NIGHT
AND
DAY
By
Virginia
Woolf
TO
VANESSA
BELL
BUT
,
LOOKING
FOR
A
PHRASE
,
I
FOUND
NONE
TO
STAND
BESIDE
YOUR
NAME
CHAPTER
I
It
was
a
Sunday
evening
in
October
,
and
in
common
with
many
other
young
ladies
of
her
class
,
Katharine
Hilbery
was
pouring
out
tea
.
Perhaps
a
fifth
part
of
her
mind
was
thus
occupied
,
and
the
remaining
parts
leapt
over
the
little
barrier
of
day
which
interposed
between
Monday
morning
and
this
rather
subdued
moment
,
and
played
with
the
things
one
does
voluntarily
and
normally
in
the
daylight
.
But
although
she
was
silent
,
she
was
evidently
mistress
of
a
situation
which
was
familiar
enough
to
her
,
and
inclined
to
let
it
take
its
way
for
the
six
hundredth
time
,
perhaps
,
without
bringing
into
play
any
of
her
unoccupied
faculties
.
A
single
glance
was
enough
to
show
that
Mrs.
Hilbery
was
so
rich
in
the
gifts
which
make
tea-parties
of
elderly
distinguished
people
successful
,
that
she
scarcely
needed
any
help
from
her
daughter
,
provided
that
the
tiresome
business
of
teacups
and
bread
and
butter
was
discharged
for
her
.
Considering
that
the
little
party
had
been
seated
round
the
tea-table
for
less
than
twenty
minutes
,
the
animation
observable
on
their
faces
,
and
the
amount
of
sound
they
were
producing
collectively
,
were
very
creditable
to
the
hostess
.
It
suddenly
came
into
Katharine’s
mind
that
if
some
one
opened
the
door
at
this
moment
he
would
think
that
they
were
enjoying
themselves
;
he
would
think
,
“
What
an
extremely
nice
house
to
come
into
!
”
and
instinctively
she
laughed
,
and
said
something
to
increase
the
noise
,
for
the
credit
of
the
house
presumably
,
since
she
herself
had
not
been
feeling
exhilarated
.
At
the
very
same
moment
,
rather
to
her
amusement
,
the
door
was
flung
open
,
and
a
young
man
entered
the
room
.
Katharine
,
as
she
shook
hands
with
him
,
asked
him
,
in
her
own
mind
,
“
Now
,
do
you
think
we’re
enjoying
ourselves
enormously
?
”
...
“
Mr.
Denham
,
mother
,
”
she
said
aloud
,
for
she
saw
that
her
mother
had
forgotten
his
name
.
That
fact
was
perceptible
to
Mr.
Denham
also
,
and
increased
the
awkwardness
which
inevitably
attends
the
entrance
of
a
stranger
into
a
room
full
of
people
much
at
their
ease
,
and
all
launched
upon
sentences
.
At
the
same
time
,
it
seemed
to
Mr.
Denham
as
if
a
thousand
softly
padded
doors
had
closed
between
him
and
the
street
outside
.
A
fine
mist
,
the
etherealized
essence
of
the
fog
,
hung
visibly
in
the
wide
and
rather
empty
space
of
the
drawing-room
,
all
silver
where
the
candles
were
grouped
on
the
tea-table
,
and
ruddy
again
in
the
firelight
.
With
the
omnibuses
and
cabs
still
running
in
his
head
,
and
his
body
still
tingling
with
his
quick
walk
along
the
streets
and
in
and
out
of
traffic
and
foot-passengers
,
this
drawing-room
seemed
very
remote
and
still
;
and
the
faces
of
the
elderly
people
were
mellowed
,
at
some
distance
from
each
other
,
and
had
a
bloom
on
them
owing
to
the
fact
that
the
air
in
the
drawing-room
was
thickened
by
blue
grains
of
mist
.
Mr.
Denham
had
come
in
as
Mr.
Fortescue
,
the
eminent
novelist
,
reached
the
middle
of
a
very
long
sentence
.
He
kept
this
suspended
while
the
newcomer
sat
down
,
and
Mrs.
Hilbery
deftly
joined
the
severed
parts
by
leaning
towards
him
and
remarking
:
“
Now
,
what
would
you
do
if
you
were
married
to
an
engineer
,
and
had
to
live
in
Manchester
,
Mr.
Denham
?
”
“
Surely
she
could
learn
Persian
,
”
broke
in
a
thin
,
elderly
gentleman
.
“
Is
there
no
retired
schoolmaster
or
man
of
letters
in
Manchester
with
whom
she
could
read
Persian
?
”
“
A
cousin
of
ours
has
married
and
gone
to
live
in
Manchester
,
”
Katharine
explained
.
Mr.
Denham
muttered
something
,
which
was
indeed
all
that
was
required
of
him
,
and
the
novelist
went
on
where
he
had
left
off
.
Privately
,
Mr.
Denham
cursed
himself
very
sharply
for
having
exchanged
the
freedom
of
the
street
for
this
sophisticated
drawing-room
,
where
,
among
other
disagreeables
,
he
certainly
would
not
appear
at
his
best
.
He
glanced
round
him
,
and
saw
that
,
save
for
Katharine
,
they
were
all
over
forty
,
the
only
consolation
being
that
Mr.
Fortescue
was
a
considerable
celebrity
,
so
that
to-morrow
one
might
be
glad
to
have
met
him
.
“
Have
you
ever
been
to
Manchester
?
”
he
asked
Katharine
.
“
Never
,
”
she
replied
.
“
Why
do
you
object
to
it
,
then
?
”
Katharine
stirred
her
tea
,
and
seemed
to
speculate
,
so
Denham
thought
,
upon
the
duty
of
filling
somebody
else’s
cup
,
but
she
was
really
wondering
how
she
was
going
to
keep
this
strange
young
man
in
harmony
with
the
rest
.
She
observed
that
he
was
compressing
his
teacup
,
so
that
there
was
danger
lest
the
thin
china
might
cave
inwards
.
She
could
see
that
he
was
nervous
;
one
would
expect
a
bony
young
man
with
his
face
slightly
reddened
by
the
wind
,
and
his
hair
not
altogether
smooth
,
to
be
nervous
in
such
a
party
.
Further
,
he
probably
disliked
this
kind
of
thing
,
and
had
come
out
of
curiosity
,
or
because
her
father
had
invited
him
—
anyhow
,
he
would
not
be
easily
combined
with
the
rest
.
“
I
should
think
there
would
be
no
one
to
talk
to
in
Manchester
,
”
she
replied
at
random
.
Mr.
Fortescue
had
been
observing
her
for
a
moment
or
two
,
as
novelists
are
inclined
to
observe
,
and
at
this
remark
he
smiled
,
and
made
it
the
text
for
a
little
further
speculation
.
“
In
spite
of
a
slight
tendency
to
exaggeration
,
Katharine
decidedly
hits
the
mark
,
”
he
said
,
and
lying
back
in
his
chair
,
with
his
opaque
contemplative
eyes
fixed
on
the
ceiling
,
and
the
tips
of
his
fingers
pressed
together
,
he
depicted
,
first
the
horrors
of
the
streets
of
Manchester
,
and
then
the
bare
,
immense
moors
on
the
outskirts
of
the
town
,
and
then
the
scrubby
little
house
in
which
the
girl
would
live
,
and
then
the
professors
and
the
miserable
young
students
devoted
to
the
more
strenuous
works
of
our
younger
dramatists
,
who
would
visit
her
,
and
how
her
appearance
would
change
by
degrees
,
and
how
she
would
fly
to
London
,
and
how
Katharine
would
have
to
lead
her
about
,
as
one
leads
an
eager
dog
on
a
chain
,
past
rows
of
clamorous
butchers’
shops
,
poor
dear
creature
.
“
Oh
,
Mr.
Fortescue
,
”
exclaimed
Mrs.
Hilbery
,
as
he
finished
,
“
I
had
just
written
to
say
how
I
envied
her
!
I
was
thinking
of
the
big
gardens
and
the
dear
old
ladies
in
mittens
,
who
read
nothing
but
the
“
Spectator
,
”
and
snuff
the
candles
.
Have
they
all
disappeared
?
I
told
her
she
would
find
the
nice
things
of
London
without
the
horrid
streets
that
depress
one
so
.
”
“
There
is
the
University
,
”
said
the
thin
gentleman
,
who
had
previously
insisted
upon
the
existence
of
people
knowing
Persian
.
“
I
know
there
are
moors
there
,
because
I
read
about
them
in
a
book
the
other
day
,
”
said
Katharine
.
“
I
am
grieved
and
amazed
at
the
ignorance
of
my
family
,
”
Mr.
Hilbery
remarked
.
He
was
an
elderly
man
,
with
a
pair
of
oval
,
hazel
eyes
which
were
rather
bright
for
his
time
of
life
,
and
relieved
the
heaviness
of
his
face
.
He
played
constantly
with
a
little
green
stone
attached
to
his
watch-chain
,
thus
displaying
long
and
very
sensitive
fingers
,
and
had
a
habit
of
moving
his
head
hither
and
thither
very
quickly
without
altering
the
position
of
his
large
and
rather
corpulent
body
,
so
that
he
seemed
to
be
providing
himself
incessantly
with
food
for
amusement
and
reflection
with
the
least
possible
expenditure
of
energy
.
One
might
suppose
that
he
had
passed
the
time
of
life
when
his
ambitions
were
personal
,
or
that
he
had
gratified
them
as
far
as
he
was
likely
to
do
,
and
now
employed
his
considerable
acuteness
rather
to
observe
and
reflect
than
to
attain
any
result
.
Katharine
,
so
Denham
decided
,
while
Mr.
Fortescue
built
up
another
rounded
structure
of
words
,
had
a
likeness
to
each
of
her
parents
,
but
these
elements
were
rather
oddly
blended
.
She
had
the
quick
,
impulsive
movements
of
her
mother
,
the
lips
parting
often
to
speak
,
and
closing
again
;
and
the
dark
oval
eyes
of
her
father
brimming
with
light
upon
a
basis
of
sadness
,
or
,
since
she
was
too
young
to
have
acquired
a
sorrowful
point
of
view
,
one
might
say
that
the
basis
was
not
sadness
so
much
as
a
spirit
given
to
contemplation
and
self-control
.
Judging
by
her
hair
,
her
coloring
,
and
the
shape
of
her
features
,
she
was
striking
,
if
not
actually
beautiful
.
Decision
and
composure
stamped
her
,
a
combination
of
qualities
that
produced
a
very
marked
character
,
and
one
that
was
not
calculated
to
put
a
young
man
,
who
scarcely
knew
her
,
at
his
ease
.
For
the
rest
,
she
was
tall
;
her
dress
was
of
some
quiet
color
,
with
old
yellow-tinted
lace
for
ornament
,
to
which
the
spark
of
an
ancient
jewel
gave
its
one
red
gleam
.
Denham
noticed
that
,
although
silent
,
she
kept
sufficient
control
of
the
situation
to
answer
immediately
her
mother
appealed
to
her
for
help
,
and
yet
it
was
obvious
to
him
that
she
attended
only
with
the
surface
skin
of
her
mind
.
It
struck
him
that
her
position
at
the
tea-table
,
among
all
these
elderly
people
,
was
not
without
its
difficulties
,
and
he
checked
his
inclination
to
find
her
,
or
her
attitude
,
generally
antipathetic
to
him
.
The
talk
had
passed
over
Manchester
,
after
dealing
with
it
very
generously
.
“
Would
it
be
the
Battle
of
Trafalgar
or
the
Spanish
Armada
,
Katharine
?
”
her
mother
demanded
.
“
Trafalgar
,
mother
.
”
“
Trafalgar
,
of
course
!
How
stupid
of
me
!
Another
cup
of
tea
,
with
a
thin
slice
of
lemon
in
it
,
and
then
,
dear
Mr.
Fortescue
,
please
explain
my
absurd
little
puzzle
.
One
can’t
help
believing
gentlemen
with
Roman
noses
,
even
if
one
meets
them
in
omnibuses
.
”
Mr.
Hilbery
here
interposed
so
far
as
Denham
was
concerned
,
and
talked
a
great
deal
of
sense
about
the
solicitors’
profession
,
and
the
changes
which
he
had
seen
in
his
lifetime
.
Indeed
,
Denham
properly
fell
to
his
lot
,
owing
to
the
fact
that
an
article
by
Denham
upon
some
legal
matter
,
published
by
Mr.
Hilbery
in
his
Review
,
had
brought
them
acquainted
.
But
when
a
moment
later
Mrs.
Sutton
Bailey
was
announced
,
he
turned
to
her
,
and
Mr.
Denham
found
himself
sitting
silent
,
rejecting
possible
things
to
say
,
beside
Katharine
,
who
was
silent
too
.
Being
much
about
the
same
age
and
both
under
thirty
,
they
were
prohibited
from
the
use
of
a
great
many
convenient
phrases
which
launch
conversation
into
smooth
waters
.
They
were
further
silenced
by
Katharine’s
rather
malicious
determination
not
to
help
this
young
man
,
in
whose
upright
and
resolute
bearing
she
detected
something
hostile
to
her
surroundings
,
by
any
of
the
usual
feminine
amenities
.
They
therefore
sat
silent
,
Denham
controlling
his
desire
to
say
something
abrupt
and
explosive
,
which
should
shock
her
into
life
.
But
Mrs.
Hilbery
was
immediately
sensitive
to
any
silence
in
the
drawing-room
,
as
of
a
dumb
note
in
a
sonorous
scale
,
and
leaning
across
the
table
she
observed
,
in
the
curiously
tentative
detached
manner
which
always
gave
her
phrases
the
likeness
of
butterflies
flaunting
from
one
sunny
spot
to
another
,
“
D’you
know
,
Mr.
Denham
,
you
remind
me
so
much
of
dear
Mr.
Ruskin
...
.
Is
it
his
tie
,
Katharine
,
or
his
hair
,
or
the
way
he
sits
in
his
chair
?
Do
tell
me
,
Mr.
Denham
,
are
you
an
admirer
of
Ruskin
?
Some
one
,
the
other
day
,
said
to
me
,
‘Oh
,
no
,
we
don’t
read
Ruskin
,
Mrs.
Hilbery.’
What
do
you
read
,
I
wonder
?
—
for
you
can’t
spend
all
your
time
going
up
in
aeroplanes
and
burrowing
into
the
bowels
of
the
earth
.
”
She
looked
benevolently
at
Denham
,
who
said
nothing
articulate
,
and
then
at
Katharine
,
who
smiled
but
said
nothing
either
,
upon
which
Mrs.
Hilbery
seemed
possessed
by
a
brilliant
idea
,
and
exclaimed
:
“
I’m
sure
Mr.
Denham
would
like
to
see
our
things
,
Katharine
.
I’m
sure
he’s
not
like
that
dreadful
young
man
,
Mr.
Ponting
,
who
told
me
that
he
considered
it
our
duty
to
live
exclusively
in
the
present
.
After
all
,
what
is
the
present
?
Half
of
it’s
the
past
,
and
the
better
half
,
too
,
I
should
say
,
”
she
added
,
turning
to
Mr.
Fortescue
.
Denham
rose
,
half
meaning
to
go
,
and
thinking
that
he
had
seen
all
that
there
was
to
see
,
but
Katharine
rose
at
the
same
moment
,
and
saying
,
“
Perhaps
you
would
like
to
see
the
pictures
,
”
led
the
way
across
the
drawing-room
to
a
smaller
room
opening
out
of
it
.
The
smaller
room
was
something
like
a
chapel
in
a
cathedral
,
or
a
grotto
in
a
cave
,
for
the
booming
sound
of
the
traffic
in
the
distance
suggested
the
soft
surge
of
waters
,
and
the
oval
mirrors
,
with
their
silver
surface
,
were
like
deep
pools
trembling
beneath
starlight
.
But
the
comparison
to
a
religious
temple
of
some
kind
was
the
more
apt
of
the
two
,
for
the
little
room
was
crowded
with
relics
.
As
Katharine
touched
different
spots
,
lights
sprang
here
and
there
,
and
revealed
a
square
mass
of
red-and-gold
books
,
and
then
a
long
skirt
in
blue-and-white
paint
lustrous
behind
glass
,
and
then
a
mahogany
writing-table
,
with
its
orderly
equipment
,
and
,
finally
,
a
picture
above
the
table
,
to
which
special
illumination
was
accorded
.
When
Katharine
had
touched
these
last
lights
,
she
stood
back
,
as
much
as
to
say
,
“
There
!
”
Denham
found
himself
looked
down
upon
by
the
eyes
of
the
great
poet
,
Richard
Alardyce
,
and
suffered
a
little
shock
which
would
have
led
him
,
had
he
been
wearing
a
hat
,
to
remove
it
.
The
eyes
looked
at
him
out
of
the
mellow
pinks
and
yellows
of
the
paint
with
divine
friendliness
,
which
embraced
him
,
and
passed
on
to
contemplate
the
entire
world
.
The
paint
had
so
faded
that
very
little
but
the
beautiful
large
eyes
were
left
,
dark
in
the
surrounding
dimness
.
Katharine
waited
as
though
for
him
to
receive
a
full
impression
,
and
then
she
said
:
“
This
is
his
writing-table
.
He
used
this
pen
,
”
and
she
lifted
a
quill
pen
and
laid
it
down
again
.
The
writing-table
was
splashed
with
old
ink
,
and
the
pen
disheveled
in
service
.
There
lay
the
gigantic
gold-rimmed
spectacles
,
ready
to
his
hand
,
and
beneath
the
table
was
a
pair
of
large
,
worn
slippers
,
one
of
which
Katharine
picked
up
,
remarking
:
“
I
think
my
grandfather
must
have
been
at
least
twice
as
large
as
any
one
is
nowadays
.
This
,
”
she
went
on
,
as
if
she
knew
what
she
had
to
say
by
heart
,
“
is
the
original
manuscript
of
the
‘Ode
to
Winter.’
The
early
poems
are
far
less
corrected
than
the
later
.
Would
you
like
to
look
at
it
?
”
While
Mr.
Denham
examined
the
manuscript
,
she
glanced
up
at
her
grandfather
,
and
,
for
the
thousandth
time
,
fell
into
a
pleasant
dreamy
state
in
which
she
seemed
to
be
the
companion
of
those
giant
men
,
of
their
own
lineage
,
at
any
rate
,
and
the
insignificant
present
moment
was
put
to
shame
.
That
magnificent
ghostly
head
on
the
canvas
,
surely
,
never
beheld
all
the
trivialities
of
a
Sunday
afternoon
,
and
it
did
not
seem
to
matter
what
she
and
this
young
man
said
to
each
other
,
for
they
were
only
small
people
.
“
This
is
a
copy
of
the
first
edition
of
the
poems
,
”
she
continued
,
without
considering
the
fact
that
Mr.
Denham
was
still
occupied
with
the
manuscript
,
“
which
contains
several
poems
that
have
not
been
reprinted
,
as
well
as
corrections
.
”
She
paused
for
a
minute
,
and
then
went
on
,
as
if
these
spaces
had
all
been
calculated
.
“
That
lady
in
blue
is
my
great-grandmother
,
by
Millington
.
Here
is
my
uncle’s
walking-stick
—
he
was
Sir
Richard
Warburton
,
you
know
,
and
rode
with
Havelock
to
the
Relief
of
Lucknow
.
And
then
,
let
me
see
—
oh
,
that’s
the
original
Alardyce
,
1697
,
the
founder
of
the
family
fortunes
,
with
his
wife
.
Some
one
gave
us
this
bowl
the
other
day
because
it
has
their
crest
and
initials
.
We
think
it
must
have
been
given
them
to
celebrate
their
silver
wedding-day
.
”
Here
she
stopped
for
a
moment
,
wondering
why
it
was
that
Mr.
Denham
said
nothing
.
Her
feeling
that
he
was
antagonistic
to
her
,
which
had
lapsed
while
she
thought
of
her
family
possessions
,
returned
so
keenly
that
she
stopped
in
the
middle
of
her
catalog
and
looked
at
him
.
Her
mother
,
wishing
to
connect
him
reputably
with
the
great
dead
,
had
compared
him
with
Mr.
Ruskin
;
and
the
comparison
was
in
Katharine’s
mind
,
and
led
her
to
be
more
critical
of
the
young
man
than
was
fair
,
for
a
young
man
paying
a
call
in
a
tail-coat
is
in
a
different
element
altogether
from
a
head
seized
at
its
climax
of
expressiveness
,
gazing
immutably
from
behind
a
sheet
of
glass
,
which
was
all
that
remained
to
her
of
Mr.
Ruskin
.
He
had
a
singular
face
—
a
face
built
for
swiftness
and
decision
rather
than
for
massive
contemplation
;
the
forehead
broad
,
the
nose
long
and
formidable
,
the
lips
clean-shaven
and
at
once
dogged
and
sensitive
,
the
cheeks
lean
,
with
a
deeply
running
tide
of
red
blood
in
them
.
His
eyes
,
expressive
now
of
the
usual
masculine
impersonality
and
authority
,
might
reveal
more
subtle
emotions
under
favorable
circumstances
,
for
they
were
large
,
and
of
a
clear
,
brown
color
;
they
seemed
unexpectedly
to
hesitate
and
speculate
;
but
Katharine
only
looked
at
him
to
wonder
whether
his
face
would
not
have
come
nearer
the
standard
of
her
dead
heroes
if
it
had
been
adorned
with
side-whiskers
.
In
his
spare
build
and
thin
,
though
healthy
,
cheeks
,
she
saw
tokens
of
an
angular
and
acrid
soul
.
His
voice
,
she
noticed
,
had
a
slight
vibrating
or
creaking
sound
in
it
,
as
he
laid
down
the
manuscript
and
said
:
“
You
must
be
very
proud
of
your
family
,
Miss
Hilbery
.
”
“
Yes
,
I
am
,
”
Katharine
answered
,
and
she
added
,
“
Do
you
think
there’s
anything
wrong
in
that
?
”
“
Wrong
?
How
should
it
be
wrong
?
It
must
be
a
bore
,
though
,
showing
your
things
to
visitors
,
”
he
added
reflectively
.
“
Not
if
the
visitors
like
them
.
”
“
Isn’t
it
difficult
to
live
up
to
your
ancestors
?
”
he
proceeded
.
“
I
dare
say
I
shouldn’t
try
to
write
poetry
,
”
Katharine
replied
.
“
No.
And
that’s
what
I
should
hate
.
I
couldn’t
bear
my
grandfather
to
cut
me
out
.
And
,
after
all
,
”
Denham
went
on
,
glancing
round
him
satirically
,
as
Katharine
thought
,
“
it’s
not
your
grandfather
only
.
You’re
cut
out
all
the
way
round
.
I
suppose
you
come
of
one
of
the
most
distinguished
families
in
England
.
There
are
the
Warburtons
and
the
Mannings
—
and
you’re
related
to
the
Otways
,
aren’t
you
?
I
read
it
all
in
some
magazine
,
”
he
added
.
“
The
Otways
are
my
cousins
,
”
Katharine
replied
.
“
Well
,
”
said
Denham
,
in
a
final
tone
of
voice
,
as
if
his
argument
were
proved
.
“
Well
,
”
said
Katharine
,
“
I
don’t
see
that
you’ve
proved
anything
.
”
Denham
smiled
,
in
a
peculiarly
provoking
way
.
He
was
amused
and
gratified
to
find
that
he
had
the
power
to
annoy
his
oblivious
,
supercilious
hostess
,
if
he
could
not
impress
her
;
though
he
would
have
preferred
to
impress
her
.
He
sat
silent
,
holding
the
precious
little
book
of
poems
unopened
in
his
hands
,
and
Katharine
watched
him
,
the
melancholy
or
contemplative
expression
deepening
in
her
eyes
as
her
annoyance
faded
.
She
appeared
to
be
considering
many
things
.
She
had
forgotten
her
duties
.
“
Well
,
”
said
Denham
again
,
suddenly
opening
the
little
book
of
poems
,
as
though
he
had
said
all
that
he
meant
to
say
or
could
,
with
propriety
,
say
.
He
turned
over
the
pages
with
great
decision
,
as
if
he
were
judging
the
book
in
its
entirety
,
the
printing
and
paper
and
binding
,
as
well
as
the
poetry
,
and
then
,
having
satisfied
himself
of
its
good
or
bad
quality
,
he
placed
it
on
the
writing-table
,
and
examined
the
malacca
cane
with
the
gold
knob
which
had
belonged
to
the
soldier
.
“
But
aren’t
you
proud
of
your
family
?
”
Katharine
demanded
.
“
No
,
”
said
Denham
.
“
We’ve
never
done
anything
to
be
proud
of
—
unless
you
count
paying
one’s
bills
a
matter
for
pride
.
”
“
That
sounds
rather
dull
,
”
Katharine
remarked
.
“
You
would
think
us
horribly
dull
,
”
Denham
agreed
.
“
Yes
,
I
might
find
you
dull
,
but
I
don’t
think
I
should
find
you
ridiculous
,
”
Katharine
added
,
as
if
Denham
had
actually
brought
that
charge
against
her
family
.
“
No
—
because
we’re
not
in
the
least
ridiculous
.
We’re
a
respectable
middle-class
family
,
living
at
Highgate
.
”
“
We
don’t
live
at
Highgate
,
but
we’re
middle
class
too
,
I
suppose
.
”
Denham
merely
smiled
,
and
replacing
the
malacca
cane
on
the
rack
,
he
drew
a
sword
from
its
ornamental
sheath
.
“
That
belonged
to
Clive
,
so
we
say
,
”
said
Katharine
,
taking
up
her
duties
as
hostess
again
automatically
.
“
Is
it
a
lie
?
”
Denham
inquired
.
“
It’s
a
family
tradition
.
I
don’t
know
that
we
can
prove
it
.
”
“
You
see
,
we
don’t
have
traditions
in
our
family
,
”
said
Denham
.
“
You
sound
very
dull
,
”
Katharine
remarked
,
for
the
second
time
.
“
Merely
middle
class
,
”
Denham
replied
.
“
You
pay
your
bills
,
and
you
speak
the
truth
.
I
don’t
see
why
you
should
despise
us
.
”
Mr.
Denham
carefully
sheathed
the
sword
which
the
Hilberys
said
belonged
to
Clive
.
“
I
shouldn’t
like
to
be
you
;
that’s
all
I
said
,
”
he
replied
,
as
if
he
were
saying
what
he
thought
as
accurately
as
he
could
.
“
No
,
but
one
never
would
like
to
be
any
one
else
.
”
“
I
should
.
I
should
like
to
be
lots
of
other
people
.
”
“
Then
why
not
us
?
”
Katharine
asked
.
Denham
looked
at
her
as
she
sat
in
her
grandfather’s
arm-chair
,
drawing
her
great-uncle’s
malacca
cane
smoothly
through
her
fingers
,
while
her
background
was
made
up
equally
of
lustrous
blue-and-white
paint
,
and
crimson
books
with
gilt
lines
on
them
.
The
vitality
and
composure
of
her
attitude
,
as
of
a
bright-plumed
bird
poised
easily
before
further
flights
,
roused
him
to
show
her
the
limitations
of
her
lot
.
So
soon
,
so
easily
,
would
he
be
forgotten
.
“
You’ll
never
know
anything
at
first
hand
,
”
he
began
,
almost
savagely
.
“
It’s
all
been
done
for
you
.
You’ll
never
know
the
pleasure
of
buying
things
after
saving
up
for
them
,
or
reading
books
for
the
first
time
,
or
making
discoveries
.
”
“
Go
on
,
”
Katharine
observed
,
as
he
paused
,
suddenly
doubtful
,
when
he
heard
his
voice
proclaiming
aloud
these
facts
,
whether
there
was
any
truth
in
them
.
“
Of
course
,
I
don’t
know
how
you
spend
your
time
,
”
he
continued
,
a
little
stiffly
,
“
but
I
suppose
you
have
to
show
people
round
.
You
are
writing
a
life
of
your
grandfather
,
aren’t
you
?
And
this
kind
of
thing
”
—
he
nodded
towards
the
other
room
,
where
they
could
hear
bursts
of
cultivated
laughter
—
“
must
take
up
a
lot
of
time
.
”
She
looked
at
him
expectantly
,
as
if
between
them
they
were
decorating
a
small
figure
of
herself
,
and
she
saw
him
hesitating
in
the
disposition
of
some
bow
or
sash
.
“
You’ve
got
it
very
nearly
right
,
”
she
said
,
“
but
I
only
help
my
mother
.
I
don’t
write
myself
.
”
“
Do
you
do
anything
yourself
?
”
he
demanded
.
“
What
do
you
mean
?
”
she
asked
.
“
I
don’t
leave
the
house
at
ten
and
come
back
at
six
.
”
“
I
don’t
mean
that
.
”
Mr.
Denham
had
recovered
his
self-control
;
he
spoke
with
a
quietness
which
made
Katharine
rather
anxious
that
he
should
explain
himself
,
but
at
the
same
time
she
wished
to
annoy
him
,
to
waft
him
away
from
her
on
some
light
current
of
ridicule
or
satire
,
as
she
was
wont
to
do
with
these
intermittent
young
men
of
her
father’s
.
“
Nobody
ever
does
do
anything
worth
doing
nowadays
,
”
she
remarked
.
“
You
see
”
—
she
tapped
the
volume
of
her
grandfather’s
poems
—
“
we
don’t
even
print
as
well
as
they
did
,
and
as
for
poets
or
painters
or
novelists
—
there
are
none
;
so
,
at
any
rate
,
I’m
not
singular
.
”
“
No
,
we
haven’t
any
great
men
,
”
Denham
replied
.
“
I’m
very
glad
that
we
haven’t
.
I
hate
great
men
.
The
worship
of
greatness
in
the
nineteenth
century
seems
to
me
to
explain
the
worthlessness
of
that
generation
.
”
Katharine
opened
her
lips
and
drew
in
her
breath
,
as
if
to
reply
with
equal
vigor
,
when
the
shutting
of
a
door
in
the
next
room
withdrew
her
attention
,
and
they
both
became
conscious
that
the
voices
,
which
had
been
rising
and
falling
round
the
tea-table
,
had
fallen
silent
;
the
light
,
even
,
seemed
to
have
sunk
lower
.
A
moment
later
Mrs.
Hilbery
appeared
in
the
doorway
of
the
ante-room
.
She
stood
looking
at
them
with
a
smile
of
expectancy
on
her
face
,
as
if
a
scene
from
the
drama
of
the
younger
generation
were
being
played
for
her
benefit
.
She
was
a
remarkable-looking
woman
,
well
advanced
in
the
sixties
,
but
owing
to
the
lightness
of
her
frame
and
the
brightness
of
her
eyes
she
seemed
to
have
been
wafted
over
the
surface
of
the
years
without
taking
much
harm
in
the
passage
.
Her
face
was
shrunken
and
aquiline
,
but
any
hint
of
sharpness
was
dispelled
by
the
large
blue
eyes
,
at
once
sagacious
and
innocent
,
which
seemed
to
regard
the
world
with
an
enormous
desire
that
it
should
behave
itself
nobly
,
and
an
entire
confidence
that
it
could
do
so
,
if
it
would
only
take
the
pains
.
Certain
lines
on
the
broad
forehead
and
about
the
lips
might
be
taken
to
suggest
that
she
had
known
moments
of
some
difficulty
and
perplexity
in
the
course
of
her
career
,
but
these
had
not
destroyed
her
trustfulness
,
and
she
was
clearly
still
prepared
to
give
every
one
any
number
of
fresh
chances
and
the
whole
system
the
benefit
of
the
doubt
.
She
wore
a
great
resemblance
to
her
father
,
and
suggested
,
as
he
did
,
the
fresh
airs
and
open
spaces
of
a
younger
world
.
“
Well
,
”
she
said
,
“
how
do
you
like
our
things
,
Mr.
Denham
?
”
Mr.
Denham
rose
,
put
his
book
down
,
opened
his
mouth
,
but
said
nothing
,
as
Katharine
observed
,
with
some
amusement
.
Mrs.
Hilbery
handled
the
book
he
had
laid
down
.
“
There
are
some
books
that
live
,
”
she
mused
.
“
They
are
young
with
us
,
and
they
grow
old
with
us
.
Are
you
fond
of
poetry
,
Mr.
Denham
?
But
what
an
absurd
question
to
ask
!
The
truth
is
,
dear
Mr.
Fortescue
has
almost
tired
me
out
.
He
is
so
eloquent
and
so
witty
,
so
searching
and
so
profound
that
,
after
half
an
hour
or
so
,
I
feel
inclined
to
turn
out
all
the
lights
.
But
perhaps
he’d
be
more
wonderful
than
ever
in
the
dark
.
What
d’you
think
,
Katharine
?
Shall
we
give
a
little
party
in
complete
darkness
?
There’d
have
to
be
bright
rooms
for
the
bores
...
.
”
Here
Mr.
Denham
held
out
his
hand
.
“
But
we’ve
any
number
of
things
to
show
you
!
”
Mrs.
Hilbery
exclaimed
,
taking
no
notice
of
it
.
“
Books
,
pictures
,
china
,
manuscripts
,
and
the
very
chair
that
Mary
Queen
of
Scots
sat
in
when
she
heard
of
Darnley’s
murder
.
I
must
lie
down
for
a
little
,
and
Katharine
must
change
her
dress
(
though
she’s
wearing
a
very
pretty
one
)
,
but
if
you
don’t
mind
being
left
alone
,
supper
will
be
at
eight
.
I
dare
say
you’ll
write
a
poem
of
your
own
while
you’re
waiting
.
Ah
,
how
I
love
the
firelight
!
Doesn’t
our
room
look
charming
?
”
She
stepped
back
and
bade
them
contemplate
the
empty
drawing-room
,
with
its
rich
,
irregular
lights
,
as
the
flames
leapt
and
wavered
.
“
Dear
things
!
”
she
exclaimed
.
“
Dear
chairs
and
tables
!
How
like
old
friends
they
are
—
faithful
,
silent
friends
.
Which
reminds
me
,
Katharine
,
little
Mr.
Anning
is
coming
to-night
,
and
Tite
Street
,
and
Cadogan
Square
...
.
Do
remember
to
get
that
drawing
of
your
great-uncle
glazed
.
Aunt
Millicent
remarked
it
last
time
she
was
here
,
and
I
know
how
it
would
hurt
me
to
see
my
father
in
a
broken
glass
.
”
It
was
like
tearing
through
a
maze
of
diamond-glittering
spiders’
webs
to
say
good-bye
and
escape
,
for
at
each
movement
Mrs.
Hilbery
remembered
something
further
about
the
villainies
of
picture-framers
or
the
delights
of
poetry
,
and
at
one
time
it
seemed
to
the
young
man
that
he
would
be
hypnotized
into
doing
what
she
pretended
to
want
him
to
do
,
for
he
could
not
suppose
that
she
attached
any
value
whatever
to
his
presence
.
Katharine
,
however
,
made
an
opportunity
for
him
to
leave
,
and
for
that
he
was
grateful
to
her
,
as
one
young
person
is
grateful
for
the
understanding
of
another
.
CHAPTER
II
The
young
man
shut
the
door
with
a
sharper
slam
than
any
visitor
had
used
that
afternoon
,
and
walked
up
the
street
at
a
great
pace
,
cutting
the
air
with
his
walking-stick
.
He
was
glad
to
find
himself
outside
that
drawing-room
,
breathing
raw
fog
,
and
in
contact
with
unpolished
people
who
only
wanted
their
share
of
the
pavement
allowed
them
.
He
thought
that
if
he
had
had
Mr.
or
Mrs.
or
Miss
Hilbery
out
here
he
would
have
made
them
,
somehow
,
feel
his
superiority
,
for
he
was
chafed
by
the
memory
of
halting
awkward
sentences
which
had
failed
to
give
even
the
young
woman
with
the
sad
,
but
inwardly
ironical
eyes
a
hint
of
his
force
.
He
tried
to
recall
the
actual
words
of
his
little
outburst
,
and
unconsciously
supplemented
them
by
so
many
words
of
greater
expressiveness
that
the
irritation
of
his
failure
was
somewhat
assuaged
.
Sudden
stabs
of
the
unmitigated
truth
assailed
him
now
and
then
,
for
he
was
not
inclined
by
nature
to
take
a
rosy
view
of
his
conduct
,
but
what
with
the
beat
of
his
foot
upon
the
pavement
,
and
the
glimpse
which
half-drawn
curtains
offered
him
of
kitchens
,
dining-rooms
,
and
drawing-rooms
,
illustrating
with
mute
power
different
scenes
from
different
lives
,
his
own
experience
lost
its
sharpness
.
His
own
experience
underwent
a
curious
change
.
His
speed
slackened
,
his
head
sank
a
little
towards
his
breast
,
and
the
lamplight
shone
now
and
again
upon
a
face
grown
strangely
tranquil
.
His
thought
was
so
absorbing
that
when
it
became
necessary
to
verify
the
name
of
a
street
,
he
looked
at
it
for
a
time
before
he
read
it
;
when
he
came
to
a
crossing
,
he
seemed
to
have
to
reassure
himself
by
two
or
three
taps
,
such
as
a
blind
man
gives
,
upon
the
curb
;
and
,
reaching
the
Underground
station
,
he
blinked
in
the
bright
circle
of
light
,
glanced
at
his
watch
,
decided
that
he
might
still
indulge
himself
in
darkness
,
and
walked
straight
on
.
And
yet
the
thought
was
the
thought
with
which
he
had
started
.
He
was
still
thinking
about
the
people
in
the
house
which
he
had
left
;
but
instead
of
remembering
,
with
whatever
accuracy
he
could
,
their
looks
and
sayings
,
he
had
consciously
taken
leave
of
the
literal
truth
.
A
turn
of
the
street
,
a
firelit
room
,
something
monumental
in
the
procession
of
the
lamp-posts
,
who
shall
say
what
accident
of
light
or
shape
had
suddenly
changed
the
prospect
within
his
mind
,
and
led
him
to
murmur
aloud
:
“
She’ll
do
...
.
Yes
,
Katharine
Hilbery’ll
do
...
.
I’ll
take
Katharine
Hilbery
.
”
As
soon
as
he
had
said
this
,
his
pace
slackened
,
his
head
fell
,
his
eyes
became
fixed
.
The
desire
to
justify
himself
,
which
had
been
so
urgent
,
ceased
to
torment
him
,
and
,
as
if
released
from
constraint
,
so
that
they
worked
without
friction
or
bidding
,
his
faculties
leapt
forward
and
fixed
,
as
a
matter
of
course
,
upon
the
form
of
Katharine
Hilbery
.
It
was
marvellous
how
much
they
found
to
feed
upon
,
considering
the
destructive
nature
of
Denham’s
criticism
in
her
presence
.
The
charm
,
which
he
had
tried
to
disown
,
when
under
the
effect
of
it
,
the
beauty
,
the
character
,
the
aloofness
,
which
he
had
been
determined
not
to
feel
,
now
possessed
him
wholly
;
and
when
,
as
happened
by
the
nature
of
things
,
he
had
exhausted
his
memory
,
he
went
on
with
his
imagination
.
He
was
conscious
of
what
he
was
about
,
for
in
thus
dwelling
upon
Miss
Hilbery’s
qualities
,
he
showed
a
kind
of
method
,
as
if
he
required
this
vision
of
her
for
a
particular
purpose
.
He
increased
her
height
,
he
darkened
her
hair
;
but
physically
there
was
not
much
to
change
in
her
.
His
most
daring
liberty
was
taken
with
her
mind
,
which
,
for
reasons
of
his
own
,
he
desired
to
be
exalted
and
infallible
,
and
of
such
independence
that
it
was
only
in
the
case
of
Ralph
Denham
that
it
swerved
from
its
high
,
swift
flight
,
but
where
he
was
concerned
,
though
fastidious
at
first
,
she
finally
swooped
from
her
eminence
to
crown
him
with
her
approval
.
These
delicious
details
,
however
,
were
to
be
worked
out
in
all
their
ramifications
at
his
leisure
;
the
main
point
was
that
Katharine
Hilbery
would
do
;
she
would
do
for
weeks
,
perhaps
for
months
.
In
taking
her
he
had
provided
himself
with
something
the
lack
of
which
had
left
a
bare
place
in
his
mind
for
a
considerable
time
.
He
gave
a
sigh
of
satisfaction
;
his
consciousness
of
his
actual
position
somewhere
in
the
neighborhood
of
Knightsbridge
returned
to
him
,
and
he
was
soon
speeding
in
the
train
towards
Highgate
.
Although
thus
supported
by
the
knowledge
of
his
new
possession
of
considerable
value
,
he
was
not
proof
against
the
familiar
thoughts
which
the
suburban
streets
and
the
damp
shrubs
growing
in
front
gardens
and
the
absurd
names
painted
in
white
upon
the
gates
of
those
gardens
suggested
to
him
.
His
walk
was
uphill
,
and
his
mind
dwelt
gloomily
upon
the
house
which
he
approached
,
where
he
would
find
six
or
seven
brothers
and
sisters
,
a
widowed
mother
,
and
,
probably
,
some
aunt
or
uncle
sitting
down
to
an
unpleasant
meal
under
a
very
bright
light
.
Should
he
put
in
force
the
threat
which
,
two
weeks
ago
,
some
such
gathering
had
wrung
from
him
—
the
terrible
threat
that
if
visitors
came
on
Sunday
he
should
dine
alone
in
his
room
?
A
glance
in
the
direction
of
Miss
Hilbery
determined
him
to
make
his
stand
this
very
night
,
and
accordingly
,
having
let
himself
in
,
having
verified
the
presence
of
Uncle
Joseph
by
means
of
a
bowler
hat
and
a
very
large
umbrella
,
he
gave
his
orders
to
the
maid
,
and
went
upstairs
to
his
room
.
He
went
up
a
great
many
flights
of
stairs
,
and
he
noticed
,
as
he
had
very
seldom
noticed
,
how
the
carpet
became
steadily
shabbier
,
until
it
ceased
altogether
,
how
the
walls
were
discolored
,
sometimes
by
cascades
of
damp
,
and
sometimes
by
the
outlines
of
picture-frames
since
removed
,
how
the
paper
flapped
loose
at
the
corners
,
and
a
great
flake
of
plaster
had
fallen
from
the
ceiling
.
The
room
itself
was
a
cheerless
one
to
return
to
at
this
inauspicious
hour
.
A
flattened
sofa
would
,
later
in
the
evening
,
become
a
bed
;
one
of
the
tables
concealed
a
washing
apparatus
;
his
clothes
and
boots
were
disagreeably
mixed
with
books
which
bore
the
gilt
of
college
arms
;
and
,
for
decoration
,
there
hung
upon
the
wall
photographs
of
bridges
and
cathedrals
and
large
,
unprepossessing
groups
of
insufficiently
clothed
young
men
,
sitting
in
rows
one
above
another
upon
stone
steps
.
There
was
a
look
of
meanness
and
shabbiness
in
the
furniture
and
curtains
,
and
nowhere
any
sign
of
luxury
or
even
of
a
cultivated
taste
,
unless
the
cheap
classics
in
the
book-case
were
a
sign
of
an
effort
in
that
direction
.
The
only
object
that
threw
any
light
upon
the
character
of
the
room’s
owner
was
a
large
perch
,
placed
in
the
window
to
catch
the
air
and
sun
,
upon
which
a
tame
and
,
apparently
,
decrepit
rook
hopped
dryly
from
side
to
side
.
The
bird
,
encouraged
by
a
scratch
behind
the
ear
,
settled
upon
Denham’s
shoulder
.
He
lit
his
gas-fire
and
settled
down
in
gloomy
patience
to
await
his
dinner
.
After
sitting
thus
for
some
minutes
a
small
girl
popped
her
head
in
to
say
,
“
Mother
says
,
aren’t
you
coming
down
,
Ralph
?
Uncle
Joseph
—
”
“
They’re
to
bring
my
dinner
up
here
,
”
said
Ralph
,
peremptorily
;
whereupon
she
vanished
,
leaving
the
door
ajar
in
her
haste
to
be
gone
.
After
Denham
had
waited
some
minutes
,
in
the
course
of
which
neither
he
nor
the
rook
took
their
eyes
off
the
fire
,
he
muttered
a
curse
,
ran
downstairs
,
intercepted
the
parlor-maid
,
and
cut
himself
a
slice
of
bread
and
cold
meat
.
As
he
did
so
,
the
dining-room
door
sprang
open
,
a
voice
exclaimed
“
Ralph
!
”
but
Ralph
paid
no
attention
to
the
voice
,
and
made
off
upstairs
with
his
plate
.
He
set
it
down
in
a
chair
opposite
him
,
and
ate
with
a
ferocity
that
was
due
partly
to
anger
and
partly
to
hunger
.
His
mother
,
then
,
was
determined
not
to
respect
his
wishes
;
he
was
a
person
of
no
importance
in
his
own
family
;
he
was
sent
for
and
treated
as
a
child
.
He
reflected
,
with
a
growing
sense
of
injury
,
that
almost
every
one
of
his
actions
since
opening
the
door
of
his
room
had
been
won
from
the
grasp
of
the
family
system
.
By
rights
,
he
should
have
been
sitting
downstairs
in
the
drawing-room
describing
his
afternoon’s
adventures
,
or
listening
to
the
afternoon’s
adventures
of
other
people
;
the
room
itself
,
the
gas-fire
,
the
arm-chair
—
all
had
been
fought
for
;
the
wretched
bird
,
with
half
its
feathers
out
and
one
leg
lamed
by
a
cat
,
had
been
rescued
under
protest
;
but
what
his
family
most
resented
,
he
reflected
,
was
his
wish
for
privacy
.
To
dine
alone
,
or
to
sit
alone
after
dinner
,
was
flat
rebellion
,
to
be
fought
with
every
weapon
of
underhand
stealth
or
of
open
appeal
.
Which
did
he
dislike
most
—
deception
or
tears
?
But
,
at
any
rate
,
they
could
not
rob
him
of
his
thoughts
;
they
could
not
make
him
say
where
he
had
been
or
whom
he
had
seen
.
That
was
his
own
affair
;
that
,
indeed
,
was
a
step
entirely
in
the
right
direction
,
and
,
lighting
his
pipe
,
and
cutting
up
the
remains
of
his
meal
for
the
benefit
of
the
rook
,
Ralph
calmed
his
rather
excessive
irritation
and
settled
down
to
think
over
his
prospects
.
This
particular
afternoon
was
a
step
in
the
right
direction
,
because
it
was
part
of
his
plan
to
get
to
know
people
beyond
the
family
circuit
,
just
as
it
was
part
of
his
plan
to
learn
German
this
autumn
,
and
to
review
legal
books
for
Mr.
Hilbery’s
“
Critical
Review
.
”
He
had
always
made
plans
since
he
was
a
small
boy
;
for
poverty
,
and
the
fact
that
he
was
the
eldest
son
of
a
large
family
,
had
given
him
the
habit
of
thinking
of
spring
and
summer
,
autumn
and
winter
,
as
so
many
stages
in
a
prolonged
campaign
.
Although
he
was
still
under
thirty
,
this
forecasting
habit
had
marked
two
semicircular
lines
above
his
eyebrows
,
which
threatened
,
at
this
moment
,
to
crease
into
their
wonted
shapes
.
But
instead
of
settling
down
to
think
,
he
rose
,
took
a
small
piece
of
cardboard
marked
in
large
letters
with
the
word
OUT
,
and
hung
it
upon
the
handle
of
his
door
.
This
done
,
he
sharpened
a
pencil
,
lit
a
reading-lamp
and
opened
his
book
.
But
still
he
hesitated
to
take
his
seat
.
He
scratched
the
rook
,
he
walked
to
the
window
;
he
parted
the
curtains
,
and
looked
down
upon
the
city
which
lay
,
hazily
luminous
,
beneath
him
.
He
looked
across
the
vapors
in
the
direction
of
Chelsea
;
looked
fixedly
for
a
moment
,
and
then
returned
to
his
chair
.
But
the
whole
thickness
of
some
learned
counsel’s
treatise
upon
Torts
did
not
screen
him
satisfactorily
.
Through
the
pages
he
saw
a
drawing-room
,
very
empty
and
spacious
;
he
heard
low
voices
,
he
saw
women’s
figures
,
he
could
even
smell
the
scent
of
the
cedar
log
which
flamed
in
the
grate
.
His
mind
relaxed
its
tension
,
and
seemed
to
be
giving
out
now
what
it
had
taken
in
unconsciously
at
the
time
.
He
could
remember
Mr.
Fortescue’s
exact
words
,
and
the
rolling
emphasis
with
which
he
delivered
them
,
and
he
began
to
repeat
what
Mr.
Fortescue
had
said
,
in
Mr.
Fortescue’s
own
manner
,
about
Manchester
.
His
mind
then
began
to
wander
about
the
house
,
and
he
wondered
whether
there
were
other
rooms
like
the
drawing-room
,
and
he
thought
,
inconsequently
,
how
beautiful
the
bathroom
must
be
,
and
how
leisurely
it
was
—
the
life
of
these
well-kept
people
,
who
were
,
no
doubt
,
still
sitting
in
the
same
room
,
only
they
had
changed
their
clothes
,
and
little
Mr.
Anning
was
there
,
and
the
aunt
who
would
mind
if
the
glass
of
her
father’s
picture
was
broken
.
Miss
Hilbery
had
changed
her
dress
(
“
although
she’s
wearing
such
a
pretty
one
,
”
he
heard
her
mother
say
)
,
and
she
was
talking
to
Mr.
Anning
,
who
was
well
over
forty
,
and
bald
into
the
bargain
,
about
books
.
How
peaceful
and
spacious
it
was
;
and
the
peace
possessed
him
so
completely
that
his
muscles
slackened
,
his
book
drooped
from
his
hand
,
and
he
forgot
that
the
hour
of
work
was
wasting
minute
by
minute
.
He
was
roused
by
a
creak
upon
the
stair
.
With
a
guilty
start
he
composed
himself
,
frowned
and
looked
intently
at
the
fifty-sixth
page
of
his
volume
.
A
step
paused
outside
his
door
,
and
he
knew
that
the
person
,
whoever
it
might
be
,
was
considering
the
placard
,
and
debating
whether
to
honor
its
decree
or
not
.
Certainly
,
policy
advised
him
to
sit
still
in
autocratic
silence
,
for
no
custom
can
take
root
in
a
family
unless
every
breach
of
it
is
punished
severely
for
the
first
six
months
or
so
.
But
Ralph
was
conscious
of
a
distinct
wish
to
be
interrupted
,
and
his
disappointment
was
perceptible
when
he
heard
the
creaking
sound
rather
farther
down
the
stairs
,
as
if
his
visitor
had
decided
to
withdraw
.
He
rose
,
opened
the
door
with
unnecessary
abruptness
,
and
waited
on
the
landing
.
The
person
stopped
simultaneously
half
a
flight
downstairs
.
“
Ralph
?
”
said
a
voice
,
inquiringly
.
“
Joan
?
”
“
I
was
coming
up
,
but
I
saw
your
notice
.
”
“
Well
,
come
along
in
,
then
.
”
He
concealed
his
desire
beneath
a
tone
as
grudging
as
he
could
make
it
.
Joan
came
in
,
but
she
was
careful
to
show
,
by
standing
upright
with
one
hand
upon
the
mantelpiece
,
that
she
was
only
there
for
a
definite
purpose
,
which
discharged
,
she
would
go
.
She
was
older
than
Ralph
by
some
three
or
four
years
.
Her
face
was
round
but
worn
,
and
expressed
that
tolerant
but
anxious
good
humor
which
is
the
special
attribute
of
elder
sisters
in
large
families
.
Her
pleasant
brown
eyes
resembled
Ralph’s
,
save
in
expression
,
for
whereas
he
seemed
to
look
straightly
and
keenly
at
one
object
,
she
appeared
to
be
in
the
habit
of
considering
everything
from
many
different
points
of
view
.
This
made
her
appear
his
elder
by
more
years
than
existed
in
fact
between
them
.
Her
gaze
rested
for
a
moment
or
two
upon
the
rook
.
She
then
said
,
without
any
preface
:
“
It’s
about
Charles
and
Uncle
John’s
offer
...
.
Mother’s
been
talking
to
me
.
She
says
she
can’t
afford
to
pay
for
him
after
this
term
.
She
says
she’ll
have
to
ask
for
an
overdraft
as
it
is
.
”
“
That’s
simply
not
true
,
”
said
Ralph
.
“
No.
I
thought
not
.
But
she
won’t
believe
me
when
I
say
it
.
”
Ralph
,
as
if
he
could
foresee
the
length
of
this
familiar
argument
,
drew
up
a
chair
for
his
sister
and
sat
down
himself
.
“
I’m
not
interrupting
?
”
she
inquired
.
Ralph
shook
his
head
,
and
for
a
time
they
sat
silent
.
The
lines
curved
themselves
in
semicircles
above
their
eyes
.
“
She
doesn’t
understand
that
one’s
got
to
take
risks
,
”
he
observed
,
finally
.
“
I
believe
mother
would
take
risks
if
she
knew
that
Charles
was
the
sort
of
boy
to
profit
by
it
.
”
“
He’s
got
brains
,
hasn’t
he
?
”
said
Ralph
.
His
tone
had
taken
on
that
shade
of
pugnacity
which
suggested
to
his
sister
that
some
personal
grievance
drove
him
to
take
the
line
he
did
.
She
wondered
what
it
might
be
,
but
at
once
recalled
her
mind
,
and
assented
.
“
In
some
ways
he’s
fearfully
backward
,
though
,
compared
with
what
you
were
at
his
age
.
And
he’s
difficult
at
home
,
too
.
He
makes
Molly
slave
for
him
.
”
Ralph
made
a
sound
which
belittled
this
particular
argument
.
It
was
plain
to
Joan
that
she
had
struck
one
of
her
brother’s
perverse
moods
,
and
he
was
going
to
oppose
whatever
his
mother
said
.
He
called
her
“
she
,
”
which
was
a
proof
of
it
.
She
sighed
involuntarily
,
and
the
sigh
annoyed
Ralph
,
and
he
exclaimed
with
irritation
:
“
It’s
pretty
hard
lines
to
stick
a
boy
into
an
office
at
seventeen
!
”
“
Nobody
wants
to
stick
him
into
an
office
,
”
she
said
.
She
,
too
,
was
becoming
annoyed
.
She
had
spent
the
whole
of
the
afternoon
discussing
wearisome
details
of
education
and
expense
with
her
mother
,
and
she
had
come
to
her
brother
for
help
,
encouraged
,
rather
irrationally
,
to
expect
help
by
the
fact
that
he
had
been
out
somewhere
,
she
didn’t
know
and
didn’t
mean
to
ask
where
,
all
the
afternoon
.
Ralph
was
fond
of
his
sister
,
and
her
irritation
made
him
think
how
unfair
it
was
that
all
these
burdens
should
be
laid
on
her
shoulders
.
“
The
truth
is
,
”
he
observed
gloomily
,
“
that
I
ought
to
have
accepted
Uncle
John’s
offer
.
I
should
have
been
making
six
hundred
a
year
by
this
time
.
”
“
I
don’t
think
that
for
a
moment
,
”
Joan
replied
quickly
,
repenting
of
her
annoyance
.
“
The
question
,
to
my
mind
,
is
,
whether
we
couldn’t
cut
down
our
expenses
in
some
way
.
”
“
A
smaller
house
?
”
“
Fewer
servants
,
perhaps
.
”
Neither
brother
nor
sister
spoke
with
much
conviction
,
and
after
reflecting
for
a
moment
what
these
proposed
reforms
in
a
strictly
economical
household
meant
,
Ralph
announced
very
decidedly
:
“
It’s
out
of
the
question
.
”
It
was
out
of
the
question
that
she
should
put
any
more
household
work
upon
herself
.
No
,
the
hardship
must
fall
on
him
,
for
he
was
determined
that
his
family
should
have
as
many
chances
of
distinguishing
themselves
as
other
families
had
—
as
the
Hilberys
had
,
for
example
.
He
believed
secretly
and
rather
defiantly
,
for
it
was
a
fact
not
capable
of
proof
,
that
there
was
something
very
remarkable
about
his
family
.
“
If
mother
won’t
run
risks
—
”
“
You
really
can’t
expect
her
to
sell
out
again
.
”
“
She
ought
to
look
upon
it
as
an
investment
;
but
if
she
won’t
,
we
must
find
some
other
way
,
that’s
all
.
”
A
threat
was
contained
in
this
sentence
,
and
Joan
knew
,
without
asking
,
what
the
threat
was
.
In
the
course
of
his
professional
life
,
which
now
extended
over
six
or
seven
years
,
Ralph
had
saved
,
perhaps
,
three
or
four
hundred
pounds
.
Considering
the
sacrifices
he
had
made
in
order
to
put
by
this
sum
it
always
amazed
Joan
to
find
that
he
used
it
to
gamble
with
,
buying
shares
and
selling
them
again
,
increasing
it
sometimes
,
sometimes
diminishing
it
,
and
always
running
the
risk
of
losing
every
penny
of
it
in
a
day’s
disaster
.
But
although
she
wondered
,
she
could
not
help
loving
him
the
better
for
his
odd
combination
of
Spartan
self-control
and
what
appeared
to
her
romantic
and
childish
folly
.
Ralph
interested
her
more
than
any
one
else
in
the
world
,
and
she
often
broke
off
in
the
middle
of
one
of
these
economic
discussions
,
in
spite
of
their
gravity
,
to
consider
some
fresh
aspect
of
his
character
.
“
I
think
you’d
be
foolish
to
risk
your
money
on
poor
old
Charles
,
”
she
observed
.
“
Fond
as
I
am
of
him
,
he
doesn’t
seem
to
me
exactly
brilliant
...
.
Besides
,
why
should
you
be
sacrificed
?
”
“
My
dear
Joan
,
”
Ralph
exclaimed
,
stretching
himself
out
with
a
gesture
of
impatience
,
“
don’t
you
see
that
we’ve
all
got
to
be
sacrificed
?
What’s
the
use
of
denying
it
?
What’s
the
use
of
struggling
against
it
?
So
it
always
has
been
,
so
it
always
will
be
.
We’ve
got
no
money
and
we
never
shall
have
any
money
.
We
shall
just
turn
round
in
the
mill
every
day
of
our
lives
until
we
drop
and
die
,
worn
out
,
as
most
people
do
,
when
one
comes
to
think
of
it
.
”
Joan
looked
at
him
,
opened
her
lips
as
if
to
speak
,
and
closed
them
again
.
Then
she
said
,
very
tentatively
:
“
Aren’t
you
happy
,
Ralph
?
”
“
No.
Are
you
?
Perhaps
I’m
as
happy
as
most
people
,
though
.
God
knows
whether
I’m
happy
or
not
.
What
is
happiness
?
”
He
glanced
with
half
a
smile
,
in
spite
of
his
gloomy
irritation
,
at
his
sister
.
She
looked
,
as
usual
,
as
if
she
were
weighing
one
thing
with
another
,
and
balancing
them
together
before
she
made
up
her
mind
.
“
Happiness
,
”
she
remarked
at
length
enigmatically
,
rather
as
if
she
were
sampling
the
word
,
and
then
she
paused
.
She
paused
for
a
considerable
space
,
as
if
she
were
considering
happiness
in
all
its
bearings
.
“
Hilda
was
here
to-day
,
”
she
suddenly
resumed
,
as
if
they
had
never
mentioned
happiness
.
“
She
brought
Bobbie
—
he’s
a
fine
boy
now
.
”
Ralph
observed
,
with
an
amusement
that
had
a
tinge
of
irony
in
it
,
that
she
was
now
going
to
sidle
away
quickly
from
this
dangerous
approach
to
intimacy
on
to
topics
of
general
and
family
interest
.
Nevertheless
,
he
reflected
,
she
was
the
only
one
of
his
family
with
whom
he
found
it
possible
to
discuss
happiness
,
although
he
might
very
well
have
discussed
happiness
with
Miss
Hilbery
at
their
first
meeting
.
He
looked
critically
at
Joan
,
and
wished
that
she
did
not
look
so
provincial
or
suburban
in
her
high
green
dress
with
the
faded
trimming
,
so
patient
,
and
almost
resigned
.
He
began
to
wish
to
tell
her
about
the
Hilberys
in
order
to
abuse
them
,
for
in
the
miniature
battle
which
so
often
rages
between
two
quickly
following
impressions
of
life
,
the
life
of
the
Hilberys
was
getting
the
better
of
the
life
of
the
Denhams
in
his
mind
,
and
he
wanted
to
assure
himself
that
there
was
some
quality
in
which
Joan
infinitely
surpassed
Miss
Hilbery
.
He
should
have
felt
that
his
own
sister
was
more
original
,
and
had
greater
vitality
than
Miss
Hilbery
had
;
but
his
main
impression
of
Katharine
now
was
of
a
person
of
great
vitality
and
composure
;
and
at
the
moment
he
could
not
perceive
what
poor
dear
Joan
had
gained
from
the
fact
that
she
was
the
granddaughter
of
a
man
who
kept
a
shop
,
and
herself
earned
her
own
living
.
The
infinite
dreariness
and
sordidness
of
their
life
oppressed
him
in
spite
of
his
fundamental
belief
that
,
as
a
family
,
they
were
somehow
remarkable
.
“
Shall
you
talk
to
mother
?
”
Joan
inquired
.
“
Because
,
you
see
,
the
thing’s
got
to
be
settled
,
one
way
or
another
.
Charles
must
write
to
Uncle
John
if
he’s
going
there
.
”
Ralph
sighed
impatiently
.
“
I
suppose
it
doesn’t
much
matter
either
way
,
”
he
exclaimed
.
“
He’s
doomed
to
misery
in
the
long
run
.
”
A
slight
flush
came
into
Joan’s
cheek
.
“
You
know
you’re
talking
nonsense
,
”
she
said
.
“
It
doesn’t
hurt
any
one
to
have
to
earn
their
own
living
.
I’m
very
glad
I
have
to
earn
mine
.
”
Ralph
was
pleased
that
she
should
feel
this
,
and
wished
her
to
continue
,
but
he
went
on
,
perversely
enough
.
“
Isn’t
that
only
because
you’ve
forgotten
how
to
enjoy
yourself
?
You
never
have
time
for
anything
decent
—
”
“
As
for
instance
?
”
“
Well
,
going
for
walks
,
or
music
,
or
books
,
or
seeing
interesting
people
.
You
never
do
anything
that’s
really
worth
