much
distinction
!
”
“
All
my
doing
,
”
cried
Fred
.
“
I
chose
the
colours
.
”
“
Distinction
comes
from
within
,
”
said
Temperley
.
“
I
should
like
to
see
what
sort
of
gown
in
pink
and
green
Mrs.
—
.
”
He
stopped
short
abruptly
.
Fred
gave
a
chuckle
.
Indiscreet
eyes
wandered
towards
Mrs.
Gordon
's
brocade
and
silver
.
Later
in
the
evening
,
that
lady
played
dance
music
in
a
florid
manner
,
resembling
her
taste
in
dress
.
The
younger
children
had
gone
home
,
and
the
hall
was
filled
with
spinning
couples
.
“
I
hope
we
are
to
have
some
national
dances
,
”
said
Miss
Temperley
.
“
My
brother
and
I
are
both
looking
forward
to
seeing
a
true
reel
danced
by
natives
of
the
country
.
”
“
Oh
,
certainly
!
”
said
Mr.
Fullerton
.
“
My
daughters
are
rather
celebrated
for
their
reels
,
especially
Hadria
.
”
Mr.
Fullerton
executed
a
step
or
two
with
great
agility
.
“
The
girl
gets
quite
out
of
herself
when
she
is
dancing
,
”
said
Mrs.
Fullerton
.
“
She
wo
n't
be
scolded
about
it
,
for
she
says
she
takes
after
her
father
!
”
“
That
's
the
time
to
get
round
her
,
”
observed
Fred
.
“
If
we
want
to
set
her
up
to
some
real
fun
,
we
always
play
a
reel
and
wait
till
she
's
well
into
the
spirit
of
the
thing
,
and
then
,
I
'll
wager
,
she
would
stick
at
nothing
.
”
“
It
's
a
fact
,
”
added
Ernest
.
“
It
really
seems
to
half
mesmerise
her
.
”
“
How
very
curious
!
”
cried
Miss
Temperley
.
She
and
her
brother
found
themselves
watching
the
dancing
a
little
apart
from
the
others
.
“
I
would
try
again
to-night
,
Hubert
,
”
she
said
in
a
low
voice
.
He
was
silent
for
a
moment
,
twirling
the
tassel
of
the
curtain
.
“
There
is
nothing
to
be
really
alarmed
at
in
her
ideas
,
regretable
as
they
are
.
She
is
young
.
That
sort
of
thing
will
soon
wear
off
after
she
is
married
.
”
Temperley
flung
away
the
tassel
.
“
She
does
n't
know
what
she
is
talking
about
.
These
high-flown
lectures
and
discussions
have
filled
all
their
heads
with
nonsense
.
It
will
have
to
be
rooted
out
when
they
come
to
face
the
world
.
No
use
to
oppose
her
now
.
Nothing
but
experience
will
teach
her
.
She
must
just
be
humoured
for
the
present
.
They
have
all
run
a
little
wild
in
their
notions
.
Time
will
cure
that
.
”
“
I
am
sure
of
it
,
”
said
Hubert
tolerantly
.
“
They
do
n't
know
the
real
import
of
what
they
say
.
”
He
hugged
this
sentence
with
satisfaction
.
“
They
are
like
the
young
Russians
one
reads
about
in
Turgenieff
's
novels
,
”
said
Henriette
—
“
all
ideas
,
no
commonsense
.
”
“
And
you
really
believe
—
?
”
Henriette
's
hand
was
laid
comfortingly
on
her
brother
's
arm
.
“
Dear
Hubert
,
I
