neverheard
anyone
say
so
many
dreadful
things
in
so
short
a
space
of
time
,
”
she
cried
.
“
You
are
distinctly
shocking
.
”
“
I
am
frank
,
”
said
Hadria
.
“
I
fancy
we
should
all
go
about
with
our
hair
permanently
on
end
,
if
we
spoke
out
in
chorus
.
”
“
I
do
n't
quite
like
to
hear
you
say
that
,
Hadria
.
”
“
I
mean
no
harm
—
merely
that
every
one
thinks
thoughts
and
feels
impulses
that
would
be
startling
if
expressed
in
speech
.
Do
n't
we
all
know
how
terrifying
a
thing
speech
is
,
and
thought
?
a
chartered
libertine
.
”
“
Why
,
you
are
saying
almost
exactly
what
Professor
Theobald
said
the
other
day
,
and
we
were
so
shocked
.
”
“
And
yet
my
meaning
has
scarcely
any
relation
to
his
,
”
Hadria
hastened
to
say
.
“
He
meant
to
drag
down
all
belief
in
goodness
by
reminding
us
of
dark
moments
and
hours
;
by
placarding
the
whole
soul
with
the
name
of
some
shadow
that
moves
across
it
,
I
sometimes
think
from
another
world
,
some
deep
under-world
that
yawns
beneath
us
and
sends
up
blackness
and
fumes
and
strange
cries
.
”
Hadria
's
eyes
had
wandered
far
away
.
“
Are
you
never
tormented
by
an
idea
,
an
impression
that
you
know
does
not
belong
to
you
?
”
Lady
Engleton
gave
a
startled
negative
.
“
Professor
Fortescue
,
come
and
tell
me
what
you
think
of
this
strange
doctrine
?
”
“
If
we
had
to
be
judged
by
our
freedom
from
rushes
of
evil
impulse
,
rather
than
by
our
general
balance
of
good
and
evil
wishing
,
I
think
those
would
come
out
best
,
who
had
fewest
thoughts
and
feelings
of
any
kind
to
record
.
”
The
subject
attracted
a
small
group
.
“
Unless
goodness
is
only
a
negative
quality
,
”
Valeria
pointed
out
,
“
a
mere
absence
,
it
must
imply
a
soul
that
lives
and
struggles
,
and
if
it
lives
and
struggles
,
it
is
open
to
the
assaults
of
the
devil
.
”
“
Yes
,
and
it
is
liable
to
go
under
too
sometimes
,
one
must
not
forget
,
”
said
Hadria
,
“
although
most
people
profess
to
believe
so
firmly
in
the
triumph
of
the
best
—
how
I
ca
n't
conceive
,
since
the
common
life
of
every
day
is
an
incessant
harping
on
the
moral
:
the
smallest
,
meanest
,
poorest
,
thinnest
,
vulgarest
qualities
in
man
and
woman
are
those
selected
for
survival
,
in
the
struggle
for
existence
.
”
There
was
a
cry
of
remonstrance
from
idealists
.
“
But
what
else
do
we
mean
when
we
talk
by
common
consent
of
the
world
's
baseness
,
harshness
,
vulgarity
,
injustice
?
It
means
surely
—
and
think
of
it
!
—
that
it
is
composed
of
men
and
women
with
the
best
of
them
killed
out
,
as
a
nerve
burnt
away
by
acid
;
a
heart
won
over
to
meaner
things
than
it
set
out
beating
for
;
a
mind
persuaded
to
nibble
at
edges
of
dry
crust
that
might
have
grown
stout
and
serviceable
on
generous
diet
,
and
mellow
and
inspired
with
noble
vintage
.
”
“
You
really
are
shockingly
Bacchanalian
to-day
,
”
cried
Lady
Engleton
.
Hadria
laughed
.
“
Metaphorically
,
I
am
a
toper
.
The
wonderful
clear
sparkle
,
the
subtle
flavour
,
the
brilliancy
of
wine
,
has
for
me
a
strange
fascination
;
it
seems
to
signify
so
much
in
life
that
women
lose
.
”
“
True
.
What
beverage
should
one
take
as
a
type
of
what
they
gain
by
the
surrender
?
”
asked
Lady
Engleton
,
who
was
disposed
to
hang
back
towards
orthodoxy
,
in
the
presence
of
her
uncompromising
neighbour
.
“
Oh
,
toast
and
water
!
”
replied
Hadria
.
Part
III
.
CHAPTER
XXXII
.
THE
speed
was
glorious
.
Back
flashed
field
and
hill
and
copse
,
and
the
dear
“
companionable
hedgeways
.
”
Back
flew
iterative
telegraph
posts
with
Herculean
swing
,
into
the
Past
,
looped
together
in
rhythmic
movement
,
marking
the
pulses
of
old
Time
.
On
,
with
rack
and
roar
,
into
the
mysterious
Future
.
One
could
sit
at
the
window
and
watch
the
machinery
of
Time
's
foundry
at
work
;
the
hammers
of
his
forge
beating
,
beating
,
the
wild
sparks
flying
,
the
din
and
chaos
whirling
round
one
's
bewildered
brain
;
—
Past
becoming
Present
,
Present
melting
into
Future
,
before
one
's
eyes
.
To
sit
and
watch
the
whirring
wheels
;
to
think
“
Now
it
is
thus
and
thus
;
presently
,
another
slice
of
earth
and
sky
awaits
me
”
—
ye
Gods
,
it
is
not
to
be
realized
!
The
wonder
of
the
flying
land
—
England
,
England
with
her
gentle
homesteads
,
her
people
of
the
gentle
voices
;
and
the
unknown
wonder
of
that
other
land
,
soon
to
change
its
exquisite
dream-features
for
the
still
more
thrilling
,
appealing
marvel
of
reality
—
could
it
all
be
true
?
Was
this
the
response
of
the
genius
of
the
ring
,
the
magic
ring
that
we
call
will
?
And
would
the
complaisant
genius
always
appear
and
obey
one
's
behests
,
in
this
strange
fashion
?
Thoughts
ran
on
rhythmically
,
in
the
steady
,
flashing
movement
through
verdant
England
.
The
Real
!
that
was
the
truly
exquisite
,
the
truly
great
,
the
true
realm
of
the
imagination
!
What
imagination
was
ever
born
to
conceive
or
compass
it
?
A
rattle
under
a
bridge
,
a
roar
through
a
tunnel
,
and
on
again
,
through
Kentish
orchards
.
A
time
of
blossoming
.
Disjointed
,
delicious
impressions
followed
one
another
in
swift
succession
,
often
superficially
incoherent
,
but
threaded
deep
,
in
the
stirred
consciousness
,
on
a
silver
cord
:
—
the
unity
of
the
creation
was
as
obvious
as
its
multiplicity
.
Images
of
the
Past
joined
hands
with
visions
of
the
Future
.
In
these
sweet
green
meadows
,
men
had
toiled
,
as
thralls
,
but
a
few
lifetimes
ago
,
and
they
had
gathered
together
,
as
Englishmen
do
,
first
to
protest
and
reasonably
demand
,
and
then
to
buy
their
freedom
with
their
lives
.
Their
country-woman
sent
a
message
of
thanksgiving
,
backward
through
the
centuries
,
to
these
stout
champions
of
the
land
's
best
heritage
,
and
breathed
an
aspiration
to
be
worthy
of
the
kinship
that
she
claimed
.
The
rattle
and
roar
grew
into
a
symphony
—
full
,
rich
,
magnificent
,
and
then
,
with
a
rush
,
came
a
stirring
musical
conception
:
it
seized
the
imagination
.
Oh
,
why
were
they
stopping
?
It
was
a
little
country
station
,
but
many
passengers
were
on
the
platform
.
A
careworn
looking
woman
and
a
little
girl
entered
the
carriage
,
and
the
little
girl
fixed
her
eyes
on
her
fellow-traveller
with
singular
persistence
.
Then
the
more
practical
features
of
the
occasion
came
into
view
,
and
all
had
an
enthralling
quality
of
reality
—
poetry
.
The
sound
of
the
waiting
engine
breathing
out
its
white
smoke
into
the
brilliant
air
,
the
powerful
creature
quiescent
but
ready
,
with
the
turn
of
a
handle
,
to
put
forth
its
slumbering
might
;
the
crunching
of
footsteps
on
the
gravel
,
the
wallflowers
and
lilacs
in
the
little
station
garden
,
the
blue
of
the
sky
,
and
ah
!
the
sweetness
of
the
air
when
one
leant
out
to
look
along
the
interminable
straight
line
of
rails
,
leading
—
whither
?
Even
the
very
details
of
one
's
travelling
gear
:
the
tweed
gown
meet
for
service
,
the
rug
and
friendly
umbrella
,
added
to
the
feeling
of
overflowing
satisfaction
.
The
little
girl
stared
more
fixedly
than
ever
.
A
smile
and
the
offer
of
a
flower
made
her
look
down
,
for
a
minute
,
but
the
gaze
was
resumed
.
Wherefore
?
Was
the
inward
tumult
too
evident
in
the
face
?
Well
,
no
matter
.
The
world
was
beautiful
and
wide
!
The
patient
monster
began
to
move
again
,
with
a
gay
whistle
,
as
if
he
enjoyed
this
chase
across
country
,
on
the
track
of
Time
.
He
was
soon
at
full
speed
again
,
on
his
futile
race
:
a
hapless
idealist
in
pursuit
of
lost
dreams
.
The
little
girl
watched
the
dawn
of
a
smile
on
the
face
of
the
kind
,
pretty
lady
who
had
given
her
the
flower
.
A
locomotive
figuring
as
an
idealist
!
Where
would
one
's
fancy
lead
one
to
next
?
Ah
the
sea
!
heaving
busily
,
and
flashing
under
the
morning
radiance
.
Would
they
have
a
good
crossing
?
The
wind
was
fresh
.
How
dreamy
and
bright
and
windy
the
country
looked
,
and
how
salt
was
the
sea-breeze
!
Very
soon
they
would
arrive
at
Folkestone
.
Rugs
and
umbrellas
and
hand-bags
must
be
collected
.
The
simple
,
solid
commonplace
of
it
all
,
touched
some
wholesome
spring
of
delight
.
What
a
speed
the
train
was
going
at
!
One
could
scarcely
stand
in
the
jolting
carriage
.
Old
Time
must
not
make
too
sure
of
his
victory
.
One
felt
a
wistful
partisanship
for
his
snorting
rival
,
striving
for
ever
to
accomplish
the
impossible
.
The
labouring
visionary
was
not
without
significance
to
aspiring
mortals
.
The
outskirts
of
the
town
were
coming
in
sight
;
grey
houses
bleakly
climbing
chalky
heights
.
It
would
be
well
to
put
on
a
thick
overcoat
at
once
.
It
was
certain
to
be
cold
in
the
Channel
.
Luckily
Hannah
had
a
head
on
her
shoulders
,
and
could
be
trusted
to
follow
the
directions
that
had
been
given
her
.
The
last
five
minutes
seemed
interminable
,
but
they
did
come
to
an
end
.
There
was
an
impression
of
sweet
salt
air
,
of
wind
and
voices
,
of
a
hurrying
crowd
;
occasionally
a
French
sentence
pronounced
by
one
of
the
officials
,
reminiscent
of
a
thousand
dreams
and
sights
of
foreign
lands
;
and
then
the
breezy
quay
and
waiting
steamboat
.
The
sound
of
that
quiet
,
purposeful
hiss
of
the
steam
sent
a
thrill
along
the
nerves
.
Hannah
and
her
charge
were
safely
on
board
;
the
small
luggage
followed
,
and
lastly
Hadria
traversed
the
narrow
bridge
,
wondering
when
the
moment
would
arrive
for
waking
up
and
finding
herself
in
her
little
bedroom
at
Craddock
Dene
?
What
was
she
thinking
of
?
Dream
?
This
was
no
dream
,
this
bold
,
blue
,
dancing
water
,
this
living
sunshine
,
this
salt
and
savour
and
movement
and
brilliancy
!
The
other
was
the
dream
;
it
seemed
to
be
drifting
away
already
.
The
picture
of
the
village
and
the
house
and
the
meadows
,
and
the
low
line
of
the
hills
was
recalled
as
through
a
veil
;
it
would
not
stand
up
and
face
the
emphatic
present
.
At
the
end
of
a
few
months
,
would
there
be
anything
left
of
her
connexion
with
the
place
where
she
had
passed
six
—
seven
years
of
her
life
?
and
such
years
!
They
had
put
scars
on
her
soul
,
as
deep
and
ghastly
as
ever
red-hot
irons
had
marked
on
tortured
flesh
.
Perhaps
it
was
because
of
this
rabid
agony
undergone
,
that
now
she
seemed
to
have
scarcely
any
clinging
to
her
home
,
—
for
the
present
at
any
rate
.
And
she
knew
that
she
left
only
sorrow
for
conventional
disasters
behind
her
.
The
joy
of
freedom
and
its
intoxication
drowned
every
other
feeling
.
It
was
sheer
relief
to
be
away
,
to
stretch
oneself
in
mental
liberty
and
leisure
,
to
look
round
at
earth
and
sky
and
the
hurrying
crowds
,
in
quiet
enjoyment
;
to
possess
one
's
days
,
one
's
existence
for
the
first
time
,
in
all
these
long
years
!
It
was
as
the
home-coming
of
a
dispossessed
heir
.
This
freedom
did
not
strike
her
as
strange
,
but
as
obvious
,
as
familiar
.
It
was
the
first
condition
of
a
life
that
was
worth
living
.
And
yet
never
before
had
she
known
it
.
Ernest
and
Fred
and
even
Austin
had
enjoyed
it
from
boyhood
,
and
in
far
greater
completeness
than
she
could
ever
hope
to
possess
it
,
even
now
.
Yet
even
this
limited
,
this
comparative
freedom
,
which
a
man
could
afford
to
smile
at
,
was
intoxicating
.
Heavens
!
under
what
a
leaden
cloud
of
little
obligations
and
restraints
,
and
loneliness
and
pain
,
she
had
been
living
!
And
for
what
purpose
?
To
make
obeisance
to
a
phantom
public
,
not
because
she
cared
one
iota
for
the
phantom
or
its
opinions
,
but
because
husband
and
parents
and
relations
were
terrified
at
the
prospect
of
a
few
critical
and
disapproving
remarks
,
that
they
would
not
even
hear
!
How
mad
it
all
was
!
It
was
not
true
feeling
,
not
affection
,
that
prompted
Hubert
's
opposition
;
it
was
not
care
for
his
real
happiness
that
inspired
Henriette
with
such
ardour
in
this
cause
;
they
would
both
be
infinitely
happier
and
more
harmonious
in
Hadria
's
absence
.
The
whole
source
of
their
distress
was
the
fear
of
what
people
would
say
when
the
separation
became
known
to
the
world
.
That
was
the
beginning
and
the
end
of
the
matter
.
Why
could
not
the
stupid
old
world
mind
its
own
business
,
in
heaven
's
name
?
Good
people
,
especially
good
women
of
the
old
type
,
would
all
counsel
the
imbecile
sacrifice
.
They
would
all
condemn
this
step
.
Indeed
,
the
sacrifice
that
Hadria
had
refused
to
make
,
was
so
common
,
so
much
a
matter
of
course
,
that
her
refusal
appeared
startling
and
preposterous
:
scarcely
less
astonishing
than
if
a
neighbour
at
dinner
,
requesting
one
to
pass
the
salt
,
had
been
met
with
a
rude
“
I
sha
n't
.
”
“
A
useful
phrase
at
times
,
of
the
nature
of
a
tonic
,
amidst
our
enervating
civilisation
,
”
she
reflected
.
There
was
a
tramping
of
passengers
up
and
down
the
deck
.
People
walked
obliquely
,
with
head
to
windward
.
Draperies
fluttered
;
complexions
verged
towards
blue
.
Only
two
ladies
who
had
abandoned
hope
from
the
beginning
,
suffered
from
the
crossing
.
The
kindly
sailors
occupied
their
leisure
in
bringing
tarpaulins
to
the
distressed
.
“
Well
,
Hannah
,
how
are
you
getting
on
?
”
Hannah
looked
forward
ardently
to
the
end
of
the
journey
,
but
her
charge
seemed
delighted
with
the
new
scene
.
“
Have
you
ever
been
to
France
before
,
ma'am
?
”
Hannah
asked
,
perhaps
noticing
the
sparkle
of
her
employer
's
eye
and
the
ring
in
her
voice
.
“
Yes
,
once
;
I
spent
a
week
in
Paris
with
Mr.
Temperley
,
and
we
went
on
afterwards
to
the
Pyrenees
.
That
was
just
before
we
took
the
Red
House
.
”
“
It
must
have
been
beautiful
,
”
said
Hannah
.
“
And
did
you
take
the
babies
,
ma'am
?
”
“
They
were
neither
of
them
in
existence
then
,
”
replied
Mrs.
Temperley
.
A
strange
fierce
light
passed
through
her
eyes
for
a
second
,
but
Hannah
did
not
notice
it
.
Martha
's
shawl
was
blowing
straight
into
her
eyes
,
and
the
nurse
was
engaged
in
arranging
it
more
comfortably
.
The
coast
of
France
had
become
clear
,
some
time
ago
;
they
were
making
the
passage
very
quickly
to-day
.
Soon
the
red
roofs
of
Boulogne
were
to
be
distinguished
,
with
the
grey
dome
of
the
cathedral
on
the
hill-top
.
Presently
,
the
boat
had
arrived
in
the
bright
old
town
,
and
every
detail
of
outline
and
colour
was
standing
forth
brilliantly
,
as
if
the
whole
scene
had
been
just
washed
over
with
clear
water
and
all
the
tints
were
wet
.
The
first
impression
was
keen
.
The
innumerable
differences
from
English
forms
and
English
tones
sprang
to
the
eye
.
A
whiff
of
foreign
smell
and
a
sound
of
foreign
speech
reached
the
passengers
at
about
the
same
moment
.
The
very
houses
looked
unfamiliarly
built
,
and
even
the
letters
of
printed
names
of
hotels
and
shops
had
a
frivolous
,
spindly
appearance
—
elegant
but
frail
.
The
air
was
different
from
English
air
.
Some
bouillon
and
a
slice
of
fowl
were
very
acceptable
at
the
restaurant
at
the
station
,
after
the
business
of
examining
the
luggage
was
over
.
Hannah
,
evidently
nourishing
a
sense
of
injury
against
the
natives
for
their
eccentric
jargon
,
and
against
the
universe
for
the
rush
and
discomfort
of
the
last
quarter
of
an
hour
,
was
disposed
to
express
her
feelings
by
a
marked
lack
of
relish
for
her
food
.
She
regarded
Hadria
's
hearty
appetite
with
a
disdainful
expression
.
Martha
ate
bread
and
butter
and
fruit
.
She
was
to
have
some
milk
that
had
been
brought
for
her
,
when
they
were
en
route
again
.
“
Tout
le
monde
en
voiture
!
”
Within
five
minutes
,
the
train
was
puffing
across
the
wastes
of
blowing
sand
that
ran
along
the
coast
,
beyond
the
town
.
The
child
,
who
had
become
accustomed
to
the
noise
and
movement
,
behaved
better
than
had
been
expected
.
She
seemed
to
take
pleasure
in
looking
out
of
the
window
at
the
passing
trees
.
Hannah
was
much
struck
with
this
sign
of
awakening
intelligence
.
It
was
more
than
the
good
nurse
showed
herself
.
She
scarcely
condescended
to
glance
at
the
panorama
of
French
fields
,
French
hills
and
streams
that
were
rushing
by
.
How
pale
and
ethereal
they
were
,
these
Gallic
coppices
and
woodlands
!
And
with
what
a
dainty
lightness
the
foliage
spread
itself
to
the
sun
,
French
to
its
graceful
finger-tips
!
That
grey
old
house
,
with
high
lichen-stained
roof
and
narrow
windows
—
where
but
in
sunny
France
could
one
see
its
like
?
—
and
the
little
farmsteads
and
villages
,
full
of
indescribable
charm
.
One
felt
oneself
in
a
land
of
artists
.
There
was
no
inharmonious
,
no
unfitting
thing
anywhere
.
Man
had
wedded
himself
to
Nature
,
and
his
works
seemed
to
receive
her
seal
and
benediction
.
English
landscape
was
beautiful
,
and
it
had
a
particular
charm
to
be
found
nowhere
else
in
the
world
;
but
in
revenge
,
there
was
something
here
that
England
could
not
boast
.
Was
it
fanciful
to
see
in
the
characteristics
of
vegetation
and
scenery
,
the
origin
or
expression
of
the
difference
of
the
two
races
at
their
greatest
?
“
Ah
,
if
I
were
only
a
painter
!
”
They
were
passing
some
fields
where
,
in
the
slanting
rays
of
the
sun
,
peasants
in
blue
blouses
and
several
women
were
bending
over
their
toil
.
It
was
a
subject
often
chosen
by
French
artists
.
Hadria
understood
why
.
One
of
the
labourers
stood
watching
the
train
,
and
she
let
her
eyes
rest
on
the
patient
figure
till
she
was
carried
beyond
his
little
world
.
If
she
could
have
painted
that
scene
just
as
she
saw
it
,
all
the
sadness
and
mystery
of
the
human
lot
would
have
stood
forth
eloquently
in
form
and
colour
;
these
a
magic
harmony
,
not
without
some
inner
kinship
with
the
spirit
of
man
at
its
noblest
.
What
was
he
thinking
,
that
toil-bent
peasant
,
as
the
train
flashed
by
?
What
tragedy
or
comedy
was
he
playing
on
his
rural
stage
?
Hadria
sat
down
and
shut
her
eyes
,
dazzled
by
the
complex
mystery
and
miracle
of
life
,
and
almost
horrified
at
the
overwhelming
thought
of
the
millions
of
these
obscure
human
lives
burning
themselves
out
,
everywhere
,
at
every
instant
,
like
so
many
altar-candles
to
the
unknown
God
!
“
And
each
one
of
them
takes
himself
as
seriously
as
I
take
myself
:
perhaps
more
seriously
.
Ah
,
if
one
could
but
pause
to
smile
at
one
's
tragic
moments
,
or
still
better
,
at
one
's
sublime
ones
.
But
it
ca
n't
be
done
.
A
remembrancer
would
have
to
be
engaged
,
to
prevent
lapses
into
the
sublime
,
—
and
how
furious
one
would
be
when
he
nudged
one
,
with
his
eternal
:
‘Beware
!
’
”
It
was
nearly
eight
o'clock
when
the
train
plunged
among
the
myriad
lights
of
the
great
city
.
The
brilliant
beacon
of
the
Eiffel
Tower
sat
high
up
in
the
sky
,
like
an
exile
star
.
Gaunt
and
grim
was
the
vast
station
,
with
its
freezing
purplish
electric
light
.
Yet
even
here
,
to
Hadria
's
stirred
imagination
,
there
was
a
certain
quality
in
the
Titanic
building
,
which
removed
it
from
the
vulgarity
of
English
utilitarian
efforts
of
the
same
order
.
In
a
fanciful
mood
,
one
might
imagine
a
tenth
circle
of
the
Inferno
,
wherein
those
stern
grey
arches
should
loftily
rise
,
in
blind
and
endless
sequence
,
limbing
an
abode
of
horror
,
a
place
of
punishment
for
those
,
empty-hearted
,
who
had
lived
without
colour
and
sunshine
,
in
voluntary
abnegation
,
caring
only
for
gain
and
success
.
The
long
delay
in
the
examination
of
the
luggage
,
the
fatigue
of
the
journey
,
tended
to
increase
the
disposition
to
regard
the
echoing
edifice
,
with
its
cold
hollow
reverberations
,
as
a
Circle
of
the
Doomed
.
It
was
as
if
they
passed
from
the
realm
of
the
Shades
through
the
Gates
of
Life
,
when
at
length
the
cab
rattled
out
of
the
courtyard
of
the
station
,
and
turned
leftwards
into
the
brilliant
streets
of
Paris
.
It
was
hard
to
realize
that
all
this
stir
and
light
and
life
had
been
going
on
night
after
night
,
for
all
these
years
,
during
which
one
had
sat
in
the
quiet
drawing-room
at
Craddock
Dene
,
trying
wistfully
,
hopelessly
,
to
grasp
the
solid
fact
of
an
unknown
vast
reality
,
through
a
record
here
and
there
.
The
journey
was
a
long
one
to
the
Rue
Boissy
d'Anglas
,
but
tired
as
she
was
,
Hadria
did
not
wish
it
shorter
.
Even
Hannah
was
interested
in
the
brilliantly
lighted
shops
and
cafés
and
the
splendour
of
the
boulevards
.
Now
and
again
,
the
dark
deserted
form
of
a
church
loomed
out
,
lonely
,
amidst
the
gaiety
of
Parisian
street-life
.
Some
electric
lamp
threw
a
distant
gleam
upon
calm
classic
pillars
,
which
seemed
to
hold
aloof
,
with
a
quality
of
reserve
rarely
to
be
noticed
in
things
Parisian
.
Hadria
greeted
it
with
a
feeling
of
gratitude
.
The
great
Boulevard
was
ablaze
and
swarming
with
life
.
The
cafés
were
full
;
the
gilt
and
mirrors
and
the
crowds
of
consommateurs
within
,
all
visible
as
one
passed
along
the
street
,
while
,
under
the
awning
outside
,
crowds
were
sitting
smoking
,
drinking
,
reading
the
papers
.
Was
it
really
possible
that
only
this
morning
,
those
quiet
English
fields
had
been
dozing
round
one
,
those
sleepy
villagers
spreading
their
slow
words
out
,
in
expressing
an
absence
of
idea
,
over
the
space
of
time
in
which
a
Parisian
conveyed
a
pocket
philosophy
?
The
cabman
directed
his
vehicle
down
the
Rue
Royale
,
passing
the
stately
Madeleine
,
with
its
guardian
sycamores
,
and
out
into
the
windy
spaciousness
of
the
Place
de
la
Concorde
.
A
wondrous
city
!
Hannah
pointed
out
the
electric
light
of
the
Eiffel
Tower
to
her
charge
,
and
Martha
put
out
her
small
hands
,
demanding
the
toy
on
the
spot
.
The
festooned
lights
of
the
Champs
Elysées
swung
themselves
up
,
in
narrowing
line
,
till
they
reached
the
pompous
arch
at
the
summit
,
and
among
the
rich
trees
of
those
Elysian
fields
gleamed
the
festive
lamps
of
cafés
chantants
.
“
Si
Madame
desire
encore
quelque
chose
?
”
The
neat
maid
,
in
picturesque
white
cap
and
apron
,
stood
with
her
hand
on
the
door
of
the
little
bedroom
,
on
one
of
the
highest
storeys
of
the
pension
.
Half
of
one
of
the
long
windows
had
been
set
open
,
and
the
sounds
of
the
rolling
of
vehicles
over
the
smooth
asphalte
,
mingled
with
those
of
voices
,
were
coming
up
,
straight
and
importunate
,
into
the
dainty
bedroom
.
The
very
sounds
seemed
nearer
and
clearer
in
this
keen-edged
land
.
The
bed
stood
in
one
corner
,
canopied
with
white
and
blue
;
a
thick
carpet
gave
a
sense
of
luxury
and
deadened
the
tramp
of
footsteps
;
a
marble
mantel-piece
was
surmounted
by
a
mirror
,
and
supported
a
handsome
bronze
clock
and
two
bronze
ornaments
.
The
furniture
was
of
solid
mahogany
.
A
nameless
French
odour
pervaded
the
atmosphere
,
delicate
,
subtle
,
but
unmistakeable
.
And
out
of
the
open
window
,
one
could
see
a
series
of
other
lighted
windows
,
all
of
exactly
the
same
tall
graceful
design
,
opening
in
the
middle
by
the
same
device
and
the
same
metal
handle
that
had
to
be
turned
in
order
to
open
or
close
the
window
.
Within
,
the
rooms
obviously
modelled
themselves
on
the
one
unvarying
ideal
.
A
few
figures
could
be
seen
coming
and
going
,
busy
at
work
or
play
.
Above
the
steep
roofs
,
a
blue-black
sky
was
alive
with
brilliant
stars
.
“
Merci
;
”
Madame
required
nothing
more
.
CHAPTER
XXXIII
.
“
...
Rushes
life
on
a
race
As
the
clouds
the
clouds
chase
;
And
we
go
,
And
we
drop
like
the
fruits
of
the
tree
,
Even
we
,
Even
so
.
”
JUST
at
first
,
it
was
a
sheer
impossibility
to
do
anything
but
bask
and
bathe
in
the
sunny
present
,
to
spend
the
days
in
wandering
incredulously
through
vernal
Paris
,
over
whose
bursting
freshness
and
brilliancy
the
white
clouds
seemed
to
be
driven
,
with
the
same
joy
of
life
.
The
city
was
crammed
;
the
inhabitants
poured
forth
in
swarms
to
enjoy
,
in
true
French
fashion
,
the
genial
warmth
and
the
universal
awakening
after
the
long
capricious
winter
.
It
was
actually
hot
in
the
sun
,
and
fresh
light
clothing
became
a
luxury
,
like
a
bath
after
a
journey
.
The
year
had
raised
its
siege
,
and
there
was
sudden
amity
between
man
and
Nature
.
Shrivelled
man
could
relax
the
tension
of
resistance
to
cold
and
damp
and
change
,
and
go
forth
into
the
sun
with
cordial
insouciance
.
In
many
of
the
faces
might
be
read
this
kindly
amnesty
,
although
there
were
some
so
set
and
fixed
with
past
cares
that
not
even
the
soft
hand
of
a
Parisian
spring
could
smooth
away
the
lines
,
or
even
touch
the
spirit
.
These
Hadria
passed
with
an
aching
pity
.
Circumstance
had
been
to
them
a
relentless
taskmaster
.
Perhaps
they
had
not
rubbed
the
magic
ring
of
will
,
and
summoned
the
obedient
genius
.
Perhaps
circumstance
had
forbidden
them
even
the
rag
wherewith
to
rub
—
or
the
impulse
.
Sallying
forth
from
the
pension
,
Hadria
would
sometimes
pause
,
for
a
moment
,
at
the
corner
of
the
street
,
where
it
opened
into
the
Place
de
la
Concorde
,
irresolute
,
because
of
the
endless
variety
of
possible
ways
to
turn
,
and
places
to
visit
.
She
seldom
made
definite
plans
the
day
before
,
unless
it
were
for
the
pleasure
of
changing
them
.
The
letter
of
introduction
to
Madame
Vauchelet
had
remained
unpresented
.
The
sense
of
solitude
,
combined
for
the
first
time
with
that
of
freedom
,
was
too
delightful
to
forego
.
One
must
have
time
to
realize
and
appreciate
the
sudden
calm
and
serenity
;
the
sudden
absence
of
claims
and
obstructions
and
harassing
criticisms
.
Heavens
,
what
a
price
people
consented
to
pay
for
the
privilege
of
human
ties
!
what
hard
bargains
were
driven
in
the
kingdom
of
the
affections
!
Thieves
,
extortionists
,
usurers
—
and
in
the
name
of
all
the
virtues
!
“
Yes
,
solitude
has
charms
!
”
Hadria
inwardly
exclaimed
,
as
she
stood
watching
the
coming
and
going
of
people
,
the
spouting
of
fountains
,
the
fluttering
of
big
sycamore
leaves
in
the
Champs
Elysées
.
Unhappily
,
the
solitude
made
difficulties
.
But
meanwhile
there
was
a
large
field
to
be
explored
,
where
these
difficulties
did
not
arise
,
or
could
be
guarded
against
.
Her
sex
was
a
troublesome
obstruction
.
“
One
does
not
come
of
centuries
of
chattel-women
for
nothing
!
”
she
wrote
to
Algitha
.
Society
bristled
with
insults
,
conscious
and
unconscious
.
Nor
had
one
lived
the
brightest
,
sweetest
years
of
one
's
life
tethered
and
impounded
,
without
feeling
the
consequences
when
the
tether
was
cut
.
There
were
dreads
,
shrinkings
,
bewilderments
,
confusions
to
encounter
;
the
difficulties
of
pilotage
in
unknown
seas
,
of
self-knowledge
,
and
guidance
suddenly
needed
in
new
ranges
of
the
soul
;
fresh
temptations
,
fresh
possibilities
to
deal
with
;
everything
untested
,
the
alphabet
of
worldly
experience
yet
to
learn
.
But
all
this
was
felt
with
infinitely
greater
force
a
little
later
,
when
the
period
of
solitude
was
over
,
and
Hadria
found
herself
in
the
midst
of
a
little
society
whose
real
codes
and
ideas
she
had
gropingly
to
learn
.
Unfamiliar
(
in
any
practical
sense
)
with
life
,
even
in
her
own
country
,
she
had
no
landmarks
or
finger-posts
,
of
any
kind
,
in
this
new
land
.
Her
sentiment
had
never
been
narrowly
British
,
but
now
she
realized
her
nationality
over-keenly
;
she
felt
herself
almost
grotesquely
English
,
and
had
a
sense
of
insular
clumsiness
amidst
a
uprightly
,
dexterous
people
.
Conscious
of
a
thousand
illusive
,
but
very
real
differences
in
point
of
view
,
and
in
nature
,
between
the
two
nations
,
she
had
a
baffled
impression
of
walking
among
mysteries
and
novelties
that
she
could
not
grasp
.
She
began
to
be
painfully
conscious
of
the
effects
of
the
narrow
life
that
she
had
led
,
and
of
the
limitations
that
had
crippled
her
in
a
thousand
ways
hitherto
scarcely
realized
.
“
One
begins
to
learn
everything
too
late
,
”
she
wrote
to
Algitha
.
“
This
ought
all
to
have
been
familiar
long
ago
.
I
do
n't
know
anything
about
the
world
in
which
I
live
.
I
have
never
before
caught
so
much
as
a
distant
glimpse
of
it
.
And
even
now
there
are
strange
thick
wrappings
from
the
past
that
cling
tight
round
and
hold
me
aloof
,
strive
as
I
may
to
strip
off
that
past-made
personality
,
and
to
understand
,
by
touch
,
what
things
are
made
of
.
I
feel
as
if
I
would
risk
anything
in
order
to
really
know
that
.
Why
should
a
woman
treat
herself
as
if
she
were
Dresden
china
?
She
is
more
or
less
insulted
and
degraded
whatever
happens
,
especially
if
she
obeys
what
our
generation
is
pleased
to
call
the
moral
law
.
The
more
I
see
of
life
,
the
more
hideous
seems
the
position
that
women
hold
in
relation
to
the
social
structure
,
and
the
more
sickening
the
current
nonsense
that
is
talked
about
us
and
our
‘missions’
and
‘spheres.’
It
is
so
feeble
,
so
futile
,
to
try
to
ornament
an
essentially
degrading
fact
.
It
is
such
insolence
to
talk
to
us
—
good
heavens
,
to
us
!
—
about
holiness
and
sacredness
,
when
men
(
to
whom
surely
a
sense
of
humour
has
been
denied
)
divide
their
women
into
two
great
classes
,
both
of
whom
they
insult
and
enslave
,
insisting
peremptorily
on
the
existence
of
each
division
,
but
treating
one
class
as
private
and
the
other
as
public
property
.
One
might
as
well
talk
to
driven
cattle
in
the
shambles
about
their
‘sacred
mission’
as
to
women
.
It
is
an
added
mockery
,
a
gratuitous
piece
of
insolence
.
”
Having
been
,
from
childhood
,
more
or
less
at
issue
with
her
surroundings
,
Hadria
had
never
fully
realized
their
power
upon
her
personality
.
But
now
daily
a
fresh
recognition
of
her
continued
imprisonment
,
baffled
her
attempt
to
look
at
things
with
clear
eyes
.
She
struggled
to
get
round
and
beyond
that
past-fashioned
self
,
not
merely
in
order
to
see
truly
,
but
in
order
to
see
at
all
.
And
in
doing
so
,
she
ran
the
risk
of
letting
go
what
she
might
have
done
better
to
hold
.
She
felt
painfully
different
from
these
people
among
whom
she
found
herself
.
Her
very
trick
of
pondering
over
things
sent
her
spinning
to
hopeless
distances
.
They
seemed
to
ponder
so
wholesomely
little
.
Their
intelligence
was
devoted
to
matters
of
the
moment
;
they
were
keen
and
well-finished
and
accomplished
.
Hadria
used
to
look
at
them
in
astonishment
.
How
did
these
quick-witted
people
manage
to
escape
the
importunate
inquisitive
demon
,
the
familiar
spirit
,
who
pursued
her
incessantly
with
his
queries
and
suggestions
?
He
would
stare
up
from
river
and
street
and
merry
gardens
;
his
haunting
eyes
looked
mockingly
out
of
green
realms
of
stirring
foliage
,
and
his
voice
was
like
a
sardonic
echo
to
the
happy
voices
of
the
children
,
laughing
at
their
play
under
the
flickering
shadows
,
of
mothers
discussing
their
cares
and
interests
,
of
men
in
blouses
,
at
work
by
the
water-side
,
or
solemn
,
in
frock-coats
,
with
pre-occupations
of
business
and
bread-winning
.
The
demon
had
his
own
reflections
on
all
these
seemingly
ordinary
matters
,
and
so
bizarre
were
they
at
times
,
so
startling
and
often
so
terrible
,
that
one
found
oneself
shivering
in
full
noontide
,
or
smiling
,
or
thrilled
with
passionate
pity
at
“
the
sad
,
strange
ways
of
men
.
”
It
was
sweet
to
stretch
one
's
cramped
wings
to
the
sun
,
to
ruffle
and
spread
them
,
as
a
released
bird
will
,
but
it
was
startling
to
find
already
little
stiff
habits
arisen
,
little
creaks
and
hindrances
never
suspected
,
that
made
flight
in
the
high
air
not
quite
effortless
and
serene
.
The
Past
is
never
past
;
immortal
as
the
Gods
,
it
lives
enthroned
in
the
Present
,
and
sets
its
limits
and
lays
its
commands
.
Cases
have
been
known
of
a
man
blind
from
birth
being
restored
to
sight
,
at
mature
age
.
For
a
time
,
the
appearance
of
objects
was
strange
and
incomprehensible
.
Their
full
meaning
was
not
conveyed
to
him
;
they
remained
riddles
.
He
could
not
judge
the
difference
between
near
and
far
,
between
solid
and
liquid
;
he
had
no
experience
,
dating
from
childhood
,
of
the
apparent
smallness
of
distant
things
,
of
the
connexion
between
the
impression
given
to
the
touch
by
solids
and
their
effect
on
the
eye
.
He
had
all
these
things
to
learn
.
A
thousand
trifling
associations
,
of
which
those
with
normal
senses
are
scarcely
conscious
,
had
to
be
stumblingly
acquired
,
as
a
child
learns
to
connect
sound
and
sight
,
in
learning
to
read
.
Such
were
the
changes
of
consciousness
that
Hadria
found
herself
going
through
;
only
realising
each
phase
of
the
process
after
it
was
over
,
and
the
previous
confusion
of
vision
had
been
itself
revealed
,
by
the
newly
and
often
painfully
acquired
coordinating
skill
.
But
,
as
generally
happens
,
in
the
course
of
passing
from
ignorance
to
knowledge
,
the
intermediate
stage
was
chaotic
.
Objects
loomed
up
large
and
indistinct
,
as
through
a
mist
;
vague
forms
drifted
by
,
half
revealed
,
to
melt
away
again
;
here
and
there
were
clear
outlines
and
solid
impressions
,
to
be
deemed
trustworthy
and
given
a
place
of
honour
;
thence
a
disproportion
in
the
general
conception
;
it
being
almost
beyond
human
power
to
allow
sufficiently
for
that
which
is
unknown
.
For
some
time
,
however
,
the
dominant
impression
on
Hadria
's
mind
was
of
her
own
gigantic
ignorance
.
This
ignorance
was
far
more
confusing
and
even
misleading
than
it
had
been
when
its
proportions
were
less
defined
.
The
faint
twinkle
of
light
revealed
the
dusky
outline
,
bewildering
and
discouraging
the
imagination
.
Intuitive
knowledge
was
disturbed
by
the
incursion
of
scraps
of
disconnected
experience
.
This
condition
of
mind
made
her
an
almost
insoluble
pyschological
problem
.
Since
she
was
evidently
a
woman
of
pronounced
character
,
her
bewilderment
and
tentitive
attitude
were
not
allowed
for
.
Her
actions
were
regarded
as
deliberate
and
cool-headed
,
when
often
they
would
be
the
outcome
of
sheer
confusion
,
or
chance
,
or
perhaps
of
a
groping
experimental
effort
.
The
first
three
weeks
in
Paris
had
been
given
up
to
enjoying
the
new
conditions
of
existence
.
But
now
practical
matters
claimed
consideration
.
The
pension
in
the
Rue
Boissy
d'Anglas
was
not
suitable
as
a
permanent
abode
.
Rooms
must
be
looked
for
,
combining
cheapness
with
a
good
situation
,
within
easy
distance
of
the
scene
of
Hadria
's
future
musical
studies
,
and
also
within
reach
of
some
park
or
gardens
for
Martha
's
benefit
.
This
ideal
place
of
abode
was
at
last
found
.
It
cost
rather
more
than
Hadria
had
wished
to
spend
on
mere
lodging
,
but
otherwise
it
seemed
perfect
.
It
was
in
a
quiet
street
between
the
Champs
Elysées
and
the
river
.
Two
great
thoroughfares
ran
,
at
a
respectful
distance
,
on
either
side
,
with
omnibuses
always
passing
.
Hadria
could
be
set
down
within
a
few
minutes
'
walk
of
the
School
of
Music
,
or
,
if
she
liked
to
give
the
time
,
could
walk
the
whole
way
to
her
morning
's
work
,
through
some
of
the
most
charming
parts
of
Paris
.
As
for
Martha
,
she
was
richly
provided
with
playgrounds
.
The
Bois
could
be
quickly
reached
,
and
there
were
always
the
Champs
Elysées
or
the
walk
beneath
the
chestnuts
by
the
river
,
along
the
Cours
de
la
Reine
and
the
length
of
the
quays
.
Even
Hannah
thought
the
situation
might
do
.
Hadria
had
begun
her
studies
at
the
School
of
Music
,
and
found
the
steady
work
not
only
a
profound
,
though
somewhat
stern
enjoyment
,
but
a
solid
backbone
to
her
new
existence
,
giving
it
cohesion
and
form
.
Recreation
deserved
its
name
,
after
work
of
this
kind
.
Any
lurking
danger
of
too
great
speculative
restlessness
disappeared
.
There
had
been
a
moment
when
the
luxurious
joy
of
mere
wandering
observation
and
absorption
,
threatened
to
become
overwhelming
,
and
to
loosen
some
of
the
rivets
of
the
character
.
But
work
was
to
the
sum-total
of
impulse
what
the
central
weight
was
to
one
of
Martha
's
toys
:
a
leaden
ballast
that
always
brought
the
balance
right
again
,
however
wildly
the
little
tyrant
might
swing
the
creature
off
the
perpendicular
.
When
Hadria
used
to
come
in
,
pleasantly
tired
with
her
morning
's
occupation
,
and
the
wholesome
heat
of
the
sun
,
to
take
her
simple
déjeuner
in
the
little
apartment
with
Martha
,
a
frivolous
five
minutes
would
often
be
spent
by
the
two
in
endeavouring
to
overcome
the
rigid
principles
of
that
well-balanced
plaything
.
But
always
the
dead
weight
at
its
heart
frustrated
their
attempts
.
Martha
played
the
most
inconsiderate
pranks
with
its
centre
of
gravity
,
but
quite
in
vain
.
When
a
little
French
boy
from
the
étage
above
was
allowed
to
come
and
play
with
Martha
,
she
proceeded
to
experiment
upon
his
centre
of
gravity
in
the
same
way
,
and
seemed
much
surprised
when
Jean
Paul
Auguste
not
only
howled
indignantly
,
but
did
n't
swing
up
again
after
he
was
over-turned
.
He
remained
supine
,
and
had
to
be
reinstated
by
Hadria
and
Hannah
,
and
comforted
with
sweetmeats
.
Martha
's
logic
received
one
of
its
first
checks
.
She
evidently
made
up
her
mind
that
logic
was
a
fallacious
mode
of
inference
,
and
determined
to
abandon
it
for
the
future
.
These
rebuffs
in
infancy
,
Hadria
conjectured
,
might
account
for
much
!
About
three
weeks
passed
in
almost
pure
enjoyment
and
peace
;
and
then
it
was
discovered
that
the
cost
of
living
,
in
spite
of
an
extremely
simple
diet
,
was
such
as
might
have
provided
epicurean
luxuries
for
a
family
of
ten
.
Hadria
's
enquiries
among
her
acquaintances
elicited
cries
of
consternation
.
Obviously
the
landlady
,
who
did
the
marketing
,
must
be
cheating
on
a
royal
scale
,
and
there
was
nothing
for
it
but
to
move
.
Hadria
suggested
to
Madame
Vauchelet
,
whose
advice
she
always
sought
in
practical
matters
,
that
perhaps
the
landlady
might
be
induced
to
pursue
her
lucrative
art
in
moderation
;
could
she
not
put
it
honestly
down
in
the
bill
“
Peculation
—
so
much
per
week
?
”
Madame
Vauchlelet
was
horrified
.
“
Impossible
!
”
she
cried
;
one
must
seek
another
apartment
.
If
only
Hannah
understood
French
and
could
do
the
marketing
herself
.
But
Hannah
scorned
the
outlandish
lingo
,
and
had
a
poor
opinion
of
the
nation
as
a
whole
.
It
was
fatiguing
and
somewhat
discouraging
work
to
begin
,
all
over
again
,
the
quest
of
rooms
,
especially
with
the
difficulty
about
the
landlady
always
in
view
,
and
no
means
of
ascertaining
her
scale
of
absorption
.
It
really
seemed
a
pity
that
it
could
not
be
mentioned
as
an
extra
,
like
coal
and
lights
.
Then
one
would
know
what
one
was
about
.
This
uncertain
liability
,
with
an
extremely
limited
income
,
which
was
likely
to
prove
insufficient
unless
some
addition
could
be
made
to
it
,
was
trying
to
the
nerves
.
In
order
to
avoid
too
great
anxiety
,
Hadria
had
to
make
up
her
mind
to
a
less
attractive
suite
of
rooms
,
farther
out
of
town
,
and
she
found
it
desirable
to
order
many
of
the
comestibles
herself
.
Madame
Vauchelet
was
untiring
in
her
efforts
to
help
and
advise
.
She
initiated
Hadria
into
the
picturesque
mysteries
of
Parisian
housekeeping
.
It
was
amusing
to
go
to
the
shops
and
markets
with
this
shrewd
Frenchwoman
,
and
very
enlightening
as
to
the
method
of
living
cheaply
and
well
.
Hadria
began
to
think
wistfully
of
a
more
permanent
ménage
in
this
entrancing
capital
,
where
there
were
still
worlds
within
worlds
to
explore
.
She
questioned
Madame
Vauchlelet
as
to
the
probable
cost
of
a
femme
de
ménage
.
Madame
quickly
ran
through
some
calculations
and
pronounced
a
sum
alluringly
small
.
Since
the
landlady
difficulty
was
so
serious
,
and
made
personal
superintendence
necessary
,
it
seemed
as
if
one
might
as
well
have
the
greater
comfort
and
independence
of
this
more
home-like
arrangement
.
Madame
Vauchelet
recommended
an
excellent
woman
who
would
cook
and
market
,
and
,
with
Hannah
's
help
,
easily
do
all
that
was
necessary
.
After
many
calculations
and
consultations
with
Madame
Vauchelet
,
Hadria
finally
decided
to
rent
,
for
three
months
,
a
cheerful
little
suite
of
rooms
near
the
Arc
de
Triomphe
.
Madame
Vauchelet
drank
a
cup
of
tea
in
the
little
salon
,
with
quiet
heroism
,
not
liking
to
refuse
Hadria
's
offer
of
the
friendly
beverage
.
But
she
wondered
at
the
powerful
physique
of
the
nation
that
could
submit
to
the
trial
daily
.
Hadria
was
brimming
over
with
pleasure
in
her
new
home
,
which
breathed
Paris
from
every
pore
.
She
had
already
surrounded
herself
with
odds
and
ends
of
her
own
,
with
books
and
a
few
flowers
.
If
only
this
venture
turned
out
well
,
how
delightful
would
be
the
next
few
months
.
Hadria
did
not
clearly
look
beyond
that
time
.
To
her
,
it
seemed
like
a
century
.
Her
only
idea
as
to
the
farther
future
was
an
abstract
resolve
to
let
nothing
short
of
absolute
compulsion
persuade
her
to
renounce
her
freedom
,
or
subject
herself
to
conditions
that
made
the
pursuit
of
her
art
impossible
.
How
to
carry
out
the
resolve
,
in
fact
and
detail
,
was
a
matter
to
consider
when
the
time
came
.
If
one
were
to
consider
future
difficulties
as
well
as
deal
with
immediate
ones
,
into
what
crannies
and
interstices
were
the
affairs
of
the
moment
to
be
crammed
?
There
has
probably
never
been
a
human
experience
of
even
a
few
months
of
perfect
happiness
,
of
perfect
satisfaction
with
conditions
,
even
among
the
few
men
and
women
who
know
how
to
appreciate
the
bounty
of
Fate
,
when
she
is
generous
,
and
to
take
the
sting
out
of
minor
annoyances
by
treating
them
lightly
.
Hadria
was
ready
to
shrug
her
shoulders
at
legions
of
these
,
so
long
as
the
main
current
of
her
purpose
were
not
diverted
.
But
she
could
not
steel
herself
against
the
letters
that
she
received
from
England
.
Everyone
was
deeply
injured
but
bravely
bearing
up
.
Her
family
was
a
stricken
and
sorrowing
family
.
Being
naturally
heroic
,
it
said
little
but
thought
the
more
.
Relations
whose
names
Hadria
scarcely
remembered
,
seemed
to
have
waked
up
at
the
news
of
her
departure
and
claimed
their
share
of
the
woe
.
Obscure
Temperleys
raised
astounded
heads
and
mourned
.
Henriette
wrote
that
she
was
really
annoyed
at
the
way
in
which
everybody
was
talking
about
Hadria
's
conduct
.
It
was
most
uncomfortable
.
She
hoped
Hadria
was
able
to
be
happy
.
Hubert
was
ready
to
forgive
her
and
to
receive
her
back
,
in
spite
of
everything
.
Henriette
entreated
her
to
return
;
for
her
own
sake
,
for
Hubert
's
sake
,
for
the
children
's
.
They
were
just
going
off
to
school
,
poor
little
boys
.
Henriette
,
although
so
happy
at
the
Red
House
,
was
terribly
grieved
at
this
sad
misunderstanding
.
It
seemed
so
strange
,
so
distressing
.
Henriette
had
thoroughly
enjoyed
looking
after
dear
Hubert
and
the
sweet
children
.
They
were
in
splendid
health
.
She
had
been
very
particular
about
hygiene
.
Hubert
and
she
had
seen
a
good
deal
of
the
Engletons
lately
.
How
charming
Lady
Engleton
was
!
So
much
tact
.
She
was
advanced
in
her
ideas
,
only
she
never
allowed
them
to
be
intrusive
.
She
seemed
just
like
everybody
else
.
She
hated
to
make
herself
conspicuous
;
the
very
ideal
of
a
true
lady
,
if
one
might
use
the
much-abused
word
.
Professor
Fortescue
was
reported
to
be
still
far
from
well
.
Professor
Theobald
had
not
taken
the
Priory
after
all
.
It
was
too
large
.
It
looked
so
deserted
and
melancholy
now
.
Henriette
always
finished
her
letters
with
an
entreaty
to
Hadria
to
return
.
People
were
talking
so
.
They
suspected
the
truth
;
although
,
of
course
,
one
had
hoped
that
the
separation
would
be
supposed
to
be
temporary
—
as
indeed
Henriette
trusted
it
would
prove
.
Madame
Bertaux
,
who
had
just
returned
from
England
to
her
beloved
Paris
,
reported
to
Hadria
,
when
she
called
on
the
latter
in
her
new
abode
,
that
everyone
was
talking
about
the
affair
with
as
much
eagerness
as
if
the
fate
of
the
empire
had
depended
on
it
.
Madame
Bertaux
recommended
indifference
and
silence
.
She
observed
,
in
her
sharp
,
good-natured
,
impatient
way
,
that
reforming
confirmed
drunkards
,
converting
the
heathen
,
making
saints
out
of
sinners
,
or
a
silk
purse
out
of
a
sow
's
ear
,
would
be
mere
child
's
play
compared
with
the
task
of
teaching
the
average
idiot
to
mind
his
own
business
.
CHAPTER
XXXIV
.
THE
new
ménage
went
well
.
Therèse
was
a
treasure
,
and
Martha
's
willing
slave
.
Expenses
were
kept
fairly
reasonable
by
her
care
and
knowledge
.
Still
it
must
not
be
forgotten
that
the
little
income
needed
supplementing
.
Hadria
had
been
aware
of
this
risk
from
the
first
,
but
had
faced
it
,
regarding
it
as
the
less
perilous
of
the
alternatives
that
she
had
to
choose
between
.
The
income
was
small
,
but
it
was
her
own
absolutely
,
and
she
must
live
on
that
,
with
such
auxiliary
sums
as
she
could
earn
.
She
hoped
to
be
able
to
make
a
little
money
by
her
compositions
.
The
future
was
all
vague
and
unknown
,
but
one
thing
was
at
least
certain
:
it
cost
money
to
live
,
and
in
some
way
or
other
it
had
to
be
made
.
She
told
her
kind
friend
,
Madame
Vauchelet
,
of
her
plan
.
Madame
Vauchelet
consulted
her
musical
friends
.
People
were
sympathetic
,
but
rather
vague
in
their
advice
.
It
was
always
difficult
,
this
affair
.
The
beginning
was
hard
.
M
.
Thillard
,
a
kindly
,
highly-cultivated
man
of
about
sixty
,
who
had
heard
Hadria
play
,
took
great
interest
in
her
talent
,
and
busied
himself
on
her
behalf
.
He
said
he
would
like
to
interest
the
great
Jouffroy
in
this
work
.
It
had
so
distinct
and
remarkable
an
individuality
that
Dr.
Thillard
was
sure
Jouffroy
would
be
enchanted
with
it
.
For
himself
,
he
held
that
it
shewed
a
development
of
musical
form
and
expression
extremely
remarkable
.
He
could
not
quite
understand
it
.
There
was
,
he
knew
not
what
,
in
it
,
of
strange
and
powerful
;
a
music
of
the
North
;
something
of
bizarre
,
something
of
mysterious
,
even
of
terrible
,
“
une
emotion
épouvantable
,
”
cried
Mr.
Thillard
,
working
himself
to
a
climax
as
the
theme
inspired
him
,
“
There
is
genius
in
that
work
,
but
certainly
genius
.
”
Madame
Vauchelet
nodded
gravely
at
this
pronouncement
.
It
ought
to
be
published
,
she
said
.
But
this
supreme
recompense
of
genius
was
apparently
hard
to
achieve
.
The
score
was
sent
from
publisher
to
publisher
:
“
from
pillar
to
post
,
”
said
Hadria
,
“
if
one
might
venture
on
a
phrase
liable
to
misconstruction
on
the
lips
of
disappointed
ambition
.
”
But
at
the
end
of
a
long
and
wearisome
delay
,
the
little
packet
was
returned
in
a
tattered
condition
to
its
discouraged
author
.
M
.
Thillard
made
light
of
this
.
It
was
always
thus
at
first
.
One
must
have
patience
.
“
One
must
live
,
”
said
Hadria
,
“
or
at
least
such
is
the
prejudice
under
which
one
has
been
brought
up
.
”
“
All
will
come
,
”
said
M
.
Thillard
.
“
You
will
see
.
”
On
one
sunny
afternoon
,
when
Hadria
had
returned
,
thrilled
and
inspired
by
a
magnificent
orchestral
performance
at
the
Châtelet
,
she
found
Madame
Vauchelet
,
M
.
Thillard
,
and
the
great
Jouffroy
waiting
in
her
salon
.
Jouffroy
was
small
,
eccentric
,
fiery
,
with
keen
eager
eyes
,
thick
black
hair
,
and
overhanging
brows
,
M
.
Thillard
reminded
Madame
Temperley
of
her
kind
permission
to
present
to
her
M
.
Jouffroy
.
Madame
Temperley
was
charmed
and
flattered
by
Monsieur
's
visit
.
It
was
an
exciting
afternoon
.
Madame
Vauchelet
was
eager
to
hear
the
opinion
of
the
great
man
,
and
anxious
for
Hadria
to
make
a
good
impression
.
The
warm-hearted
Frenchwoman
,
who
had
lost
a
daughter
,
of
whom
Hadria
reminded
her
,
had
been
untiring
in
her
kindness
,
from
the
first
.
Madame
Vauchelet
,
in
her
young
days
,
had
cherished
a
similar
musical
ambition
,
and
Jouffroy
always
asserted
that
she
might
have
done
great
things
,
as
a
performer
,
had
not
the
cares
of
a
family
put
an
end
to
all
hope
of
bringing
her
gifts
to
fruition
.
The
piano
was
opened
.
Jouffroy
played
.
Madame
Vauchelet
,
with
her
large
veil
thrown
back
,
her
black
cashmere
folds
falling
around
her
,
sat
in
the
large
arm-chair
,
a
dignified
and
graceful
figure
,
listening
gravely
.
The
kindly
,
refined
face
of
M
.
Thillard
beamed
with
enjoyment
;
an
occasional
cry
of
admiration
escaping
his
lips
,
at
some
exquisite
touch
from
the
master
.
The
time
slipped
by
,
with
bewildering
rapidity
.
Monsieur
Thillard
asked
if
they
might
be
allowed
to
hear
some
of
Madame
's
compositions
—
those
which
she
had
already
been
so
amiable
as
to
play
to
him
.
Jouffroy
settled
himself
to
listen
;
his
shaggy
eyebrows
lowering
over
his
eyes
,
not
in
severity
but
in
fixity
of
attention
.
Hadria
trembled
for
a
moment
,
as
her
hands
touched
the
keys
.
Jouffroy
gave
a
nod
of
satisfaction
.
If
there
had
been
no
such
quiver
of
nerves
he
would
have
doubted
.
So
he
said
afterwards
to
Mr.
Thillard
and
Madame
Vauchelet
.
After
listening
,
for
a
time
,
without
moving
a
muscle
,
he
suddenly
sat
bolt
upright
and
looked
round
at
the
player
.
The
character
of
the
music
,
always
individual
,
had
grown
more
marked
,
and
at
this
point
an
effect
was
produced
which
appeared
to
startle
the
musician
.
He
withdrew
his
gaze
,
after
a
moment
,
muttering
something
to
himself
,
and
resumed
his
former
attitude
,
slowly
and
gravely
nodding
his
head
.
There
was
a
long
silence
after
the
last
of
the
lingering
,
questioning
notes
had
died
away
.
“
Is
Madame
prepared
for
work
,
for
hard
,
faithful
work
?
”
The
answer
was
affirmative
.
She
was
only
too
glad
to
have
the
chance
to
work
.
“
Has
Madame
inexhaustible
patience
?
”
“
In
this
cause
—
yes
.
”
“
And
can
she
bear
to
be
misunderstood
;
to
be
derided
for
departure
from
old
rules
and
conventions
;
to
have
her
work
despised
and
refused
,
and
again
refused
,
till
at
last
the
dull
ears
shall
he
opened
and
all
the
stupid
world
shall
run
shouting
to
her
feet
?
”
The
colour
rushed
into
Hadria
's
cheeks
.
“
Voila
.
”
exclaimed
Madame
Vauchelet
.
M
.
Thillard
beamed
with
satisfaction
.
“
Did
I
not
tell
you
?
”
Jouffroy
clapped
his
friend
on
the
back
with
enthusiasm
.
“
Il
faut
travailler
,
”
he
said
,
“
mais
travailler
!
”
He
questioned
Hadria
minutely
as
to
her
course
of
study
,
approved
it
on
the
whole
,
suggesting
alterations
and
additions
.
He
asked
to
look
through
some
more
of
her
work
.
“
Mon
Dieu
,
”
he
ejaculated
,
as
his
quick
eye
ran
over
page
after
page
.
“
If
Madame
has
a
character
as
strong
as
her
genius
,
her
name
will
one
day
be
on
the
lips
of
all
the
world
.
”
He
looked
at
her
searchingly
.
“
I
knew
it
!
”
exclaimed
M
.
Thillard
.
“
Madame
,
je
vous
félicite
.
”
“
Ah
!
”
cried
Jouffroy
,
with
a
shake
of
his
black
shaggy
head
,
“
this
is
not
a
fate
to
be
envied
.
C'est
dur
!
”
“
I
am
bewildered
!
”
cried
Hadria
at
last
,
in
a
voice
that
seemed
to
her
to
come
from
somewhere
a
long
way
off
.
The
whole
scene
had
acquired
the
character
of
a
dream
.
The
figures
moved
through
miles
of
clear
distance
.
Her
impressions
were
chaotic
.
While
a
strange
,
deep
confirmation
of
the
musician
's
words
,
seemed
to
stir
within
her
as
if
they
had
long
been
familiar
,
her
mind
entirely
refused
credence
.
He
had
gone
too
far
.
Had
he
said
a
remarkable
talent
,
but
—
Yet
was
it
not
,
after
all
,
possible
?
Nature
scattered
her
gifts
wildly
and
cruelly
:
cruelly
,
because
she
cared
not
into
what
cramped
nooks
and
crannies
she
poured
her
maddening
explosive
:
cruelly
,
because
she
hurled
this
fire
from
heaven
with
indiscriminate
hand
,
to
set
alight
one
dared
not
guess
how
many
chained
martyrs
at
their
stakes
.
Nature
did
not
pick
and
choose
the
subjects
of
her
wilful
ministrations
.
She
seemed
to
scatter
at
random
,
out
of
sheer
gaieté
de
coeur
,
as
Jouffroy
had
said
,
and
if
some
golden
grain
chanced
to
be
gleaming
in
this
soul
or
that
,
what
cause
for
astonishment
?
The
rest
might
be
the
worst
of
dross
.
As
well
might
the
chance
occur
to
one
of
Nature
's
children
as
to
another
.
She
did
not
bestow
even
one
golden
grain
for
nothing
,
bien
sûr
;
she
meant
to
be
paid
back
with
interest
.
Just
one
bright
bead
of
the
whole
vast
circlet
of
the
truth
:
perhaps
it
was
hers
,
but
more
likely
that
these
kind
friends
had
been
misled
by
their
sympathy
.
M
.
Jouffroy
came
next
day
to
have
a
long
talk
with
Hadria
about
her
work
and
her
methods
.
He
was
absolutely
confident
of
what
he
had
said
,
but
he
was
emphatic
regarding
the
necessity
for
work
;
steady
,
uninterrupted
work
.
Everything
must
be
subservient
to
the
one
aim
.
If
she
contemplated
anything
short
of
complete
dedication
to
her
art
—
well
(
he
shrugged
his
shoulders
)
,
it
would
be
better
to
amuse
herself
.
There
could
be
no
half-measures
with
art
.
True
,
there
were
thousands
of
people
who
practised
a
little
of
this
and
a
little
of
that
,
but
Art
would
endure
no
such
disrespect
.
It
was
the
affair
of
a
lifetime
.
He
had
known
many
women
with
great
talent
,
but
,
alas
!
they
had
not
