roundMrs.
Leyburn
,
filled
with
contempt
for
her
placidity
;
but
she
did
not
attack
her
.
She
spent
herself
,
indeed
,
on
Rose
and
Agnes
,
but
long
practice
had
made
them
adepts
in
the
art
of
baffling
her
;
and
when
Mr.
Flaxman
went
to
tea
at
the
vicarage
in
their
company
,
in
spite
of
an
absorbing
desire
to
get
at
the
truth
,
which
caused
her
to
forget
a
new
cap
,
and
let
fall
a
plate
of
tea-cakes
,
she
was
obliged
to
confess
crossly
to
the
vicar
afterwards
that
'
no
one
could
tell
what
a
man
like
that
was
after
.
She
supposed
his
manners
were
very
aristocratic
,
but
for
her
part
she
liked
plain
people
.
'
On
the
last
morning
of
Mr.
Flaxman
's
stay
in
the
valley
he
entered
the
Burwood
drive
about
eleven
o'clock
,
and
Rose
came
down
the
steps
to
meet
him
.
For
a
moment
he
flattered
himself
that
her
disturbed
looks
were
due
to
the
nearness
of
their
farewells
.
'
There
is
something
wrong
,
'
he
said
,
softly
detaining
her
hand
a
moment
—
so
much
,
at
least
,
was
in
his
right
.
'
Robert
is
ill.
There
has
been
an
accident
at
Petites
Dalles
.
He
has
been
in
bed
for
a
week
.
They
hope
to
get
home
in
a
few
days
.
Catherine
writes
bravely
,
but
she
is
evidently
very
low
.
'
Hugh
Flaxman
's
face
fell
.
Certain
letters
he
had
received
from
Elsmere
in
July
had
lain
heavy
on
his
mind
ever
since
,
so
pitiful
was
the
half-conscious
revelation
in
them
of
an
incessant
physical
struggle
.
An
accident
!
Elsmere
was
in
no
state
for
accidents
.
What
miserable
ill-luck
!
Rose
read
him
Catherine
's
account
.
It
appeared
that
on
a
certain
stormy
day
a
swimmer
had
been
observed
in
difficulties
among
the
rocks
skirting
the
northern
side
of
the
Petites
Dalles
bay
.
The
old
baigneur
of
the
place
,
owner
of
the
still
primitive
établissement
des
bains
,
without
stopping
to
strip
,
or
even
to
take
off
his
heavy
boots
,
went
out
to
the
man
in
danger
with
a
plank
.
The
man
took
the
plank
and
was
safe
.
Then
to
the
people
watching
,
it
became
evident
that
the
baigneur
himself
was
in
peril
.
He
became
unaccountably
feeble
in
the
water
,
and
the
cry
rose
that
he
was
sinking
.
Robert
,
who
happened
to
be
bathing
near
,
ran
off
to
the
spot
,
jumped
in
,
and
swam
out
.
By
this
time
the
old
man
had
drifted
some
way
.
Robert
succeeded
,
however
,
in
bringing
him
in
,
and
then
,
amid
an
excited
crowd
,
headed
by
the
baigneur
's
wailing
family
,
they
carried
the
unconscious
form
on
to
the
higher
beach
.
Elsmere
was
certain
life
was
not
extinct
,
and
sent
off
for
a
doctor
.
Meanwhile
no
one
seemed
to
have
any
common
sense
,
or
any
knowledge
of
how
to
proceed
,
but
himself
.
For
two
hours
he
stayed
on
the
beach
in
his
dripping
bathing-clothes
,
a
cold
wind
blowing
,
trying
every
device
known
to
him
:
rubbing
,
hot
bottles
,
artificial
respiration
.
In
vain
.
The
man
was
too
old
and
too
bloodless
.
Directly
after
the
doctor
arrived
he
breathed
his
last
,
amid
the
wild
and
passionate
grief
of
wife
and
children
.
Robert
,
with
a
cloak
flung
about
him
,
still
stayed
to
talk
to
the
doctor
,
to
carry
one
of
the
baigneur
's
sobbing
grandchildren
to
its
mother
in
the
village
.
Then
,
at
last
,
Catherine
got
hold
of
him
,
and
he
submitted
to
be
taken
home
,
shivering
,
and
deeply
depressed
by
the
failure
of
his
efforts
.
A
violent
gastric
and
lung
chill
declared
itself
almost
immediately
,
and
for
three
days
he
had
been
anxiously
ill.
Catherine
,
miserable
,
distrusting
the
local
doctor
,
and
not
knowing
how
to
get
hold
of
a
better
one
,
had
never
left
him
night
or
day
.
'
I
had
not
the
heart
to
write
even
to
you
,
'
she
wrote
to
her
mother
.
'
I
could
think
of
nothing
but
trying
one
thing
after
another
.
Now
he
has
been
in
bed
eight
days
,
and
is
much
better
.
He
talks
of
getting
up
to-morrow
,
and
declares
he
must
go
home
next
week
.
I
have
tried
to
persuade
him
to
stay
here
another
fortnight
,
but
the
thought
of
his
work
distresses
him
so
much
that
I
hardly
dare
urge
it
.
I
cannot
say
how
I
dread
the
journey
.
He
is
not
fit
for
it
in
any
way
.
'
Rose
folded
up
the
letter
,
her
face
softened
to
a
most
womanly
gravity
.
Hugh
Flaxman
paused
a
moment
outside
the
door
,
his
hands
on
his
sides
,
considering
.
'
I
shall
not
go
on
to
Scotland
,
'
he
said
;
'
Mrs
.
Elsmere
must
not
be
left
.
I
will
go
off
there
at
once
.
'
In
Rose
's
soberly-sweet
looks
as
he
left
her
,
Hugh
Flaxman
saw
for
an
instant
,
with
the
stirring
of
a
joy
as
profound
as
it
was
delicate
,
not
the
fanciful
enchantress
of
the
day
before
,
but
his
wife
that
was
to
be
.
And
yet
she
held
him
to
his
bargain
.
All
that
his
lips
touched
as
he
said
good-bye
was
the
little
bunch
of
yellow
briar
roses
she
gave
him
from
her
belt
.
Thirty
hours
later
he
was
descending
the
long
hill
from
Sassetôt
to
Petites
Dalles
.
It
was
the
1st
of
September
.
A
chilly
west
wind
blew
up
the
dust
before
him
and
stirred
the
parched
leafage
of
the
valley
.
He
knocked
at
the
door
,
of
which
the
woodwork
was
all
peeled
and
blistered
by
the
sun
.
Catherine
herself
opened
it
.
'
This
is
kind
—
this
is
like
yourself
!
'
she
said
,
after
a
first
stare
of
amazement
,
when
he
had
explained
himself
.
'
He
is
in
there
,
much
better
.
'
Robert
looked
up
,
stupefied
,
as
Hugh
Flaxman
entered
.
But
he
sprang
up
with
his
old
brightness
.
'
Well
,
this
is
friendship
!
What
on
earth
brings
you
here
,
old
fellow
?
Why
are
n't
you
in
the
stubbles
celebrating
St.
Partridge
?
'
Hugh
Flaxman
said
what
he
had
to
say
very
shortly
,
but
so
as
to
make
Robert
's
eyes
gleam
,
and
to
bring
his
thin
hand
with
a
sort
of
caressing
touch
upon
Flaxman
's
shoulder
.
'
I
sha
n't
try
to
thank
you
—
Catherine
can
if
she
likes
.
How
relieved
she
will
be
about
that
bothering
journey
of
ours
!
However
,
I
am
really
ever
so
much
better
.
It
was
very
sharp
while
it
lasted
;
and
the
doctor
no
great
shakes
.
But
there
never
was
such
a
woman
as
my
wife
;
she
pulled
me
through
!
And
now
then
,
sir
,
just
kindly
confess
yourself
a
little
more
plainly
.
What
brought
you
and
my
sisters-in-law
together
?
You
need
not
try
and
persuade
me
that
Long
Whindale
is
the
natural
gate
of
the
Lakes
,
or
the
route
intended
by
Heaven
from
London
to
Scotland
,
though
I
have
no
doubt
you
tried
that
little
fiction
on
them
.
'
Hugh
Flaxman
laughed
,
and
sat
down
very
deliberately
.
'
I
am
glad
to
see
that
illness
has
not
robbed
you
of
that
perspicacity
for
which
you
are
so
remarkable
,
Elsmere
.
Well
,
the
day
before
yesterday
I
asked
your
sister
Rose
to
marry
me
.
She
—
—
'
'
Go
on
,
man
,
'
cried
Robert
,
exasperated
by
his
pause
.
'
I
do
n't
know
how
to
put
it
,
'
said
Flaxman
calmly
.
'
For
six
months
we
are
to
be
rather
more
than
friends
,
and
a
good
deal
less
than
fiancés
.
I
am
to
be
allowed
to
write
to
her
.
You
may
imagine
how
seductive
it
is
to
one
of
the
worst
and
laziest
letter-writers
in
the
three
kingdoms
that
his
fortunes
in
love
should
be
made
to
depend
on
his
correspondence
.
I
may
scold
her
if
she
gives
me
occasion
.
And
in
six
months
,
as
one
says
to
a
publisher
,
"
the
agreement
will
be
open
to
revision
.
"
'
Robert
stared
.
'
And
you
are
not
engaged
?
'
'
Not
as
I
understand
it
,
'
replied
Flaxman
.
'
Decidedly
not
!
'
he
added
with
energy
,
remembering
that
very
platonic
farewell
.
Robert
sat
with
his
hands
on
his
knees
,
ruminating
.
'
A
fantastic
thing
,
the
modern
young
woman
!
Still
I
think
I
can
understand
.
There
may
have
been
more
than
mere
caprice
in
it
.
'
His
eye
met
his
friend
's
significantly
.
'
I
suppose
so
,
'
said
Flaxman
quietly
.
Not
even
for
Robert
's
benefit
was
he
going
to
reveal
any
details
of
that
scene
on
High
Fell
'
Never
mind
,
old
fellow
,
I
am
content
.
And
,
indeed
,
faute
de
mieux
,
I
should
be
content
with
anything
that
brought
me
nearer
to
her
,
were
it
but
by
the
thousandth
of
an
inch
.
'
Robert
grasped
his
hand
affectionately
.
'
Catherine
,
'
he
called
through
the
door
,
'
never
mind
the
supper
;
let
it
burn
.
Flaxman
brings
news
.
'
Catherine
listened
to
the
story
with
amazement
.
Certainly
her
ways
would
never
have
been
as
her
sister
's
.
'
Are
we
supposed
to
know
?
'
she
asked
,
very
naturally
.
'
She
never
forbade
me
to
tell
,
'
said
Flaxman
smiling
.
'
I
think
,
however
,
if
I
were
you
,
I
should
say
nothing
about
it
—
yet
.
I
told
her
it
was
part
of
our
bargain
that
she
should
explain
my
letters
to
Mrs.
Leyburn
.
I
gave
her
free
leave
to
invent
any
fairy
tale
she
pleased
,
but
it
was
to
be
her
invention
,
not
mine
.
Neither
Robert
nor
Catherine
were
very
well
pleased
.
But
there
was
something
reassuring
as
well
as
comic
in
the
stoicism
with
which
Flaxman
took
his
position
.
And
clearly
the
matter
must
be
left
to
manage
itself
.
Next
morning
the
weather
had
improved
.
Robert
,
his
hand
on
Flaxman
's
arm
,
got
down
to
the
beach
.
Flaxman
watched
him
critically
,
did
not
like
some
of
his
symptoms
,
but
thought
on
the
whole
he
must
be
recovering
at
the
normal
rate
,
considering
how
severe
the
attack
had
been
.
'
What
do
you
think
of
him
?
'
Catherine
asked
him
next
day
,
with
all
her
soul
in
her
eyes
.
They
had
left
Robert
established
in
a
sunny
nook
,
and
were
strolling
on
along
the
sands
.
'
I
think
you
must
get
him
home
,
call
in
a
first-rate
doctor
,
and
keep
him
quiet
,
'
said
Flaxman
.
'
He
will
be
all
right
presently
.
'
'
How
can
we
keep
him
quiet
?
'
said
Catherine
,
with
a
momentary
despair
in
her
fine
pale
face
.
'
All
day
long
and
all
night
long
he
is
thinking
of
his
work
.
It
is
like
something
fiery
burning
the
heart
out
of
him
.
'
Flaxman
felt
the
truth
of
the
remark
during
the
four
days
of
calm
autumn
weather
he
spent
with
them
before
the
return
journey
.
Robert
would
talk
to
him
for
hours
,
now
on
the
sands
,
with
the
gray
infinity
of
sea
before
them
,
now
pacing
the
bounds
of
their
little
room
till
fatigue
made
him
drop
heavily
into
his
long
chair
;
and
the
burden
of
it
all
was
the
religious
future
of
the
working-class
.
He
described
the
scene
in
the
Club
,
and
brought
out
the
dreams
swarming
in
his
mind
,
presenting
them
for
Flaxman
's
criticism
,
and
dealing
with
them
himself
,
with
that
startling
mixture
of
acute
common-sense
and
eloquent
passion
which
had
always
made
him
so
effective
as
an
initiator
.
Flaxman
listened
dubiously
at
first
,
as
he
generally
listened
to
Elsmere
,
and
then
was
carried
away
,
not
by
the
beliefs
,
but
by
the
man
.
He
found
his
pleasure
in
dallying
with
the
magnificent
possibility
of
the
Church
;
doubt
with
him
applied
to
all
propositions
,
whether
positive
or
negative
;
and
he
had
the
dislike
of
the
aristocrat
and
the
cosmopolitan
for
the
provincialisms
of
religious
dissent
.
Political
dissent
or
social
reform
was
another
matter
.
Since
the
Revolution
,
every
generous
child
of
the
century
has
been
open
to
the
fascination
of
political
or
social
Utopias
.
But
religion
!
What
—
what
is
truth
?
Why
not
let
the
old
things
alone
?
However
,
it
was
through
the
social
passion
,
once
so
real
in
him
,
and
still
living
,
in
spite
of
disillusion
and
self-mockery
,
that
Robert
caught
him
,
had
in
fact
been
slowly
gaining
possession
of
him
all
these
months
.
'
Well
,
'
said
Flaxman
one
day
,
'
suppose
I
grant
you
that
Christianity
of
the
old
sort
shows
strong
signs
of
exhaustion
,
even
in
England
,
and
in
spite
of
the
Church
expansion
we
hear
so
much
about
;
and
suppose
I
believe
with
you
that
things
will
go
badly
without
religion
—
what
then
?
Who
can
have
a
religion
for
the
asking
?
'
'
But
who
can
have
it
without
?
Seek
,
that
you
may
find
.
Experiment
;
try
new
combinations
.
If
a
thing
is
going
that
humanity
ca
n't
do
without
,
and
you
and
I
believe
it
,
what
duty
is
more
urgent
for
us
than
the
effort
to
replace
it
?
'
Flaxman
shrugged
his
shoulders
.
'
What
will
you
gain
?
A
new
sect
?
'
'
Possibly
.
But
what
we
stand
to
gain
is
a
new
social
bond
,
'
was
the
flashing
answer
—
'
a
new
compelling
force
in
man
and
in
society
.
Can
you
deny
that
the
world
wants
it
?
What
are
you
economists
and
sociologists
of
the
new
type
always
pining
for
?
Why
,
for
that
diminution
of
the
self
in
man
which
is
to
enable
the
individual
to
see
the
world
's
ends
clearly
,
and
to
care
not
only
for
his
own
but
for
his
neighbour
's
interest
,
which
is
to
make
the
rich
devote
themselves
to
the
poor
,
and
the
poor
bear
with
the
rich
.
If
man
only
would
,
he
could
,
you
say
,
solve
all
the
problems
which
oppress
him
.
It
is
man
's
will
which
is
eternally
defective
,
eternally
inadequate
.
Well
,
the
great
religions
of
the
world
are
the
stimulants
by
which
the
power
at
the
root
of
things
has
worked
upon
this
sluggish
instrument
of
human
destiny
.
Without
religion
you
cannot
make
the
will
equal
to
its
tasks
.
Our
present
religion
fails
us
;
we
must
,
we
will
have
another
!
'
He
rose
and
began
to
pace
along
the
sands
,
now
gently
glowing
in
the
warm
September
evening
,
Flaxman
beside
him
.
A
new
religion
!
Of
all
words
,
the
most
tremendous
!
Flaxman
pitifully
weighed
against
it
the
fraction
of
force
fretting
and
surging
in
the
thin
elastic
frame
beside
him
.
He
knew
well
,
however
—
few
better
—
that
the
outburst
was
not
a
mere
dream
and
emptiness
.
There
was
experience
behind
it
—
a
burning
,
driving
experience
of
actual
fact
.
Presently
Robert
said
,
with
a
change
of
tone
,
'
I
must
have
that
whole
block
of
warehouses
,
Flaxman
.
'
'
Must
you
?
'
said
Flaxman
,
relieved
by
the
drop
from
speculation
to
the
practical
.
'
Why
?
'
'
Look
here
!
'
And
sitting
down
again
on
a
sand-hill
overgrown
with
wild
grasses
and
mats
of
sea-thistle
,
the
poor
pale
reformer
began
to
draw
out
the
details
of
his
scheme
on
its
material
side
.
Three
floors
of
rooms
brightly
furnished
,
well
lit
and
warmed
;
a
large
hall
for
the
Sunday
lectures
,
concerts
,
entertainments
,
and
story-telling
;
rooms
for
the
boys
'
club
;
two
rooms
for
women
and
girls
,
reached
by
a
separate
entrance
;
a
library
and
reading-room
open
to
both
sexes
,
well
stored
with
books
,
and
made
beautiful
by
pictures
;
three
or
four
smaller
rooms
to
serve
as
committee
rooms
and
for
the
purposes
of
the
Naturalist
Club
which
had
been
started
in
May
on
the
Murewell
plan
;
and
,
if
possible
,
a
gymnasium
.
'
Money
!
'
he
said
,
drawing
up
with
a
laugh
in
mid-career
.
'
There
's
the
rub
,
of
course
.
But
I
shall
manage
it
.
'
To
judge
from
the
past
,
Flaxman
thought
it
extremely
likely
that
he
would
.
He
studied
the
cabalistic
lines
Elsmere
's
stick
had
made
in
the
sand
for
a
minute
or
two
;
then
he
said
dryly
,
'
I
will
take
the
first
expense
:
and
draw
on
me
afterwards
up
to
five
hundred
a
year
,
for
the
first
four
years
.
'
Robert
turned
upon
him
and
grasped
his
hand
.
'
I
do
not
thank
you
,
'
he
said
quietly
,
after
a
moment
's
pause
;
'
the
work
itself
will
do
that
.
'
Again
they
strolled
on
,
talking
,
plunging
into
details
,
till
Flaxman
's
pulse
beat
as
fast
as
Robert
's
;
so
full
of
infectious
hope
and
energy
was
the
whole
being
of
the
man
before
him
.
'
I
can
take
in
the
women
and
girls
now
,
'
Robert
said
once
.
'
Catherine
has
promised
to
superintend
it
all
.
'
Then
suddenly
something
struck
the
mobile
mind
,
and
he
stood
an
instant
looking
at
his
companion
.
It
was
the
first
time
he
had
mentioned
Catherine
's
name
in
connection
with
the
North
R
—
—
work
.
Flaxman
could
not
mistake
the
emotion
,
the
unspoken
thanks
in
those
eyes
.
He
turned
away
,
nervously
knocking
off
the
ashes
of
his
cigar
.
But
the
two
men
understood
each
other
.
CHAPTER
XLIX
Two
days
later
they
were
in
London
again
.
Robert
was
a
great
deal
better
,
and
beginning
to
kick
against
invalid
restraints
.
All
men
have
their
pet
irrationalities
.
Elsmere
's
irrationality
was
an
aversion
to
doctors
,
from
the
point
of
view
of
his
own
ailments
.
He
had
an
unbounded
admiration
for
them
as
a
class
,
and
would
have
nothing
to
say
to
them
as
individuals
that
he
could
possibly
help
.
Flaxman
was
sarcastic
;
Catherine
looked
imploring
in
vain
.
He
vowed
that
he
was
treating
himself
with
a
skill
any
professional
might
envy
,
and
went
his
way
.
And
for
a
time
the
stimulus
of
London
and
of
his
work
seemed
to
act
favourably
upon
him
.
After
his
first
welcome
at
the
Club
he
came
home
with
bright
eye
and
vigorous
step
,
declaring
that
he
was
another
man
.
Flaxman
established
himself
in
St.
James
's
Place
.
Town
was
deserted
;
the
partridges
at
Greenlaws
clamoured
to
be
shot
;
the
head-keeper
wrote
letters
which
would
have
melted
the
heart
of
a
stone
.
Flaxman
replied
recklessly
that
any
decent
fellow
in
the
neighbourhood
was
welcome
to
shoot
his
birds
—
a
reply
which
almost
brought
upon
him
the
resignation
of
the
outraged
keeper
by
return
of
post
.
Lady
Charlotte
wrote
and
remonstrated
with
him
for
neglecting
a
landowner
's
duties
,
inquiring
at
the
same
time
what
he
meant
to
do
with
regard
to
'
that
young
lady
.
'
To
which
Flaxman
replied
calmly
that
he
had
just
come
back
from
the
Lakes
,
where
he
had
done
,
not
indeed
all
that
he
meant
to
do
,
but
still
something
.
Miss
Leyburn
and
he
were
not
engaged
,
but
he
was
on
probation
for
six
months
,
and
found
London
the
best
place
for
getting
through
it
.
'
So
far
,
'
he
said
,
'
I
am
getting
on
well
,
and
developing
an
amount
of
energy
especially
in
the
matter
of
correspondence
,
which
alone
ought
to
commend
the
arrangement
to
the
relations
of
an
idle
man
.
But
we
must
be
left
"
to
dream
our
dream
unto
ourselves
alone
.
"
One
word
from
anybody
belonging
to
me
to
anybody
belonging
to
her
on
the
subject
,
and
—
—
But
threats
are
puerile
.
For
the
present
,
dear
aunt
,
I
am
your
devoted
nephew
,
Hugh
Flaxman
.
'
On
probation
!
'
Flaxman
chuckled
as
he
sent
off
the
letter
.
He
stayed
because
he
was
too
restless
to
be
anywhere
else
,
and
because
he
loved
the
Elsmeres
for
Rose
's
sake
and
his
own
.
He
thought
moreover
that
a
cool-headed
friend
with
an
eye
for
something
else
in
the
world
than
religious
reform
might
be
useful
just
then
to
Elsmere
,
and
he
was
determined
at
the
same
time
to
see
what
the
reformer
meant
to
be
at
.
In
the
first
place
,
Robert
's
attention
was
directed
to
getting
possession
of
the
whole
block
of
buildings
,
in
which
the
existing
school
and
lecture-rooms
took
up
only
the
lowest
floor
.
This
was
a
matter
of
some
difficulty
,
for
the
floors
above
were
employed
in
warehousing
goods
belonging
to
various
minor
import
trades
,
and
were
held
on
tenures
of
different
lengths
.
However
,
by
dint
of
some
money
and
much
skill
,
the
requisite
clearances
were
effected
during
September
and
part
of
October
.
By
the
end
of
that
month
all
but
the
top
floor
,
the
tenant
of
which
refused
to
be
dislodged
,
fell
into
Elsmere
's
hands
.
Meanwhile
,
at
a
meeting
held
every
Sunday
after
lecture
—
a
meeting
composed
mainly
of
artisans
of
the
district
,
but
including
also
Robert
's
helpers
from
the
West
,
and
a
small
sprinkling
of
persons
interested
in
the
man
and
his
work
from
all
parts
—
the
details
of
'
The
New
Brotherhood
of
Christ
'
were
being
hammered
out
.
Catherine
was
generally
present
,
sitting
a
little
apart
,
with
a
look
which
Flaxman
,
who
now
knew
her
well
,
was
always
trying
to
decipher
afresh
—
a
sort
of
sweet
aloofness
,
as
though
the
spirit
behind
it
saw
,
down
the
vistas
of
the
future
,
ends
and
solutions
which
gave
it
courage
to
endure
the
present
.
Murray
Edwardes
too
was
always
there
.
It
often
struck
Flaxman
afterwards
that
in
Robert
's
attitude
towards
Edwardes
at
this
time
,
in
his
constant
desire
to
bring
him
forward
,
to
associate
him
with
himself
as
much
as
possible
in
the
government
and
formation
of
the
infant
society
,
there
was
a
half-conscious
prescience
of
a
truth
that
as
yet
none
knew
,
not
even
the
tender
wife
,
the
watchful
friend
.
The
meetings
were
of
extraordinary
interest
.
The
men
,
the
great
majority
of
whom
had
been
disciplined
and
moulded
for
months
by
contact
with
Elsmere
's
teaching
and
Elsmere
's
thought
,
showed
a
responsiveness
,
a
receptivity
,
even
a
power
of
initiation
which
often
struck
Flaxman
with
wonder
.
Were
these
the
men
he
had
seen
in
the
Club-hall
on
the
night
of
Robert
's
address
—
sour
,
stolid
,
brutalised
,
hostile
to
all
things
in
heaven
and
earth
?
'
And
we
go
on
prating
that
the
age
of
saints
is
over
,
the
rôle
of
the
individual
lessening
day
by
day
!
Fool
!
go
and
be
a
saint
,
go
and
give
yourself
to
ideas
;
go
and
live
the
life
hid
with
Christ
in
God
,
and
see
,
'
—
so
would
run
the
quick
comment
of
the
observer
.
But
incessant
as
was
the
reciprocity
,
the
interchange
and
play
of
feeling
between
Robert
and
the
wide
following
growing
up
around
him
,
it
was
plain
to
Flaxman
that
although
he
never
moved
a
step
without
carrying
his
world
with
him
,
he
was
never
at
the
mercy
of
his
world
.
Nothing
was
ever
really
left
to
chance
.
Through
all
these
strange
debates
,
which
began
rawly
and
clumsily
enough
,
and
grew
every
week
more
and
more
absorbing
to
all
concerned
,
Flaxman
was
convinced
that
hardly
any
rule
or
formula
of
the
new
society
was
ultimately
adopted
which
had
not
been
for
long
in
Robert
's
mind
—
thought
out
and
brought
into
final
shape
,
perhaps
,
on
the
Petites
Dalles
sands
.
It
was
an
unobtrusive
art
,
his
art
of
government
,
but
a
most
effective
one
.
At
any
moment
,
as
Flaxman
often
felt
,
at
any
rate
in
the
early
meetings
,
the
discussions
as
to
the
religious
practices
which
were
to
bind
together
the
new
association
might
have
passed
the
line
,
and
become
puerile
or
grotesque
.
At
any
moment
the
jarring
characters
and
ambitions
of
the
men
Elsmere
had
to
deal
with
might
have
dispersed
that
delicate
atmosphere
of
moral
sympathy
and
passion
in
which
the
whole
new
birth
seemed
to
have
been
conceived
,
and
upon
the
maintenance
of
which
its
fruition
and
development
depended
.
But
as
soon
as
Elsmere
appeared
,
difficulties
vanished
,
enthusiasm
sprang
up
again
.
The
rules
of
the
new
society
came
simply
and
naturally
into
being
,
steeped
and
haloed
,
as
it
were
,
from
the
beginning
,
in
the
passion
and
genius
of
one
great
heart
.
The
fastidious
critical
instinct
in
Flaxman
was
silenced
no
less
than
the
sour
,
half-educated
analysis
of
such
a
man
as
Lestrange
.
In
the
same
way
all
personal
jars
seemed
to
melt
away
beside
him
.
There
were
some
painful
things
connected
with
the
new
departure
.
Wardlaw
,
for
instance
,
a
conscientious
Comtist
,
refusing
stoutly
to
admit
anything
more
than
'
an
unknowable
reality
behind
phenomena
,
'
was
distressed
and
affronted
by
the
strongly
religious
bent
Elsmere
was
giving
to
the
work
he
had
begun
.
Lestrange
,
who
was
a
man
of
great
though
raw
ability
,
who
almost
always
spoke
at
the
meetings
,
and
whom
Robert
was
bent
on
attaching
to
the
society
,
had
times
when
the
things
he
was
half
inclined
to
worship
one
day
he
was
much
more
inclined
to
burn
the
next
in
the
sight
of
all
men
,
and
when
the
smallest
failure
of
temper
on
Robert
's
part
might
have
entailed
a
disagreeable
scene
,
and
the
possible
formation
of
a
harassing
left
wing
.
But
Robert
's
manner
to
Wardlaw
was
that
of
a
grateful
younger
brother
.
It
was
clear
that
the
Comtist
could
not
formally
join
the
Brotherhood
.
But
all
the
share
and
influence
that
could
be
secured
him
in
the
practical
working
of
it
was
secured
him
.
And
what
was
more
,
Robert
succeeded
in
infusing
his
own
delicacy
,
his
own
compunctions
on
the
subject
,
into
the
men
and
youths
who
had
profited
in
the
past
by
Wardlaw
's
rough
self-devotion
.
So
that
if
,
through
much
that
went
on
now
,
he
could
only
be
a
spectator
,
at
least
he
was
not
allowed
to
feel
himself
an
alien
or
forgotten
.
As
to
Lestrange
,
against
a
man
who
was
as
ready
to
laugh
as
to
preach
,
and
into
whose
ardent
soul
nature
had
infused
a
saving
sense
of
the
whimsical
in
life
and
character
,
cynicism
and
vanity
seemed
to
have
no
case
.
Robert
's
quick
temper
had
been
wonderfully
disciplined
by
life
since
his
Oxford
days
.
He
had
now
very
little
of
that
stiff-neckedness
,
so
fatal
to
the
average
reformer
,
which
makes
a
man
insist
on
all
or
nothing
from
his
followers
.
He
took
what
each
man
had
to
give
.
Nay
,
he
made
it
almost
seem
as
though
the
grudging
support
of
Lestrange
,
or
the
critical
half-patronising
approval
of
the
young
barrister
from
the
West
who
came
down
to
listen
to
him
,
and
made
a
favour
of
teaching
in
his
night-school
,
were
as
precious
to
him
as
was
the
whole-hearted
,
the
self-abandoning
veneration
,
which
the
majority
of
those
about
him
had
begun
to
show
towards
the
man
in
whom
,
as
Charles
Richards
said
,
they
had
'
seen
God
.
'
At
last
by
the
middle
of
November
the
whole
great
building
,
with
the
exception
of
the
top
floor
,
was
cleared
and
ready
for
use
.
Robert
felt
the
same
joy
in
it
,
in
its
clean
paint
,
the
half-filled
shelves
in
the
library
,
the
pictures
standing
against
the
walls
ready
to
be
hung
,
the
rolls
of
bright-coloured
matting
ready
to
be
laid
down
,
as
he
had
felt
in
the
Murewell
Institute
.
He
and
Flaxman
,
helped
by
a
voluntary
army
of
men
,
worked
at
it
from
morning
till
night
.
Only
Catherine
could
ever
persuade
him
to
remember
that
he
was
not
yet
physically
himself
.
Then
came
the
day
when
the
building
was
formally
opened
,
when
the
gilt
letters
over
the
door
,
'
The
New
Brotherhood
of
Christ
,
'
shone
out
into
the
dingy
street
,
and
when
the
first
enrolment
of
names
in
the
book
of
the
Brotherhood
took
place
.
For
two
hours
a
continuous
stream
of
human
beings
surrounded
the
little
table
beside
which
Elsmere
stood
,
inscribing
their
names
,
and
receiving
from
him
the
silver
badge
,
bearing
the
head
of
Christ
,
which
was
to
be
the
outward
and
conspicuous
sign
of
membership
.
Men
came
of
all
sorts
:
the
intelligent
well-paid
artisan
,
the
pallid
clerk
or
small
accountant
,
stalwart
warehousemen
,
huge
carters
and
draymen
,
the
boy
attached
to
each
by
the
laws
of
the
profession
often
straggling
lumpishly
behind
his
master
.
Women
were
there
:
wives
who
came
because
their
lords
came
,
or
because
Mr.
Elsmere
had
been
'
that
good
'
to
them
that
anything
they
could
do
to
oblige
him
'
they
would
,
and
welcome
'
;
prim
pupil-teachers
,
holding
themselves
with
straight
superior
shoulders
;
children
,
who
came
trooping
in
,
grinned
up
into
Robert
's
face
and
retreated
again
with
red
cheeks
,
the
silver
badge
tight
clasped
in
hands
which
not
even
much
scrubbing
could
make
passable
.
Flaxman
stood
and
watched
it
from
the
side
.
It
was
an
extraordinary
scene
:
the
crowd
,
the
slight
figure
on
the
platform
,
the
two
great
inscriptions
,
which
represented
the
only
'
articles
'
of
the
new
faith
,
gleaming
from
the
freshly
coloured
walls
—
'
In
Thee
,
O
Eternal
,
have
I
put
my
trust
;
'
'
This
do
in
remembrance
of
Me
;
'
—
the
recesses
on
either
side
of
the
hall
lined
with
white
marble
,
and
destined
,
the
one
to
hold
the
names
of
the
living
members
of
the
Brotherhood
,
the
other
to
commemorate
those
who
had
passed
away
(
empty
this
last
save
for
the
one
poor
name
of
'
Charles
Richards
'
)
;
the
copies
of
Giotto
's
Paduan
Virtues
—
faith
,
fortitude
,
charity
,
and
the
like
—
which
broke
the
long
wall
at
intervals
.
The
cynic
in
the
onlooker
tried
to
assert
itself
against
the
feeling
with
which
the
air
seemed
overcharged
.
In
vain
.
'
Whatever
comes
of
it
,
'
Flaxman
said
to
himself
with
strong
involuntary
conviction
,
'
whether
he
fails
or
no
,
the
spirit
that
is
moving
here
is
the
same
spirit
that
spread
the
Church
,
the
spirit
that
sent
out
Benedictine
and
Franciscan
into
the
world
,
that
fired
the
children
of
Luther
,
or
Calvin
,
or
George
Fox
;
the
spirit
of
devotion
,
through
a
man
,
to
an
idea
;
through
one
much-loved
,
much-trusted
soul
to
some
eternal
verity
,
newly
caught
,
newly
conceived
,
behind
it
.
There
is
no
approaching
the
idea
for
the
masses
except
through
the
human
life
;
there
is
no
lasting
power
for
the
man
except
as
the
slave
of
the
idea
!
'
A
week
later
he
wrote
to
his
aunt
as
follows
.
He
could
not
write
to
her
of
Rose
,
he
did
not
care
to
write
of
himself
,
and
he
knew
that
Elsmere
's
club
address
had
left
a
mark
even
on
her
restless
and
overcrowded
mind
.
Moreover
,
he
himself
was
absorbed
.
'
We
are
in
the
full
stream
of
religion-making
.
I
watch
it
with
a
fascination
you
at
a
distance
cannot
possibly
understand
,
even
when
my
judgment
demurs
,
and
my
intelligence
protests
that
the
thing
cannot
live
without
Elsmere
,
and
that
Elsmere
's
life
is
a
frail
one
.
After
the
ceremony
of
enrolment
which
I
described
to
you
yesterday
the
Council
of
the
New
Brotherhood
was
chosen
by
popular
election
,
and
Elsmere
gave
an
address
.
Two-thirds
of
the
council
,
I
should
think
,
are
working-men
,
the
rest
of
the
upper
class
;
Elsmere
,
of
course
,
president
.
'
Since
then
the
first
religious
service
under
the
new
constitution
has
been
held
.
The
service
is
extremely
simple
,
and
the
basis
of
the
whole
is
"
new
bottles
for
the
new
wine
.
"
The
opening
prayer
is
recited
by
everybody
present
standing
.
It
is
rather
an
act
of
adoration
and
faith
than
a
prayer
,
properly
so
called
.
It
represents
,
in
fact
,
the
placing
of
the
soul
in
the
presence
of
God
.
The
mortal
turns
to
the
eternal
;
the
ignorant
and
imperfect
look
away
from
themselves
to
the
knowledge
and
perfection
of
the
All-Holy
.
It
is
Elsmere
's
drawing
up
,
I
imagine
—
at
any
rate
it
is
essentially
modern
,
expressing
the
modern
spirit
,
answering
to
modern
need
,
as
I
imagine
the
first
Christian
prayers
expressed
the
spirit
and
answered
to
the
need
of
an
earlier
day
.
'
Then
follows
some
passage
from
the
life
of
Christ
.
Elsmere
reads
it
and
expounds
it
,
in
the
first
place
,
as
a
lecturer
might
expound
a
passage
of
Tacitus
,
historically
and
critically
.
His
explanation
of
miracle
,
his
efforts
to
make
his
audience
realise
the
germs
of
miraculous
belief
which
each
man
carries
with
him
in
the
constitution
and
inherited
furniture
of
his
mind
,
are
some
of
the
most
ingenious
—
perhaps
the
most
convincing
—
I
have
ever
heard
.
My
heart
and
my
head
have
never
been
very
much
at
one
,
as
you
know
,
on
this
matter
of
the
marvellous
element
in
religion
.
'
But
then
when
the
critic
has
done
,
the
poet
and
the
believer
begins
.
Whether
he
has
got
hold
of
the
true
Christ
is
another
matter
;
but
that
the
Christ
he
preaches
moves
the
human
heart
as
much
as
—
and
in
the
case
of
the
London
artisan
,
more
than
—
the
current
orthodox
presentation
of
him
,
I
begin
to
have
ocular
demonstration
.
'
I
was
present
,
for
instance
,
at
his
children
's
Sunday
class
the
other
day
.
He
had
brought
them
up
to
the
story
of
the
Crucifixion
,
reading
from
the
Revised
Version
,
and
amplifying
wherever
the
sense
required
it
.
Suddenly
a
little
girl
laid
her
head
on
the
desk
before
her
,
and
with
choking
sobs
implored
him
not
to
go
on
.
The
whole
class
seemed
ready
to
do
the
same
.
The
pure
human
pity
of
the
story
—
the
contrast
between
the
innocence
and
the
pain
of
the
sufferer
—
seemed
to
be
more
than
they
could
bear
.
And
there
was
no
comforting
sense
of
a
jugglery
by
which
the
suffering
was
not
real
after
all
,
and
the
sufferer
not
man
but
God
.
'
He
took
one
of
them
upon
his
knee
and
tried
to
console
them
.
But
there
is
something
piercingly
penetrating
and
austere
even
in
the
consolations
of
this
new
faith
.
He
did
but
remind
the
children
of
the
burden
of
gratitude
laid
upon
them
.
"
Would
you
let
him
suffer
so
much
in
vain
?
His
suffering
has
made
you
and
me
happier
and
better
to-day
,
at
this
moment
,
than
we
could
have
been
without
Jesus
.
You
will
understand
how
,
and
why
,
more
clearly
when
you
grow
up
.
Let
us
in
return
keep
him
in
our
hearts
always
,
and
obey
his
words
!
It
is
all
you
can
do
for
his
sake
,
just
as
all
you
could
do
for
a
mother
who
died
would
be
to
follow
her
wishes
and
sacredly
keep
her
memory
.
"
'
That
was
about
the
gist
of
it
.
It
was
a
strange
little
scene
,
wonderfully
suggestive
and
pathetic
.
'
But
a
few
more
words
about
the
Sunday
service
.
After
the
address
came
a
hymn
.
There
are
only
seven
hymns
in
the
little
service
book
,
gathered
out
of
the
finest
we
have
.
It
is
supposed
that
in
a
short
time
they
will
become
so
familiar
to
the
members
of
the
Brotherhood
that
they
will
be
sung
readily
by
heart
.
The
singing
of
them
in
the
public
service
alternates
with
an
equal
number
of
psalms
.
And
both
psalms
and
hymns
are
meant
to
be
recited
or
sung
constantly
in
the
homes
of
the
members
,
and
to
become
part
of
the
everyday
life
of
the
Brotherhood
.
They
have
been
most
carefully
chosen
,
and
a
sort
of
ritual
importance
has
been
attached
to
them
from
the
beginning
.
Each
day
in
the
week
has
its
particular
hymn
or
psalm
.
'
Then
the
whole
wound
up
with
another
short
prayer
,
also
repeated
standing
,
a
commendation
of
the
individual
,
the
Brotherhood
,
the
nation
,
the
world
,
to
God
.
The
phrases
of
it
are
terse
and
grand
.
One
can
see
at
once
that
it
has
laid
hold
of
the
popular
sense
,
the
popular
memory
.
The
Lord
's
Prayer
followed
.
Then
,
after
a
silent
pause
of
"
recollection
,
"
Elsmere
dismissed
them
.
'
"
Go
in
peace
,
in
the
love
of
God
,
and
in
the
memory
of
His
servant
,
Jesus
.
"
'
I
looked
carefully
at
the
men
as
they
were
tramping
out
.
Some
of
them
were
among
the
Secularist
speakers
you
and
I
heard
at
the
club
in
April
.
In
my
wonder
,
I
thought
of
a
saying
of
Vinet
's
:
"
C'est
pour
la
religion
que
le
peuple
a
le
plus
de
talent
;
c'est
en
religion
qu'il
montre
le
plus
d'esprit
.
"
'
In
a
later
letter
he
wrote
—
'
I
have
not
yet
described
to
you
what
is
perhaps
the
most
characteristic
,
the
most
binding
practice
of
the
New
Brotherhood
.
It
is
that
which
has
raised
most
angry
comment
,
cries
of
"
profanity
,
"
"
wanton
insult
,
"
and
what
not
.
I
came
upon
it
yesterday
in
an
interesting
way
.
I
was
working
with
Elsmere
at
the
arrangement
of
the
library
,
which
is
now
becoming
a
most
fascinating
place
,
under
the
management
of
a
librarian
chosen
from
the
neighbourhood
,
when
he
asked
me
to
go
and
take
a
message
to
a
carpenter
who
has
been
giving
us
voluntary
help
in
the
evenings
after
his
day
's
work
.
He
thought
that
as
it
was
the
dinner
hour
,
and
the
man
worked
in
the
dock
close
by
,
I
might
find
him
at
home
.
I
went
off
to
the
model
lodging-house
where
I
was
told
to
look
for
him
,
mounted
the
common
stairs
,
and
knocked
at
his
door
.
Nobody
seemed
to
hear
me
,
and
as
the
door
was
ajar
I
pushed
it
open
.
'
Inside
was
a
curious
sight
.
'
The
table
was
spread
with
the
midday
meal
.
Round
the
table
stood
four
children
,
the
eldest
about
fourteen
,
and
the
youngest
six
or
seven
.
At
one
end
of
it
stood
the
carpenter
himself
in
his
working
apron
,
a
brawny
Saxon
,
bowed
a
little
by
his
trade
.
Before
him
was
a
plate
of
bread
,
and
his
horny
hands
were
resting
on
it
.
The
street
was
noisy
;
they
had
not
heard
my
knock
;
and
as
I
pushed
open
the
door
there
was
an
old
coat
hanging
over
the
corner
of
it
which
concealed
me
.
'
Something
in
the
attitudes
of
all
concerned
reminded
me
,
kept
me
where
I
was
,
silent
.
'
The
father
lifted
his
right
hand
.
'
"
The
Master
said
,
'
This
do
in
remembrance
of
Me
!
'
"
'
The
children
stooped
for
a
moment
in
silence
,
then
the
youngest
said
slowly
,
in
a
little
softened
cockney
voice
that
touched
me
extraordinarily
,
—
'
"
Jesus
,
we
remember
Thee
always
!
"
'
It
was
the
appointed
response
.
As
she
spoke
I
recollected
the
child
perfectly
at
Elsmere
's
class
.
I
also
remembered
that
she
had
no
mother
;
that
her
mother
had
died
of
cancer
in
June
,
visited
and
comforted
to
the
end
by
Elsmere
and
his
wife
.
'
Well
,
the
great
question
of
course
remains
—
is
there
a
sufficient
strength
of
feeling
and
conviction
behind
these
things
?
If
so
,
after
all
,
everything
was
new
once
,
and
Christianity
was
but
modified
Judaism
.
'
'
December
22.
'
I
believe
I
shall
soon
be
as
deep
in
this
matter
as
Elsmere
.
In
Elgood
Street
great
preparations
are
going
on
for
Christmas
.
But
it
will
be
a
new
sort
of
Christmas
.
We
shall
hear
very
little
,
it
seems
,
of
angels
and
shepherds
,
and
a
great
deal
of
the
humble
childhood
of
a
little
Jewish
boy
whose
genius
grown
to
maturity
transformed
the
Western
world
.
To
see
Elsmere
,
with
his
boys
and
girls
about
him
,
trying
to
make
them
feel
themselves
the
heirs
and
fellows
of
the
Nazarene
child
,
to
make
them
understand
something
of
the
lessons
that
child
must
have
learnt
,
the
sights
he
must
have
seen
,
and
the
thoughts
that
must
have
come
to
him
,
is
a
spectacle
of
which
I
will
not
miss
more
than
I
can
help
.
Do
n't
imagine
,
however
,
that
I
am
converted
exactly
!
—
but
only
that
I
am
more
interested
and
stimulated
than
I
have
been
for
years
.
And
do
n't
expect
me
for
Christmas
.
I
shall
stay
here
.
'
'
New
Year
's
Day
.
'
I
am
writing
from
the
library
of
the
New
Brotherhood
.
The
amount
of
activity
,
social
,
educational
,
religious
,
of
which
this
great
building
promises
to
be
the
centre
is
already
astonishing
.
Everything
,
of
course
including
the
constitution
of
the
infant
society
,
is
as
yet
purely
tentative
and
experimental
.
But
for
a
scheme
so
young
,
things
are
falling
into
working
order
with
wonderful
rapidity
.
Each
department
is
worked
by
committees
under
the
central
council
.
Elsmere
,
of
course
,
is
ex-officio
chairman
of
a
large
proportion
;
Wardlaw
,
Mackay
,
I
,
and
a
few
other
fellows
"
run
"
the
rest
for
the
present
.
But
each
committee
contains
working-men
;
and
it
is
the
object
of
everybody
concerned
to
make
the
workman
element
more
and
more
real
and
efficient
.
What
with
the
"
tax
"
on
the
members
which
was
fixed
by
a
general
meeting
,
and
the
contributions
from
outside
,
the
society
already
commands
a
fair
income
.
But
Elsmere
is
anxious
not
to
attempt
too
much
at
once
,
and
will
go
slowly
and
train
his
workers
.
'
Music
,
it
seems
,
is
to
be
a
great
feature
in
the
future
.
I
have
my
own
projects
as
to
this
part
of
the
business
,
which
,
however
,
I
forbid
you
to
guess
at
.
'
By
the
rules
of
the
Brotherhood
,
every
member
is
bound
to
some
work
in
connection
with
it
during
the
year
,
but
little
or
much
,
as
he
or
she
is
able
.
And
every
meeting
,
every
undertaking
of
whatever
kind
,
opens
with
the
special
"
word
"
or
formula
of
the
society
,
"
This
do
in
remembrance
of
Me
.
"
'
'
January
6.
'
Besides
the
Sunday
lectures
,
Elsmere
is
pegging
away
on
Saturday
evenings
at
"
The
History
of
the
Moral
Life
in
Man
.
"
It
is
a
remarkable
course
,
and
very
largely
attended
by
people
of
all
sorts
.
He
tries
to
make
it
an
exposition
of
the
leading
principles
of
the
new
movement
,
of
"
that
continuous
and
only
revelation
of
God
in
life
and
nature
,
"
which
is
in
reality
the
basis
of
his
whole
thought
.
By
the
way
,
the
letters
that
are
pouring
in
upon
him
from
all
parts
are
extraordinary
.
They
show
an
amount
and
degree
of
interest
in
ideas
of
the
kind
which
are
surprising
to
a
Laodicean
like
me
.
But
he
is
not
surprised
—
says
he
always
expected
it
—
and
that
there
are
thousands
who
only
want
a
rallying-point
.
'
His
personal
effect
,
the
love
that
is
felt
for
him
,
the
passion
and
energy
of
the
nature
—
never
has
our
generation
seen
anything
to
equal
it
.
As
you
perceive
,
I
am
reduced
to
taking
it
all
seriously
,
and
do
n't
know
what
to
make
of
him
or
myself
.
'
She
,
poor
soul
!
is
now
always
with
him
,
comes
down
with
him
day
after
day
,
and
works
away
.
She
no
more
believes
in
his
ideas
,
I
think
,
than
she
ever
did
;
but
all
her
antagonism
is
gone
.
In
the
midst
of
the
stir
about
him
her
face
often
haunts
me
.
It
has
changed
lately
;
she
is
no
longer
a
young
woman
,
but
so
refined
,
so
spiritual
!
'
But
he
is
ailing
and
fragile
.
There
is
the
one
cloud
on
a
scene
that
fills
me
with
increasing
wonder
and
reverence
.
'
CHAPTER
L
One
cold
Sunday
afternoon
in
January
,
Flaxman
,
descending
the
steps
of
the
New
Brotherhood
,
was
overtaken
by
a
young
Dr.
Edmondson
,
an
able
young
physician
,
just
set
up
for
himself
as
a
consultant
,
who
had
only
lately
attached
himself
to
Elsmere
,
and
was
now
helping
him
with
eagerness
to
organise
a
dispensary
.
Young
Edmondson
and
Flaxman
exchanged
a
few
words
on
Elsmere
's
lecture
,
and
then
the
doctor
said
abruptly
,
—
'
I
do
n't
like
his
looks
nor
his
voice
.
How
long
has
he
been
hoarse
like
that
?
'
'
More
or
less
for
the
last
month
.
He
is
very
much
worried
by
it
himself
,
and
talks
of
clergyman
's
throat
.
He
had
a
touch
of
it
,
it
appears
,
once
in
the
country
.
'
'
Clergyman
's
throat
?
'
Edmondson
shook
his
head
dubiously
.
'
It
may
be
.
I
wish
he
would
let
me
overhaul
him
.
'
'
I
wish
he
would
!
'
said
Flaxman
devoutly
.
'
I
will
see
what
I
can
do
.
I
will
get
hold
of
Mrs.
Elsmere
.
'
Meanwhile
Robert
and
Catherine
had
driven
home
together
.
As
they
entered
the
study
she
caught
his
hands
,
a
suppressed
and
exquisite
passion
gleaming
in
her
face
.
'
You
did
not
explain
Him
!
You
never
will
!
'
He
stood
,
held
by
her
,
his
gaze
meeting
hers
.
Then
in
an
instant
his
face
changed
,
blanched
before
her
—
he
seemed
to
gasp
for
breath
—
she
was
only
just
able
to
save
him
from
falling
.
It
was
apparently
another
swoon
of
exhaustion
.
As
she
knelt
beside
him
on
the
floor
,
having
done
for
him
all
she
could
,
watching
his
return
to
consciousness
,
Catherine
's
look
would
have
terrified
any
of
those
who
loved
her
.
There
are
some
natures
which
are
never
blind
,
never
taken
blissfully
unawares
,
and
which
taste
calamity
and
grief
to
the
very
dregs
.
'
Robert
,
to-morrow
you
will
see
a
doctor
?
'
she
implored
him
when
at
last
he
was
safely
in
bed
—
white
,
but
smiling
.
He
nodded
.
'
Send
for
Edmondson
.
What
I
mind
most
is
this
hoarseness
,
'
he
said
,
in
a
voice
that
was
little
more
than
a
tremulous
whisper
.
Catherine
hardly
closed
her
eyes
all
night
.
The
room
,
the
house
,
seemed
to
her
stifling
,
oppressive
,
like
a
grave
.
And
,
by
ill
luck
,
with
the
morning
came
a
long
expected
letter
,
not
indeed
from
the
squire
,
but
about
the
squire
.
Robert
had
been
for
some
time
expecting
a
summons
to
Murewell
.
The
squire
had
written
to
him
last
in
October
from
Clarens
,
on
the
Lake
of
Geneva
.
Since
then
weeks
had
passed
without
bringing
Elsmere
any
news
of
him
at
all
.
Meanwhile
the
growth
of
the
New
Brotherhood
had
absorbed
its
founder
,
so
that
the
inquiries
which
should
have
been
sent
to
Murewell
had
been
postponed
.
The
letter
which
reached
him
now
was
from
old
Meyrick
.
'
The
squire
has
had
another
bad
attack
,
and
is
much
weaker
.
But
his
mind
is
clear
again
,
and
he
greatly
desires
to
see
you
.
If
you
can
,
come
to-morrow
.
'
'
His
mind
is
clear
again
!
'
Horrified
by
the
words
and
by
the
images
they
called
up
,
remorseful
also
for
his
own
long
silence
,
Robert
sprang
up
from
bed
,
where
the
letter
had
been
brought
to
him
,
and
presently
appeared
downstairs
,
where
Catherine
,
believing
him
safely
captive
for
the
morning
,
was
going
through
some
household
business
.
'
I
must
go
,
I
must
go
!
'
he
said
as
he
handed
her
the
letter
.
'
Meyrick
puts
it
cautiously
,
but
it
may
be
the
end
!
'
Catherine
looked
at
him
in
despair
.
'
Robert
,
you
are
like
a
ghost
yourself
,
and
I
have
sent
for
Dr.
Edmondson
.
'
'
Put
him
off
till
the
day
after
to-morrow
.
Dear
little
wife
,
listen
;
my
voice
is
ever
so
much
better
.
Murewell
air
will
do
me
good
.
'
She
turned
away
to
hide
the
tears
in
her
eyes
.
Then
she
tried
fresh
persuasions
,
but
it
was
useless
.
His
look
was
glowing
and
restless
.
She
saw
he
felt
it
a
call
impossible
to
disobey
.
A
telegram
was
sent
to
Edmondson
,
and
Robert
drove
off
to
Waterloo
.
Out
of
the
fog
of
London
it
was
a
mild
,
sunny
winter
's
day
.
Robert
breathed
more
freely
with
every
mile
.
His
eyes
took
note
of
every
landmark
in
the
familiar
journey
with
a
thirsty
eagerness
.
It
was
a
year
and
a
half
since
he
had
travelled
it
.
He
forgot
his
weakness
,
the
exhausting
pressure
and
publicity
of
his
new
work
.
The
past
possessed
him
,
thrust
out
the
present
.
Surely
he
had
been
up
to
London
for
the
day
and
was
going
back
to
Catherine
!
At
the
station
he
hailed
an
old
friend
among
the
cabmen
.
'
Take
me
to
the
corner
of
the
Murewell
lane
,
Tom
.
Then
you
may
drive
on
my
bag
to
the
Hall
,
and
I
shall
walk
over
the
common
.
'
The
man
urged
on
his
tottering
old
steed
with
a
will
.
In
the
streets
of
the
little
town
Robert
saw
several
acquaintances
who
stopped
and
stared
at
the
apparition
.
Were
the
houses
,
the
people
real
,
or
was
it
all
a
hallucination
—
his
flight
and
his
return
,
so
unthought
of
yesterday
,
so
easy
and
swift
to-day
?
By
the
time
they
were
out
on
the
wild
ground
between
the
market
town
and
Murewell
,
Robert
's
spirits
were
as
buoyant
as
thistle-down
.
He
and
the
driver
kept
up
an
incessant
gossip
over
the
neighbourhood
,
and
he
jumped
down
from
the
carriage
as
the
man
stopped
with
the
alacrity
of
a
boy
.
'
Go
on
,
Tom
;
see
if
I
am
not
there
as
soon
as
you
.
'
'
Looks
most
uncommon
bad
,
'
the
man
muttered
to
himself
as
his
horse
shambled
off
.
'
Seems
as
spry
as
a
lark
all
the
same
.
'
Why
,
the
gorse
was
out
,
positively
out
in
January
!
and
the
thrushes
were
singing
as
though
it
were
March
.
Robert
stopped
opposite
a
bush
covered
with
timid
half-opened
blooms
,
and
thought
he
had
seen
nothing
so
beautiful
since
he
had
last
trodden
that
road
in
spring
.
Presently
he
was
in
the
same
cart-track
he
had
crossed
on
the
night
of
his
confession
to
Catherine
;
he
lingered
beside
the
same
solitary
fir
on
the
brink
of
the
ridge
.
A
winter
world
lay
before
him
;
soft
brown
woodland
,
or
reddish
heath
and
fern
,
struck
sideways
by
the
sun
,
clothing
the
earth
's
bareness
everywhere
—
curling
mists
—
blue
points
of
distant
hill
—
a
gray
luminous
depth
of
sky
.
The
eyes
were
moist
,
the
lips
moved
.
There
in
the
place
of
his
old
anguish
he
stood
and
blessed
God
!
—
not
for
any
personal
happiness
,
but
simply
for
that
communication
of
Himself
which
may
make
every
hour
of
common
living
a
revelation
.
Twenty
minutes
later
,
leaving
the
park
gate
to
his
left
,
he
hurried
up
the
lane
leading
to
the
vicarage
.
One
look
!
he
might
not
be
able
to
leave
the
squire
later
.
The
gate
of
the
wood-path
was
ajar
.
Surely
just
inside
it
he
should
find
Catherine
in
her
garden
hat
,
the
white-frocked
child
dragging
behind
her
!
And
there
was
the
square
stone
house
,
the
brown
cornfield
,
the
red-brown
woods
!
Why
,
what
had
the
man
been
doing
with
the
study
?
White
blinds
showed
it
was
a
bedroom
now
.
Vandal
!
Besides
,
how
could
the
boys
have
free
access
except
to
that
ground-floor
room
?
And
all
that
pretty
stretch
of
grass
under
the
acacia
had
been
cut
up
into
stiff
little
lozenge-shaped
beds
,
filled
,
he
supposed
,
in
summer
with
the
properest
geraniums
.
He
should
never
dare
to
tell
that
to
Catherine
.
He
stood
and
watched
the
little
significant
signs
of
change
in
this
realm
,
which
had
been
once
his
own
,
with
a
dissatisfied
mouth
,
his
undermind
filled
the
while
with
tempestuous
yearning
and
affection
.
In
that
upper
room
he
had
lain
through
that
agonised
night
of
crisis
;
the
dawn-twitterings
of
the
summer
birds
seemed
to
be
still
in
his
ears
.
And
there
,
in
the
distance
,
was
the
blue
wreath
of
smoke
hanging
over
Mile
End
.
Ah
!
the
new
cottages
must
be
warm
this
winter
.
The
children
did
not
lie
in
the
wet
any
longer
—
thank
God
!
Was
there
time
just
to
run
down
to
Irwin
's
cottage
,
to
have
a
look
at
the
Institute
?
He
had
been
standing
on
the
farther
side
of
the
road
from
the
rectory
that
he
might
not
seem
to
be
spying
out
the
land
and
his
successor
's
ways
too
closely
.
Suddenly
he
found
himself
clinging
to
a
gate
near
him
that
led
into
a
field
.
He
was
shaken
by
a
horrible
struggle
for
breath
.
The
self
seemed
to
be
foundering
in
a
stifling
sea
,
and
fought
like
a
drowning
thing
.
When
the
moment
passed
,
he
looked
round
him
bewildered
,
drawing
his
hand
across
his
eyes
.
The
world
had
grown
black
—
the
sun
seemed
to
be
scarcely
shining
.
Were
those
the
sounds
of
children
's
voices
on
the
hill
,
the
rumbling
of
a
cart
—
or
was
it
all
sight
and
sound
alike
,
mirage
and
delirium
?
With
difficulty
,
leaning
on
his
stick
as
though
he
were
a
man
of
seventy
,
he
groped
his
way
back
to
the
Park
.
There
he
sank
down
,
still
gasping
,
among
the
roots
of
one
of
the
great
cedars
near
the
gate
.
After
a
while
the
attack
passed
off
and
he
found
himself
able
to
walk
on
.
But
the
joy
,
the
leaping
pulse
of
half
an
hour
ago
,
were
gone
from
his
veins
.
Was
that
the
river
—
the
house
?
He
looked
at
them
with
dull
eyes
.
All
the
light
was
lowered
.
A
veil
seemed
to
lie
between
him
and
the
familiar
things
.
However
,
by
the
time
he
reached
the
door
of
the
Hall
will
and
nature
had
reasserted
themselves
,
and
he
knew
where
he
was
and
what
he
had
to
do
.
Vincent
flung
the
door
open
with
his
old
lordly
air
.
'
Why
,
sir
!
Mr.
Elsmere
!
'
The
butler
's
voice
began
on
a
note
of
joyful
surprise
,
sliding
at
once
into
one
of
alarm
.
He
stood
and
stared
at
this
ghost
of
the
old
rector
.
Elsmere
grasped
his
hand
,
and
asked
him
to
take
him
into
the
dining-room
and
give
him
some
wine
before
announcing
him
.
Vincent
ministered
to
him
with
a
long
face
,
pressing
all
the
alcoholic
resources
of
the
Hall
upon
him
in
turn
.
The
squire
was
much
better
,
he
declared
,
and
had
been
carried
down
to
the
library
.
'
But
,
lor
,
sir
,
there
ai
n't
much
to
be
said
for
your
looks
neither
—
seems
as
if
London
did
n't
suit
you
,
sir
.
'
Elsmere
explained
feebly
that
he
had
been
suffering
from
his
throat
,
and
had
overtired
himself
