closelyhedged
round
with
yew
hedges
,
and
blazing
now
with
every
flower
that
an
English
August
knows
—
with
sun-flowers
,
tiger-lilies
,
and
dahlias
white
and
red
.
The
window
was
low
,
so
that
the
flowers
seemed
to
be
actually
in
the
room
,
challenging
the
pale
tints
of
the
books
,
the
tawny
browns
and
blues
of
the
Persian
carpet
,
and
the
scarlet
splendours
of
the
courtier
over
the
mantelpiece
.
The
room
was
lit
up
besides
by
a
few
gleaming
casts
from
the
antique
,
by
the
'
Diane
Chasseresse
'
of
the
Louvre
,
by
the
Hermes
of
Praxiteles
smiling
with
immortal
kindness
on
the
child
enthroned
upon
his
arm
,
and
by
a
Donatello
figure
of
a
woman
in
marble
,
its
subtle
sweet
austerity
contrasting
with
the
Greek
frankness
and
blitheness
of
its
companions
.
Langham
was
penetrated
at
once
by
the
spell
of
this
strange
and
beautiful
place
.
The
fastidious
instincts
which
had
been
half
revolted
by
the
costly
accumulations
,
the
overblown
splendours
of
the
drawing-room
,
were
abundantly
satisfied
here
.
'
So
it
was
here
,
'
he
said
,
looking
round
him
,
'
that
that
man
wrote
The
Idols
of
the
Market-place
?
'
'
I
imagine
so
,
'
said
Robert
;
'
if
so
,
he
might
well
have
felt
a
little
more
charity
towards
the
human
race
in
writing
it
.
The
race
cannot
be
said
to
have
treated
him
badly
on
the
whole
.
But
now
look
,
Langham
,
look
at
these
books
—
the
most
precious
things
are
here
.
'
And
he
turned
the
key
of
a
particular
section
of
the
wall
,
which
was
not
only
latticed
but
glazed
.
'
Here
is
A
Mirror
for
Magistrates
.
Look
at
the
title-page
;
you
will
find
Gabriel
Harvey
's
name
on
it
.
Here
is
a
first
edition
of
Astrophel
and
Stella
,
another
of
the
Arcadia
.
They
may
very
well
be
presentation
copies
,
for
the
Wendover
of
that
day
is
known
to
have
been
a
wit
and
a
writer
.
Imagine
finding
them
in
situ
like
this
in
the
same
room
,
perhaps
on
the
same
shelves
,
as
at
the
beginning
!
The
other
rooms
on
this
floor
have
been
annexed
since
,
but
this
room
was
always
a
library
.
'
Langham
took
the
volumes
reverently
from
Robert
's
hands
into
his
own
,
the
scholar
's
passion
hot
within
him
.
That
glazed
case
was
indeed
a
storehouse
of
treasures
.
Ben
Jonson
's
Underwoods
with
his
own
corrections
;
a
presentation
copy
of
Andrew
Marvell
's
Poems
,
with
autograph
notes
;
manuscript
volumes
of
letters
,
containing
almost
every
famous
name
known
to
English
literature
in
the
seventeenth
and
eighteenth
centuries
,
the
literary
cream
,
in
fact
,
of
all
the
vast
collection
which
filled
the
muniment
room
upstairs
;
books
which
had
belonged
to
Addison
,
to
Sir
William
Temple
,
to
Swift
,
to
Horace
Walpole
;
the
first
four
folios
of
Shakespeare
,
all
perfect
,
and
most
of
the
quartos
—
everything
that
the
heart
of
the
English
collector
could
most
desire
was
there
.
And
the
charm
of
it
was
that
only
a
small
proportion
of
these
precious
things
represented
conscious
and
deliberate
acquisition
.
The
great
majority
of
them
had
,
as
it
were
,
drifted
thither
one
by
one
,
carried
there
by
the
tide
of
English
letters
as
to
a
warm
and
natural
resting-place
.
But
Robert
grew
impatient
,
and
hurried
on
his
guest
to
other
things
—
to
the
shelves
of
French
rarities
,
ranging
from
Du
Bellay
's
Visions
,
with
his
autograph
,
down
to
the
copy
of
Les
Mémoires
d'Outre-Tombe
presented
by
Chateaubriand
to
Madame
Récamier
,
or
to
a
dainty
manuscript
volume
in
the
fine
writing
of
Lamartine
.
'
These
,
'
Robert
explained
,
'
were
collected
,
I
believe
,
by
the
squire
's
father
.
He
was
not
in
the
least
literary
,
so
they
say
,
but
it
had
always
been
a
point
of
honour
to
carry
on
the
library
,
and
as
he
had
learnt
French
well
in
his
youth
he
bought
French
things
,
taking
advice
,
but
without
knowing
much
about
them
,
I
imagine
.
It
was
in
the
room
overhead
,
'
said
Robert
,
laying
down
the
book
he
held
,
and
speaking
in
a
lower
key
,
'
so
the
old
doctor
of
the
house
told
me
a
few
weeks
ago
,
that
the
same
poor
soul
put
an
end
to
himself
twenty
years
ago
.
'
'
What
in
the
name
of
fortune
did
he
do
that
for
?
'
'
Mania
,
'
said
Robert
quietly
.
'
Whew
!
'
said
the
other
,
lifting
his
eyebrows
.
'
Is
that
the
skeleton
in
this
very
magnificent
cupboard
?
'
'
It
has
been
the
Wendover
scourge
from
the
beginning
,
so
I
hear
.
Every
one
about
here
of
course
explains
this
man
's
eccentricities
by
the
family
history
.
But
I
do
n't
know
,
'
said
Robert
,
his
lip
hardening
,
'
it
may
be
extremely
convenient
sometimes
to
have
a
tradition
of
the
kind
.
A
man
who
knew
how
to
work
it
might
very
well
enjoy
all
the
advantages
of
sanity
and
the
privileges
of
insanity
at
the
same
time
.
The
poor
old
doctor
I
was
telling
you
of
—
old
Meyrick
—
who
has
known
the
squire
since
his
boyhood
,
and
has
a
dog-like
attachment
to
him
,
is
always
hinting
at
mysterious
excuses
.
Whenever
I
let
out
to
him
,
as
I
do
sometimes
,
as
to
the
state
of
the
property
,
he
talks
of
"
inherited
melancholy
,
"
"
rash
judgments
,
"
and
so
forth
.
I
like
the
good
old
soul
,
but
I
do
n't
believe
much
of
it
.
A
man
who
is
sane
enough
to
make
a
great
name
for
himself
in
letters
is
sane
enough
to
provide
his
estate
with
a
decent
agent
.
'
'
It
does
n't
follow
,
'
said
Langham
,
who
was
,
however
,
so
deep
in
a
collection
of
Spanish
romances
and
chronicles
that
the
squire
's
mental
history
did
not
seem
to
make
much
impression
upon
him
.
'
Most
men
of
letters
are
mad
and
I
should
be
inclined
,
'
he
added
,
with
a
sudden
and
fretful
emphasis
,
'
to
argue
much
worse
things
for
the
sanity
of
your
squire
,
Elsmere
,
from
the
fact
that
this
room
is
undoubtedly
allowed
to
get
damp
sometimes
,
than
from
any
of
those
absurd
parochial
tests
of
yours
.
'
And
he
held
up
a
couple
of
priceless
books
,
of
which
the
Spanish
sheepskin
bindings
showed
traces
here
and
there
of
moisture
.
'
It
is
no
use
,
I
know
,
expecting
you
to
preserve
a
moral
sense
when
you
get
among
books
,
'
said
Robert
with
a
shrug
.
'
I
will
reserve
my
remarks
on
that
subject
.
But
you
must
really
tear
yourself
away
from
this
room
,
Langham
,
if
you
want
to
see
the
rest
of
the
squire
's
quarters
.
Here
you
have
what
we
may
call
the
ornamental
sensational
part
of
the
library
,
that
part
of
it
which
would
make
a
stir
at
Sotheby
's
;
the
working
parts
are
all
to
come
.
'
Langham
reluctantly
allowed
himself
to
be
dragged
away
.
Robert
held
back
the
hangings
over
the
doorway
leading
into
the
rest
of
the
wing
,
and
,
passing
through
,
they
found
themselves
in
a
continuation
of
the
library
totally
different
in
character
from
the
magnificent
room
they
had
just
left
.
The
walls
were
no
longer
latticed
and
carved
;
they
were
closely
packed
,
in
the
most
business-like
way
,
with
books
which
represented
the
squire
's
own
collection
,
and
were
in
fact
a
chart
of
his
own
intellectual
history
.
'
This
is
how
I
interpret
this
room
,
'
said
Robert
,
looking
round
it
.
'
Here
are
the
books
he
collected
at
Oxford
in
the
Tractarian
Movement
and
afterwards
.
Look
here
,
'
and
he
pulled
out
a
volume
of
St.
Basil
.
Langham
looked
,
and
saw
on
the
title-page
a
note
in
faded
characters
:
'
Given
to
me
by
Newman
at
Oxford
,
in
1845
.
'
'
Ah
,
of
course
,
he
was
one
of
them
in
'
45
;
he
must
have
left
them
very
soon
after
,
'
said
Langham
reflectively
.
Robert
nodded
.
'
But
look
at
them
!
There
are
the
Tracts
,
all
the
Fathers
,
all
the
Councils
,
and
masses
,
as
you
see
,
of
Anglican
theology
.
Now
look
at
the
next
case
,
nothing
but
eighteenth
century
!
'
'
I
see
,
—
from
the
Fathers
to
the
Philosophers
,
from
Hooker
to
Hume
.
How
history
repeats
itself
in
the
individual
!
'
'
And
there
again
,
'
said
Robert
,
pointing
to
the
other
side
of
the
room
,
'
are
the
results
of
his
life
as
a
German
student
.
'
'
Germany
—
ah
,
I
remember
!
How
long
was
he
there
?
'
'
Ten
years
,
at
Berlin
and
Heidelberg
.
According
to
old
Meyrick
,
he
buried
his
last
chance
of
living
like
other
men
at
Berlin
.
His
years
of
extravagant
labour
there
have
left
marks
upon
him
physically
that
can
never
be
effaced
.
But
that
bookcase
fascinates
me
.
Half
the
great
names
of
modern
thought
are
in
those
books
.
'
And
so
they
were
.
The
first
Langham
opened
had
a
Latin
dedication
in
a
quavering
old
man
's
hand
,
'
Amico
et
discipulo
meo
,
'
signed
'
Fredericus
Gulielmus
Schelling
.
'
The
next
bore
the
autograph
of
Alexander
von
Humboldt
,
the
next
that
of
Boeckh
,
the
famous
classic
,
and
so
on
.
Close
by
was
Niebuhr
's
History
,
in
the
title-page
of
which
a
few
lines
in
the
historian
's
handwriting
bore
witness
to
much
'
pleasant
discourse
between
the
writer
and
Roger
Wendover
,
at
Bonn
,
in
the
summer
of
1847.
'
Judging
from
other
shelves
farther
down
,
he
must
also
have
spent
some
time
,
perhaps
an
academic
year
,
at
Tübingen
,
for
here
were
most
of
the
early
editions
of
the
Leben
Jesu
,
with
some
corrections
from
Strauss
's
hand
,
and
similar
records
of
Baur
,
Ewald
,
and
other
members
or
opponents
of
the
Tübingen
school
.
And
so
on
,
through
the
whole
bookcase
.
Something
of
everything
was
there
—
Philosophy
,
Theology
,
History
,
Philology
.
The
collection
was
a
medley
,
and
made
almost
a
spot
of
disorder
in
the
exquisite
neatness
and
system
of
the
vast
gathering
of
which
it
formed
part
.
Its
bond
of
union
was
simply
that
it
represented
the
forces
of
an
epoch
,
the
thoughts
,
the
men
,
the
occupations
which
had
absorbed
the
energies
of
ten
golden
years
.
Every
book
seemed
to
be
full
of
paper
marks
;
almost
every
title-page
was
covered
with
minute
writing
,
which
,
when
examined
,
proved
to
contain
a
record
of
lectures
,
or
conversations
with
the
author
of
the
volume
,
sometimes
a
string
of
anecdotes
or
a
short
biography
,
rapidly
sketched
out
of
the
fulness
of
personal
knowledge
,
and
often
seasoned
with
a
subtle
causticity
and
wit
.
A
history
of
modern
thinking
Germany
,
of
that
'
unextinguished
hearth
'
whence
the
mind
of
Europe
has
been
kindled
for
three
generations
,
might
almost
have
been
evolved
from
that
bookcase
and
its
contents
alone
.
Langham
,
as
he
stood
peering
among
the
ugly
,
vilely-printed
German
volumes
,
felt
suddenly
a
kind
of
magnetic
influence
creeping
over
him
.
The
room
seemed
instinct
with
a
harsh
commanding
presence
.
The
history
of
a
mind
and
soul
was
written
upon
the
face
of
it
;
every
shelf
,
as
it
were
,
was
an
auto
biographical
fragment
,
an
'
Apologia
pro
Vita
Mea
.
'
He
drew
away
from
the
books
at
last
with
the
uneasy
feeling
of
one
who
surprises
a
confidence
,
and
looked
for
Robert
.
Robert
was
at
the
end
of
the
room
,
a
couple
of
volumes
under
his
arm
,
another
,
which
he
was
reading
,
in
his
hand
.
'
This
is
my
corner
,
'
he
said
,
smiling
and
flushing
a
little
,
as
his
friend
moved
up
to
him
.
'
Perhaps
you
do
n't
know
that
I
too
am
engaged
upon
a
great
work
.
'
'
A
great
work
—
you
?
'
Langham
looked
at
his
companion
as
though
to
find
out
whether
his
remark
was
meant
seriously
or
whether
he
might
venture
to
be
cynical
.
Elsmere
writing
!
Why
should
everybody
write
books
?
It
was
absurd
!
The
scholar
who
knows
what
toll
scholarship
takes
of
life
is
always
apt
to
resent
the
intrusion
of
the
man
of
action
into
his
domains
.
It
looks
to
him
like
a
kind
of
ridiculous
assumption
that
any
one
d'un
cœur
lêger
can
do
what
has
cost
him
his
heart
's
blood
.
Robert
understood
something
of
the
meaning
of
his
tone
,
and
replied
almost
apologetically
;
he
was
always
singularly
modest
about
himself
on
the
intellectual
side
.
'
Well
,
Grey
is
responsible
.
He
gave
me
such
a
homily
before
I
left
Oxford
on
the
absolute
necessity
of
keeping
up
with
books
,
that
I
could
do
nothing
less
than
set
up
a
"
subject
"
at
once
.
"
Half
the
day
,
"
he
used
to
say
to
me
,
"
you
will
be
king
of
your
world
;
the
other
half
be
the
slave
of
something
which
will
take
you
out
of
your
world
into
the
general
world
;
"
and
then
he
would
quote
to
me
that
saying
he
was
always
bringing
into
lectures
—
I
forget
whose
it
is
—
"
The
decisive
events
of
the
world
take
place
in
the
intellect
.
It
is
the
mission
of
books
that
they
help
one
to
remember
it
.
"
Altogether
it
was
striking
,
coming
from
one
who
has
always
had
such
a
tremendous
respect
for
practical
life
and
work
,
and
I
was
much
impressed
by
it
.
So
blame
him
!
'
Langham
was
silent
.
Elsmere
had
noticed
that
any
allusion
to
Grey
found
Langham
less
and
less
responsive
.
'
Well
,
what
is
the
"
great
work
"
?
'
he
said
at
last
,
abruptly
.
'
Historical
.
Oh
,
I
should
have
written
something
without
Grey
;
I
have
always
had
a
turn
for
it
since
I
was
a
child
.
But
he
was
clear
that
history
was
especially
valuable
—
especially
necessary
to
a
clergyman
.
I
felt
he
was
right
,
entirely
right
.
So
I
took
my
Final
Schools
'
history
for
a
basis
,
and
started
on
the
Empire
,
especially
the
decay
of
the
Empire
.
Some
day
I
mean
to
take
up
one
of
the
episodes
in
the
great
birth
of
Europe
—
the
makings
of
France
,
I
think
,
most
likely
.
It
seems
to
lead
farthest
and
tell
most
.
I
have
been
at
work
now
nine
months
.
'
'
And
are
just
getting
into
it
?
'
'
Just
about
.
I
have
got
down
below
the
surface
,
and
am
beginning
to
feel
the
joys
of
digging
;
'
and
Robert
threw
back
his
head
with
one
of
his
most
brilliant
enthusiastic
smiles
.
'
I
have
been
shy
about
boring
you
with
the
thing
,
but
the
fact
is
,
I
am
very
keen
indeed
;
and
this
library
has
been
a
godsend
!
'
'
So
I
should
think
.
'
Langham
sat
down
on
one
of
the
carved
wooden
stools
placed
at
intervals
along
the
bookcases
and
looked
at
his
friend
,
his
psychological
curiosity
rising
a
little
.
'
Tell
me
,
'
he
said
presently
—
'
tell
me
what
interests
you
specially
—
what
seizes
you
—
in
a
subject
like
the
making
of
France
,
for
instance
?
'
'
Do
you
really
want
to
know
?
'
said
Robert
,
incredulously
.
The
other
nodded
.
Robert
left
his
place
,
and
began
to
walk
up
and
down
,
trying
to
answer
Langham
's
question
,
and
at
the
same
time
to
fix
in
speech
a
number
of
sentiments
and
impressions
bred
in
him
by
the
work
of
the
past
few
months
.
After
a
while
Langham
began
to
see
his
way
.
Evidently
the
forces
at
the
bottom
of
this
new
historical
interest
were
precisely
the
same
forces
at
work
in
Elsmere
's
parish
plans
,
in
his
sermons
,
in
his
dealings
with
the
poor
and
the
young
—
forces
of
imagination
and
sympathy
.
What
was
enchaining
him
to
this
new
study
was
not
,
to
begin
with
,
that
patient
love
of
ingenious
accumulation
which
is
the
learned
temper
proper
,
the
temper
,
in
short
,
of
science
.
It
was
simply
a
passionate
sense
of
the
human
problems
which
underlie
all
the
dry
and
dusty
detail
of
history
and
give
it
tone
and
colour
,
a
passionate
desire
to
rescue
something
more
of
human
life
from
the
drowning
,
submerging
past
,
to
realise
for
himself
and
others
the
solidarity
and
continuity
of
mankind
's
long
struggle
from
the
beginning
until
now
.
Langham
had
had
much
experience
of
Elsmere
's
versatility
and
pliancy
,
but
he
had
never
realised
it
so
much
as
now
,
while
he
sat
listening
to
the
vivid
,
many-coloured
speech
getting
quicker
and
quicker
,
and
more
and
more
telling
and
original
as
Robert
got
more
absorbed
and
excited
by
what
he
had
to
say
.
He
was
endeavouring
to
describe
to
Langham
the
sort
of
book
he
thought
might
be
written
on
the
rise
of
modern
society
in
Gaul
,
dwelling
first
of
all
on
the
outward
spectacle
of
the
blood-stained
Frankish
world
as
it
was
,
say
,
in
the
days
of
Gregory
the
Great
,
on
its
savage
kings
,
its
fiendish
women
,
its
bishops
and
its
saints
;
and
then
,
on
the
conflict
of
ideas
going
on
behind
all
the
fierce
incoherence
of
the
Empire
's
decay
,
the
struggle
of
Roman
order
and
of
German
freedom
,
of
Roman
luxury
and
of
German
hardness
;
above
all
,
the
war
of
orthodoxy
and
heresy
,
with
its
strange
political
complications
.
And
then
,
discontented
still
,
as
though
the
heart
of
the
matter
were
still
untouched
,
he
went
on
,
restlessly
wandering
the
while
,
with
his
long
arms
linked
behind
him
,
'
throwing
out
'
words
at
an
object
in
his
mind
,
trying
to
grasp
and
analyse
that
strange
sense
which
haunts
the
student
of
Rome
's
decline
as
it
once
overshadowed
the
infancy
of
Europe
,
that
sense
of
a
slowly
departing
majesty
,
of
a
great
presence
just
withdrawn
,
and
still
incalculably
potent
,
traceable
throughout
in
that
humbling
consciousness
of
Goth
or
Frank
that
they
were
but
'
beggars
hutting
in
a
palace
—
the
place
had
harboured
greater
men
than
they
!
'
'
There
is
one
thing
,
'
Langham
said
presently
,
in
his
slow
nonchalant
voice
,
when
the
tide
of
Robert
's
ardour
ebbed
for
a
moment
,
'
that
does
n't
seem
to
have
touched
you
yet
.
But
you
will
come
to
it
.
To
my
mind
,
it
makes
almost
the
chief
interest
of
history
.
It
is
just
this
.
History
depends
on
testimony
.
What
is
the
nature
and
the
value
of
testimony
at
given
times
?
In
other
words
,
did
the
man
of
the
third
century
understand
,
or
report
,
or
interpret
facts
in
the
same
way
as
the
man
of
the
sixteenth
or
the
nineteenth
?
And
if
not
,
what
are
the
differences
,
and
what
are
the
deductions
to
be
made
from
them
,
if
any
?
'
He
fixed
his
keen
look
on
Robert
,
who
was
now
lounging
against
the
books
,
as
though
his
harangue
had
taken
it
out
of
him
a
little
.
'
Ah
,
well
,
'
said
the
rector
,
smiling
,
'
I
am
only
just
coming
to
that
.
As
I
told
you
,
I
am
only
now
beginning
to
dig
for
myself
.
Till
now
it
has
all
been
work
at
second
hand
.
I
have
been
getting
a
general
survey
of
the
ground
as
quickly
as
I
could
with
the
help
of
other
men
's
labours
.
Now
I
must
go
to
work
inch
by
inch
,
and
find
out
what
the
ground
is
made
of
.
I
wo
n't
forget
your
point
.
It
is
enormously
important
,
I
grant
—
enormously
,
'
he
repeated
reflectively
.
'
I
should
think
it
is
,
'
said
Langham
to
himself
as
he
rose
;
'
the
whole
of
orthodox
Christianity
is
in
it
,
for
instance
!
'
There
was
not
much
more
to
be
seen
.
A
little
wooden
staircase
led
from
the
second
library
to
the
upper
rooms
,
curious
old
rooms
,
which
had
been
annexed
one
by
one
as
the
squire
wanted
them
,
and
in
which
there
was
nothing
at
all
—
neither
chair
,
nor
table
,
nor
carpet
—
but
books
only
.
All
the
doors
leading
from
room
to
room
had
been
taken
off
;
the
old
worm-eaten
boards
had
been
roughly
stained
;
a
few
old
French
engravings
had
been
hung
here
and
there
where
the
encroaching
books
left
an
opening
;
but
otherwise
all
was
bare
.
There
was
a
curious
charm
in
the
space
and
air
of
these
empty
rooms
,
with
their
latticed
windows
opening
on
to
the
hill
;
and
letting
in
day
by
day
the
summer
sun-risings
or
the
winter
dawns
,
which
had
shone
upon
them
for
more
than
three
centuries
.
'
This
is
my
last
day
of
privilege
,
'
said
Robert
.
'
Everybody
is
shut
out
when
once
he
appears
,
from
this
wing
,
and
this
part
of
the
grounds
.
This
was
his
father
's
room
,
'
and
the
rector
led
the
way
into
the
last
of
the
series
;
'
and
through
there
,
'
pointing
to
a
door
on
the
right
,
'
lies
the
way
to
his
own
sleeping
room
,
which
is
of
course
connected
with
the
more
modern
side
of
the
house
.
'
'
So
this
is
where
that
old
man
ventured
"
what
Cato
did
and
Addison
approved
,
"
'
murmured
Langham
,
standing
in
the
middle
of
the
room
and
looking
round
him
.
This
particular
room
was
now
used
as
a
sort
of
lumber
place
,
a
receptacle
for
the
superfluous
or
useless
books
gradually
thrown
off
by
the
great
collection
all
around
.
There
were
innumerable
volumes
in
frayed
or
broken
bindings
lying
on
the
ground
.
A
musty
smell
hung
over
it
all
;
the
gray
light
from
outside
,
which
seemed
to
give
only
an
added
subtlety
and
charm
to
the
other
portions
of
the
ancient
building
through
which
they
had
been
moving
,
seemed
here
triste
and
dreary
.
Or
Langham
fancied
it
.
He
passed
the
threshold
again
with
a
little
sigh
,
and
saw
suddenly
before
him
at
the
end
of
the
suite
of
rooms
,
and
framed
in
the
doorways
facing
him
,
an
engraving
of
a
Greuze
picture
—
a
girl
's
face
turned
over
her
shoulder
,
the
hair
waving
about
her
temples
,
the
lips
parted
,
the
teeth
gleaming
,
mirth
and
provocation
and
tender
yielding
in
every
line
.
Langham
started
,
and
the
blood
rushed
to
his
heart
.
It
was
as
though
Rose
herself
stood
there
and
beckoned
to
him
.
CHAPTER
XV
'
Now
,
having
seen
our
sight
,
'
said
Robert
,
as
they
left
the
great
mass
of
Murewell
behind
them
,
'
come
and
see
our
scandal
.
Both
run
by
the
same
proprietor
,
if
you
please
.
There
is
a
hamlet
down
there
in
the
hollow
'
—
and
he
pointed
to
a
gray
speck
in
the
distance
—
'
which
deserves
a
Royal
Commission
all
to
itself
,
which
is
a
disgrace
'
—
and
his
tone
warmed
—
'
to
any
country
,
any
owner
,
any
agent
!
It
is
owned
by
Mr.
Wendover
,
and
I
see
the
pleasing
prospect
straight
before
me
of
beginning
my
acquaintance
with
him
by
a
fight
over
it
.
You
will
admit
that
it
is
a
little
hard
on
a
man
who
wants
to
live
on
good
terms
with
the
possessor
of
the
Murewell
library
to
have
to
open
relations
with
him
by
a
fierce
attack
on
his
drains
and
his
pigsties
.
'
He
turned
to
his
companion
with
a
half-rueful
spark
of
laughter
in
his
gray
eyes
.
Langham
hardly
caught
what
he
said
.
He
was
far
away
in
meditations
of
his
own
.
'
An
attack
,
'
he
repeated
vaguely
;
'
why
an
attack
?
'
Robert
plunged
again
into
the
great
topic
of
which
his
quick
mind
was
evidently
full
.
Langham
tried
to
listen
,
but
was
conscious
that
his
friend
's
social
enthusiasms
bored
him
a
great
deal
.
And
side
by
side
with
the
consciousness
there
slid
in
a
little
stinging
reflection
that
four
years
ago
no
talk
of
Elsmere
's
could
have
bored
him
.
'
What
's
the
matter
with
this
particular
place
?
'
he
asked
languidly
,
at
last
,
raising
his
eyes
towards
the
group
of
houses
now
beginning
to
emerge
from
the
distance
.
An
angry
red
mounted
in
Robert
's
cheek
.
'
What
is
n't
the
matter
with
it
?
The
houses
,
which
were
built
on
a
swamp
originally
,
are
falling
into
ruin
;
the
roofs
,
the
drains
,
the
accommodation
per
head
,
are
all
about
equally
scandalous
.
The
place
is
harried
with
illness
;
since
I
came
there
has
been
both
fever
and
diphtheria
there
.
They
are
all
crippled
with
rheumatism
,
but
that
they
think
nothing
of
;
the
English
labourer
takes
rheumatism
as
quite
in
the
day
's
bargain
!
And
as
to
vice
—
the
vice
that
comes
of
mere
endless
persecuting
opportunity
—
I
can
tell
you
one
's
ideas
of
personal
responsibility
get
a
good
deal
shaken
up
by
a
place
like
this
!
And
I
can
do
nothing
.
I
brought
over
Henslowe
to
see
the
place
,
and
he
behaved
like
a
brute
.
He
scoffed
at
all
my
complaints
,
said
that
no
landlord
would
be
such
a
fool
as
to
build
fresh
cottages
on
such
a
site
,
that
the
old
ones
must
just
be
allowed
to
go
to
ruin
;
that
the
people
might
live
in
them
if
they
chose
,
or
turn
out
of
them
if
they
chose
.
Nobody
forced
them
to
do
either
;
it
was
their
own
look-out
.
'
'
That
was
true
,
'
said
Langham
,
'
was
n't
it
?
'
Robert
turned
upon
him
fiercely
.
'
Ah
!
you
think
it
so
easy
for
those
poor
creatures
to
leave
their
homes
,
their
working
places
!
Some
of
them
have
been
there
thirty
years
.
They
are
close
to
the
two
or
three
farms
that
employ
them
,
close
to
the
osier
beds
which
give
them
extra
earnings
in
the
spring
.
If
they
were
turned
out
there
is
nothing
nearer
than
Murewell
,
and
not
a
single
cottage
to
be
found
there
.
I
do
n't
say
it
is
a
landlord
's
duty
to
provide
more
cottages
than
are
wanted
;
but
if
the
labour
is
wanted
,
the
labourer
should
be
decently
housed
.
He
is
worthy
of
his
hire
,
and
woe
to
the
man
who
neglects
or
ill-treats
him
!
'
Langham
could
not
help
smiling
,
partly
at
the
vehemence
of
the
speech
,
partly
at
the
lack
of
adjustment
between
his
friend
's
mood
and
his
own
.
He
braced
himself
to
take
the
matter
more
seriously
,
but
meanwhile
Robert
had
caught
the
smile
,
and
his
angry
eyes
melted
at
once
into
laughter
.
'
There
I
am
,
ranting
as
usual
,
'
he
said
penitently
.
'
Took
you
for
Henslowe
,
I
suppose
!
Ah
,
well
,
never
mind
.
I
hear
the
Provost
has
another
book
on
the
stocks
.
'
So
they
diverged
into
other
things
,
talking
politics
and
new
books
,
public
men
and
what
not
,
till
,
at
the
end
of
a
long
and
gradual
descent
through
wooded
ground
,
some
two
miles
to
the
north-west
of
the
park
,
they
emerged
from
the
trees
beneath
which
they
had
been
walking
,
and
found
themselves
on
a
bridge
,
a
gray
sluggish
stream
flowing
beneath
them
,
and
the
hamlet
they
sought
rising
among
the
river
flats
on
the
farther
side
.
'
There
,
'
said
Robert
,
stopping
,
'
we
are
at
our
journey
's
end
.
Now
then
,
what
sort
of
a
place
of
human
habitation
do
you
call
that
?
'
The
bridge
whereon
they
stood
crossed
the
main
channel
of
the
river
,
which
just
at
that
point
,
however
,
parted
into
several
branches
,
and
came
meandering
slowly
down
through
a
little
bottom
or
valley
,
filled
with
osier
beds
,
long
since
robbed
of
their
year
's
growth
of
shoots
.
On
the
other
side
of
the
river
,
on
ground
all
but
level
with
the
osier
beds
which
interposed
be
tween
them
and
the
stream
,
rose
a
miserable
group
of
houses
,
huddled
together
as
though
their
bulging
walls
and
rotten
roofs
could
only
maintain
themselves
at
all
by
the
help
and
support
which
each
wretched
hovel
gave
to
its
neighbour
.
The
mud
walls
were
stained
with
yellow
patches
of
lichen
,
the
palings
round
the
little
gardens
were
broken
and
ruinous
.
Close
beside
them
all
was
a
sort
of
open
drain
or
water-course
,
stagnant
and
noisome
,
which
dribbled
into
the
river
a
little
above
the
bridge
.
Behind
them
rose
a
high
gravel
bank
edged
by
firs
,
and
a
line
of
oak
trees
against
the
sky
.
The
houses
stood
in
the
shadow
of
the
bank
looking
north
,
and
on
this
gray
,
lowering
day
,
the
dreariness
,
the
gloom
,
the
squalor
of
the
place
were
indescribable
.
'
Well
,
that
is
a
God-forsaken
hole
!
'
said
Langham
,
studying
it
,
his
interest
roused
at
last
,
rather
,
perhaps
,
by
the
Ruysdael-like
melancholy
and
picturesqueness
of
the
scene
than
by
its
human
suggestiveness
.
'
I
could
hardly
have
imagined
such
a
place
existed
in
southern
England
.
It
is
more
like
a
bit
of
Ireland
.
'
'
If
it
were
Ireland
it
might
be
to
somebody
's
interest
to
ferret
it
out
,
'
said
Robert
bitterly
.
'
But
these
poor
folks
are
out
of
the
world
.
They
may
be
brutalised
with
impunity
.
Oh
,
such
a
case
as
I
had
here
last
autumn
!
A
young
girl
of
sixteen
or
seventeen
,
who
would
have
been
healthy
and
happy
anywhere
else
,
stricken
by
the
damp
and
the
poison
of
the
place
,
dying
in
six
weeks
,
of
complications
due
to
nothing
in
the
world
but
preventable
cruelty
and
neglect
!
It
was
a
sight
that
burnt
into
my
mind
,
once
for
all
,
what
is
meant
by
a
landlord
's
responsibility
.
I
tried
,
of
course
,
to
move
her
,
but
neither
she
nor
her
parents
—
elderly
folk
—
had
energy
enough
for
a
change
.
They
only
prayed
to
be
let
alone
.
I
came
over
the
last
evening
of
her
life
to
give
her
the
communion
.
"
Ah
,
sir
!
"
said
the
mother
to
me
—
not
bitterly
—
that
is
the
strange
thing
,
they
have
so
little
bitterness
—
"
if
Mister
'
Enslowe
would
jest
'
a
mended
that
bit
'
o
roof
of
ours
last
winter
,
Bessie
need
n't
have
laid
in
the
wet
so
many
nights
as
she
did
,
and
she
coughin
'
fit
to
break
your
heart
,
for
all
the
things
yer
could
put
over
'
er
.
"
'
Robert
paused
,
his
strong
young
face
,
so
vehemently
angry
a
few
minutes
before
,
tremulous
with
feeling
.
'
Ah
,
well
,
'
he
said
at
last
with
a
long
breath
,
moving
away
from
the
parapet
of
the
bridge
on
which
he
had
been
leaning
,
'
better
be
oppressed
than
oppressor
,
any
day
!
Now
,
then
,
I
must
deliver
my
stores
.
There
's
a
child
here
Catherine
and
I
have
been
doing
our
best
to
pull
through
typhoid
.
'
They
crossed
the
bridge
and
turned
down
the
track
leading
to
the
hamlet
.
Some
planks
carried
them
across
the
ditch
,
the
main
sewer
of
the
community
,
as
Robert
pointed
out
,
and
they
made
their
way
through
the
filth
surrounding
one
of
the
nearest
cottages
.
A
feeble
elderly
man
,
whose
shaking
limbs
and
sallow
blood
less
skin
make
him
look
much
older
than
he
actually
was
,
opened
the
door
and
invited
them
to
come
in
.
Robert
passed
on
into
an
inner
room
,
conducted
thither
by
a
woman
who
had
been
sitting
working
over
the
fire
.
Langham
stood
irresolute
;
but
the
old
man
's
quavering
'
kindly
take
a
chair
,
sir
;
you
've
come
a
long
way
,
'
decided
him
,
and
he
stepped
in
.
Inside
the
hovel
was
miserable
indeed
.
It
belonged
to
that
old
and
evil
type
which
the
efforts
of
the
last
twenty
years
have
done
so
much
all
over
England
to
sweep
away
:
four
mud
walls
,
enclosing
an
oblong
space
about
eight
yards
long
,
divided
into
two
unequal
portions
by
a
lath
and
plaster
partition
,
with
no
upper
storey
,
a
thatched
roof
,
now
entirely
out
of
repair
,
and
letting
in
the
rain
in
several
places
,
and
a
paved
floor
little
better
than
the
earth
itself
,
so
large
and
cavernous
were
the
gaps
between
the
stones
.
The
dismal
place
had
no
small
adornings
—
none
of
those
little
superfluities
which
,
however
ugly
and
trivial
,
are
still
so
precious
in
the
dwellings
of
the
poor
,
as
showing
the
existence
of
some
instinct
or
passion
which
is
not
the
creation
of
the
sheerest
physical
need
;
and
Langham
,
as
he
sat
down
,
caught
the
sickening
marsh
smell
which
the
Oxford
man
,
accustomed
to
the
odours
of
damp
meadows
in
times
of
ebbing
flood
and
festering
sun
,
knows
so
well
.
As
old
Milsom
began
to
talk
to
him
in
his
weak
tremulous
voice
,
the
visitor
's
attention
was
irresistibly
held
by
the
details
about
him
.
Fresh
as
he
was
from
all
the
delicate
sights
,
the
harmonious
colours
and
delightful
forms
of
the
squire
's
house
,
they
made
an
unusually
sharp
impression
on
his
fastidious
senses
.
What
does
human
life
become
lived
on
reeking
floors
and
under
stifling
roofs
like
these
?
What
strange
abnormal
deteriorations
,
physical
and
spiritual
,
must
it
not
inevitably
undergo
?
Langham
felt
a
sudden
inward
movement
of
disgust
and
repulsion
.
'
For
heaven
's
sake
,
keep
your
superstitions
!
'
he
could
have
cried
to
the
whole
human
race
,
'
or
any
other
narcotic
that
a
grinding
fate
has
left
you
.
What
does
anything
matter
to
the
mass
of
mankind
but
a
little
ease
,
a
little
lightening
of
pressure
on
this
side
or
on
that
?
'
Meanwhile
the
old
man
went
maundering
on
,
talking
of
the
weather
,
and
of
his
sick
child
,
and
'
Mr
.
Elsmere
,
'
with
a
kind
of
listless
incoherence
which
hardly
demanded
an
answer
,
though
Langham
threw
in
a
word
or
two
here
and
there
.
Among
other
things
,
he
began
to
ask
a
question
or
two
about
Robert
's
predecessor
,
a
certain
Mr.
Preston
,
who
had
left
behind
him
a
memory
of
amiable
evangelical
indolence
.
'
Did
you
see
much
of
him
?
'
he
asked
.
'
Oh
law
,
no
,
sir
!
'
replied
the
man
,
surprised
into
something
like
energy
.
'
Never
seed
'
im
more
'
n
once
a
year
,
and
sometimes
not
that
!
'
'
Was
he
liked
here
?
'
'
Well
,
sir
,
it
was
like
this
,
you
see
.
My
wife
,
she
's
north-country
,
she
is
,
comes
from
Yorkshire
;
sometimes
she
'd
used
to
say
to
me
,
"
Passon
'
ee
ai
n't
much
good
,
and
passon
'
ee
ai
n't
much
harm
.
'
Ee
's
no
more
good
nor
more
'
arm
,
so
fer
as
I
can
see
,
nor
a
chip
in
a
basin
o
'
parritch
.
"
And
that
was
just
about
it
;
sir
,
'
said
the
old
man
,
pleased
for
the
hundredth
time
with
his
wife
's
bygone
flight
of
metaphor
and
his
own
exact
memory
of
it
.
As
to
the
rector
's
tendance
of
his
child
,
his
tone
was
very
cool
and
guarded
.
'
It
do
seem
strange
,
sir
,
as
nor
he
nor
Doctor
Grimes
'
ull
let
her
have
anything
to
put
a
bit
of
flesh
on
her
,
nothin
'
but
them
messy
things
as
he
brings
—
milk
an
'
that
.
An
'
the
beef
jelly
—
lor
,
such
a
trouble
!
Missis
Elsmere
,
he
tells
my
wife
,
strains
all
the
stuff
through
a
cloth
,
she
do
;
never
seed
anythin
'
like
it
,
nor
my
wife
neither
.
People
is
clever
nowadays
,
'
said
the
speaker
dubiously
.
Langham
realised
that
,
in
this
quarter
of
his
parish
at
any
rate
,
his
friend
's
pastoral
vanity
,
if
he
had
any
,
would
not
find
much
to
feed
on
.
Nothing
,
to
judge
from
this
specimen
at
least
,
greatly
affected
an
inhabitant
of
Mile
End
.
Gratitude
,
responsiveness
,
imply
health
and
energy
,
past
or
present
.
The
only
constant
defence
which
the
poor
have
against
such
physical
conditions
as
those
which
prevailed
at
Mile
End
is
apathy
.
As
they
came
down
the
dilapidated
steps
at
the
cottage
door
,
Robert
drew
in
with
avidity
a
long
draught
of
the
outer
air
.
'
Ugh
!
'
he
said
with
a
sort
of
groan
,
'
that
bedroom
!
Nothing
gives
one
such
a
sense
of
the
toughness
of
human
life
as
to
see
a
child
recovering
,
actually
recovering
,
in
such
a
pestilential
den
!
Father
,
mother
,
grown-up
son
,
girl
of
thirteen
,
and
grandchild
,
all
huddled
in
a
space
just
fourteen
feet
square
.
Langham
!
'
and
he
turned
passionately
on
his
companion
,
'
what
defence
can
be
found
for
a
man
who
lives
in
a
place
like
Murewell
Hall
,
and
can
take
money
from
human
beings
for
the
use
of
a
sty
like
that
?
'
'
Gently
,
my
friend
.
Probably
the
squire
,
being
the
sort
of
recluse
he
is
,
has
never
seen
the
place
,
or
,
at
any
rate
,
not
for
years
,
and
knows
nothing
about
it
!
'
'
More
shame
for
him
!
'
'
True
in
a
sense
,
'
said
Langham
,
a
little
drily
;
'
but
as
you
may
want
hereafter
to
make
excuses
for
your
man
,
and
he
may
give
you
occasion
,
I
would
n't
begin
by
painting
him
to
yourself
any
blacker
than
need
be
.
'
Robert
laughed
,
sighed
and
acquiesced
.
'
I
am
a
hot-headed
,
impatient
kind
of
creature
at
the
best
of
times
,
'
he
confessed
.
'
They
tell
me
that
great
things
have
been
done
for
the
poor
round
here
in
the
last
twenty
years
.
Something
has
been
done
,
certainly
.
But
why
are
the
old
ways
,
the
old
evil
neglect
and
apathy
,
so
long
,
so
terribly
long
in
dying
?
This
social
progress
of
ours
we
are
so
proud
of
is
a
clumsy
limping
jade
at
best
!
'
They
prowled
a
little
more
about
the
hamlet
,
every
step
almost
revealing
some
new
source
of
poison
and
disease
.
Of
their
various
visits
,
however
,
Langham
remembered
nothing
afterwards
but
a
little
scene
in
a
miserable
cottage
,
where
they
found
a
whole
family
party
gathered
round
the
mid-day
meal
.
A
band
of
puny
,
black
,
black-eyed
children
were
standing
or
sitting
at
the
table
.
The
wife
,
confined
of
twins
three
weeks
before
,
sat
by
the
fire
,
deathly
pale
,
a
'
bad
leg
'
stretched
out
before
her
on
some
improvised
support
,
one
baby
on
her
lap
and
another
dark-haired
bundle
asleep
in
a
cradle
beside
her
.
There
was
a
pathetic
pinched
beauty
about
the
whole
family
.
Even
the
tiny
twins
were
comparatively
shapely
;
all
the
other
children
had
delicate
transparent
skins
,
large
eyes
,
and
small
colourless
mouths
.
The
father
,
a
picturesque
handsome
fellow
,
looking
as
though
he
had
gipsy
blood
in
his
veins
,
had
opened
the
door
to
their
knock
.
Robert
,
seeing
the
meal
,
would
have
retreated
at
once
,
in
spite
of
the
children
's
shy
inviting
looks
,
but
a
glance
past
them
at
the
mother
's
face
checked
the
word
of
refusal
and
apology
on
his
lips
,
and
he
stepped
in
.
In
after
years
Langham
was
always
apt
to
see
him
in
imagination
as
he
saw
him
then
,
standing
beside
the
bent
figure
of
the
mother
,
his
quick
pitiful
eyes
taking
in
the
pallor
and
exhaustion
of
face
and
frame
,
his
hand
resting
instinctively
on
the
head
of
a
small
creature
that
had
crept
up
beside
him
,
his
look
all
attention
and
softness
as
the
woman
feebly
told
him
some
of
the
main
facts
of
her
state
.
The
young
rector
at
the
moment
might
have
stood
for
the
modern
'
Man
of
Feeling
,
'
as
sensitive
,
as
impressionable
,
and
as
free
from
the
burden
of
self
,
as
his
eighteenth-century
prototype
.
On
the
way
home
Robert
suddenly
remarked
to
his
companion
,
'
Have
you
heard
my
sister-in-law
play
yet
,
Langham
?
What
did
you
think
of
it
?
'
'
Extraordinary
!
'
said
Langham
briefly
.
'
The
most
considerable
gift
I
ever
came
across
in
an
amateur
.
'
His
olive
cheek
flushed
a
little
involuntarily
.
Robert
threw
a
quick
observant
look
at
him
.
'
The
difficulty
,
'
he
exclaimed
,
'
is
to
know
what
to
do
with
it
!
'
'
Why
do
you
make
the
difficulty
?
I
gather
she
wants
to
study
abroad
.
What
is
there
to
prevent
it
?
'
Langham
turned
to
his
companion
with
a
touch
of
asperity
.
He
could
not
stand
it
that
Elsmere
should
be
so
much
narrowed
and
warped
by
that
wife
of
his
,
and
her
prejudices
.
Why
should
that
gifted
creature
be
cribbed
,
cabined
,
and
confined
in
this
way
?
'
I
grant
you
,
'
said
Robert
,
with
a
look
of
perplexity
,
'
there
is
not
much
to
prevent
it
.
'
And
he
was
silent
a
moment
,
thinking
,
on
his
side
,
very
tenderly
of
all
the
antecedents
and
explanations
of
that
old-world
distrust
of
art
and
the
artistic
life
so
deeply
rooted
in
his
wife
,
even
though
in
practice
and
under
his
influence
she
had
made
concession
after
concession
.
'
The
great
solution
of
all
,
'
he
said
presently
,
brightening
,
'
would
be
to
get
her
married
.
I
do
n't
wonder
her
belongings
dislike
the
notion
of
anything
so
pretty
and
so
flighty
going
off
to
live
by
itself
.
And
to
break
up
the
home
in
Whindale
would
be
to
undo
everything
their
father
did
for
them
,
to
defy
his
most
solemn
last
wishes
.
'
'
To
talk
of
a
father
's
wishes
,
in
a
case
of
this
kind
,
ten
years
after
his
death
,
is
surely
excessive
?
'
said
Langham
with
dry
interrogation
;
then
,
suddenly
recollecting
himself
,
'
I
beg
your
pardon
,
Elsmere
.
I
am
interfering
.
'
'
Nonsense
,
'
said
Robert
brightly
,
'
I
do
n't
wonder
,
it
seems
like
a
difficulty
of
our
own
making
.
Like
so
many
difficulties
,
it
depends
on
character
,
present
character
,
bygone
character
—
—
'
And
again
he
fell
musing
on
his
Westmoreland
experiences
,
and
on
the
intensity
of
that
Puritan
type
it
had
revealed
to
him
.
'
However
,
as
I
said
,
marriage
would
be
the
natural
way
out
of
it
.
'
'
An
easy
way
,
I
should
think
,
'
said
Langham
,
after
a
pause
.
'
It
wo
n't
be
so
easy
to
find
the
right
man
.
She
is
a
young
person
with
a
future
,
is
Miss
Rose
.
She
wants
somebody
in
the
stream
;
somebody
with
a
strong
hand
who
will
keep
her
in
order
and
yet
give
her
a
wide
range
;
a
rich
man
,
I
think
—
she
has
n't
the
ways
of
a
poor
man
's
wife
;
but
,
at
any
rate
,
some
one
who
will
be
proud
of
her
,
and
yet
have
a
full
life
of
his
own
in
which
she
may
share
.
'
'
Your
views
are
extremely
clear
,
'
said
Langham
,
and
his
smile
had
a
touch
of
bitterness
in
it
.
'
If
hers
agree
,
I
prophesy
you
wo
n't
have
long
to
wait
.
She
has
beauty
,
talent
,
charm
—
everything
that
rich
and
important
men
like
.
'
There
was
the
slightest
sarcastic
note
in
the
voice
.
Robert
winced
.
It
was
borne
in
upon
one
of
the
least
worldly
of
mortals
that
he
had
been
talking
like
the
veriest
schemer
.
What
vague
quick
impulse
had
driven
him
on
?
By
the
time
they
emerged
again
upon
the
Murewell
Green
the
rain
had
cleared
altogether
away
,
and
the
autumnal
morning
had
broken
into
sunshine
,
which
played
mistily
on
the
sleeping
woods
,
on
the
white
fronts
of
the
cottages
,
and
the
wide
green
where
the
rain-pools
glistened
.
On
the
hill
leading
to
the
rectory
there
was
the
flutter
of
a
woman
's
dress
.
As
they
hurried
on
,
afraid
of
being
late
for
luncheon
,
they
saw
that
it
was
Rose
in
front
of
them
.
Langham
started
as
the
slender
figure
suddenly
defined
itself
against
the
road
.
A
tumult
within
,
half
rage
,
half
feeling
,
showed
itself
only
in
an
added
rigidity
of
the
finely-cut
features
.
Rose
turned
directly
she
heard
the
steps
and
voices
,
and
over
the
dreaminess
of
her
face
there
flashed
a
sudden
brightness
.
'
You
have
been
a
long
time
!
'
she
exclaimed
,
saying
the
first
thing
that
came
into
her
head
,
joyously
,
rashly
,
like
the
child
she
in
reality
was
.
'
How
many
halt
and
maimed
has
Robert
taken
you
to
see
,
Mr.
Langham
?
'
'
We
went
to
Murewell
first
.
The
library
was
well
worth
seeing
.
Since
then
we
have
been
a
parish
round
,
distributing
stores
.
'
Rose
's
look
changed
in
an
instant
.
The
words
were
spoken
by
the
Langham
of
her
earliest
acquaintance
.
The
man
who
that
morning
had
asked
her
to
play
to
him
had
gone
—
vanished
away
.
'
How
exhilarating
!
'
she
said
scornfully
.
'
Do
n't
you
wonder
how
any
one
can
ever
tear
themselves
away
from
the
country
?
'
'
Rose
,
do
n't
be
abusive
,
'
said
Robert
,
opening
his
eyes
at
her
tone
.
Then
,
passing
his
arm
through
hers
,
he
looked
banteringly
down
upon
her
.
'
For
the
first
time
since
you
left
the
metropolis
you
have
walked
yourself
into
a
colour
.
It
's
becoming
—
and
it
's
Murewell
—
so
be
civil
!
'
'
Oh
,
nobody
denies
you
a
high
place
in
milkmaids
!
'
she
said
,
with
her
head
in
air
—
and
they
went
off
into
a
minute
's
sparring
.
Meanwhile
Langham
,
on
the
other
side
of
the
road
,
walked
up
slowly
,
his
eyes
on
the
ground
.
Once
,
when
Rose
's
eye
caught
him
,
a
shock
ran
through
her
.
There
was
already
a
look
of
slovenly
age
about
his
stooping
bookworm
's
gait
.
Her
companion
of
the
night
before
—
handsome
,
animated
,
human
—
where
was
he
?
The
girl
's
heart
felt
a
singular
contraction
.
Then
she
turned
and
rent
herself
,
and
Robert
found
her
more
mocking
and
sprightly
than
ever
.
At
the
rectory
gate
Robert
ran
on
to
overtake
a
farmer
on
the
road
.
Rose
stooped
to
open
the
latch
;
Langham
mechanically
made
a
quick
movement
forward
to
anticipate
her
.
Their
fingers
touched
;
she
drew
hers
hastily
away
and
passed
in
,
an
erect
and
dignified
figure
,
in
her
curving
garden
hat
.
Langham
went
straight
up
to
his
room
,
shut
the
door
,
and
stood
before
the
open
window
,
deaf
and
blind
to
everything
save
an
inward
storm
of
sensation
.
'
Fool
!
Idiot
!
'
he
said
to
himself
at
last
,
with
fierce
stifled
emphasis
,
while
a
kind
of
dumb
fury
with
himself
and
circumstance
swept
through
him
.
That
he
,
the
poor
and
solitary
student
whose
only
sources
of
self-respect
lay
in
the
deliberate
limitations
,
the
reasoned
and
reasonable
renunciations
he
had
imposed
upon
his
life
,
should
have
needed
the
reminder
of
his
old
pupil
not
to
fall
in
love
with
his
brilliant
ambitious
sister
!
His
irritable
self-consciousness
enormously
magnified
Elsmere
's
motive
and
Elsmere
's
words
.
That
golden
vagueness
and
softness
of
temper
which
had
possessed
him
since
his
last
sight
of
her
gave
place
to
one
of
bitter
tension
.
With
sardonic
scorn
he
pointed
out
to
himself
that
his
imagination
was
still
held
by
,
his
nerves
were
still
thrilling
under
,
the
mental
image
of
a
girl
looking
up
to
him
as
no
woman
had
ever
looked
—
a
girl
,
white-armed
,
white-necked
—
with
softened
eyes
of
appeal
and
confidence
.
He
bade
himself
mark
that
during
the
whole
of
his
morning
walk
with
Robert
down
to
its
last
stage
,
his
mind
had
been
really
absorbed
in
some
prepos
terous
dream
he
was
now
too
self-contemptuous
to
analyse
.
Pretty
well
for
a
philosopher
,
in
four
days
!
What
a
ridiculous
business
is
life
—
what
a
contemptible
creature
is
man
,
how
incapable
of
dignity
,
of
consistency
!
At
luncheon
he
talked
rather
more
than
usual
,
especially
on
literary
matters
with
Robert
.
Rose
,
too
,
was
fully
occupied
in
giving
Catherine
a
sarcastic
account
of
a
singing
lesson
she
had
been
administering
in
the
school
that
morning
.
Catherine
winced
sometimes
at
the
tone
of
it
.
That
afternoon
Robert
,
in
high
spirits
,
his
rod
over
his
shoulder
,
his
basket
at
his
back
,
carried
off
his
guest
for
a
lounging
afternoon
along
the
river
.
Elsmere
enjoyed
these
fishing
expeditions
like
a
boy
.
They
were
his
holidays
,
relished
all
the
more
because
he
kept
a
jealous
account
of
them
with
his
conscience
.
He
sauntered
along
,
now
throwing
a
cunning
and
effectual
fly
,
now
resting
,
smoking
,
and
chattering
,
as
the
fancy
took
him
.
He
found
a
great
deal
of
the
old
stimulus
and
piquancy
in
Langham
's
society
,
but
there
was
an
occasional
irritability
in
his
companion
,
especially
towards
himself
personally
,
which
puzzled
him
.
After
a
while
,
indeed
,
he
began
to
feel
himself
the
unreasonably
cheerful
person
which
he
evidently
appeared
to
his
companion
.
A
mere
ignorant
enthusiast
,
banished
for
ever
from
the
realm
of
pure
knowledge
by
certain
original
and
incorrigible
defects
—
after
a
few
hours
'
talk
with
Langham
Robert
's
quick
insight
always
showed
him
some
image
of
himself
resembling
this
in
his
friend
's
mind
.
At
last
he
turned
restive
.
He
had
been
describing
to
Langham
his
acquaintance
with
the
Dissenting
minister
of
the
place
—
a
strong
coarse-grained
fellow
of
sensuous
excitable
temperament
,
famous
for
his
noisy
'
conversion
meetings
,
'
and
for
a
gymnastic
dexterity
in
the
quoting
and
combining
of
texts
,
unrivalled
in
Robert
's
experience
.
Some
remark
on
the
Dissenter
's
logic
,
made
,
perhaps
,
a
little
too
much
in
the
tone
of
the
Churchman
conscious
of
University
advantages
,
seemed
to
irritate
Langham
.
'
You
think
your
Anglican
logic
in
dealing
with
the
Bible
so
superior
!
On
the
contrary
,
I
am
all
for
your
Ranter
.
He
is
your
logical
Protestant
.
Historically
,
you
Anglican
parsons
are
where
you
are
and
what
you
are
,
because
Englishmen
,
as
a
whole
,
like
attempting
the
contradictory
—
like
,
above
all
,
to
eat
their
cake
and
have
it
.
The
nation
has
made
you
and
maintains
you
for
its
own
purposes
.
But
that
is
another
matter
.
'
Robert
smoked
on
a
moment
in
silence
.
Then
he
flushed
and
laid
down
his
pipe
.
'
We
are
all
fools
in
your
eyes
,
I
know
!
À
la
bonne
heure
!
I
have
been
to
the
University
,
and
talk
what
he
is
pleased
to
call
"
philosophy
"
—
therefore
Mr.
Colson
denies
me
faith
.
You
have
always
,
in
your
heart
of
hearts
,
denied
me
knowledge
.
But
I
cling
to
both
in
spite
of
you
.
'
There
was
a
ray
of
defiance
,
of
emotion
,
in
his
look
.
Langham
met
it
in
silence
.
'
I
deny
you
nothing
,
'
he
said
at
last
,
slowly
.
'
On
the
contrary
,
I
believe
you
to
be
the
possessor
of
all
that
is
best
worth
having
in
life
and
mind
.
'
His
irritation
had
all
died
away
.
His
tone
was
one
of
indescribable
depression
,
and
his
great
black
eyes
were
fixed
on
Robert
with
a
melancholy
which
startled
his
companion
.
By
a
subtle
transition
Elsmere
felt
himself
touched
with
a
pang
of
profound
pity
for
the
man
who
an
instant
before
had
seemed
to
pose
as
his
scornful
superior
.
He
stretched
out
his
hand
,
and
laid
it
on
his
friend
's
shoulder
.
Rose
spent
the
afternoon
in
helping
Catherine
with
various
parochial
occupations
.
In
the
course
of
them
Catherine
asked
many
questions
about
Long
Whindale
.
Her
thoughts
clung
to
the
hills
,
to
the
gray
farmhouses
,
the
rough
men
and
women
inside
them
.
But
Rose
gave
her
small
satisfaction
.
'
Poor
old
Jim
Backhouse
!
'
said
Catherine
,
sighing
.
'
Agnes
tells
me
he
is
quite
bedridden
now
.
'
'
Well
,
and
a
good
thing
for
John
,
do
n't
you
think
,
'
said
Rose
briskly
,
covering
a
parish
library
book
the
while
in
a
way
which
made
Catherine
's
fingers
itch
to
take
it
from
her
,
'
and
for
us
?
It
's
some
use
having
a
carrier
now
.
'
Catherine
made
no
reply
.
She
thought
of
the
'
noodle
'
fading
out
of
life
in
the
room
where
Mary
Backhouse
died
;
she
actually
saw
the
white
hair
,
the
blurred
eyes
,
the
palsied
hands
,
the
poor
emaciated
limbs
stretched
along
the
settle
.
Her
heart
rose
,
but
she
said
nothing
.
'
And
has
Mrs.
Thornburgh
been
enjoying
her
summer
?
'
'
Oh
!
I
suppose
so
,
'
said
Rose
,
her
tone
indicating
a
quite
measureless
indifference
.
'
She
had
another
young
Oxford
man
staying
with
her
in
June
—
a
missionary
—
and
it
annoyed
her
very
much
that
neither
Agnes
nor
I
would
intervene
to
prevent
his
resuming
his
profession
.
She
seemed
to
think
it
was
a
question
of
saving
him
from
being
eaten
,
and
apparently
he
would
have
proposed
to
either
of
us
.
'
Catherine
could
not
help
laughing
.
'
I
suppose
she
still
thinks
she
married
Robert
and
me
.
'
'
Of
course
.
So
she
did
.
'
Catherine
coloured
a
little
,
but
Rose
's
hard
lightness
of
tone
was
unconquerable
.
'
Or
if
she
did
n't
,
'
Rose
resumed
,
'
nobody
could
have
the
heart
to
rob
her
of
the
illusion
.
Oh
,
by
the
way
,
Sarah
has
been
under
warning
since
June
!
Mrs.
Thornburgh
told
her
desperately
that
she
must
either
throw
over
her
young
man
,
who
was
picked
up
drunk
at
the
vicarage
gate
one
night
,
or
vacate
the
vicarage
kitchen
.
Sarah
cheerfully
accepted
her
month
's
notice
,
and
is
still
making
the
vicarage
jams
and
walking
out
with
the
young
man
every
Sunday
.
Mrs.
Thornburgh
sees
that
it
will
require
a
convulsion
of
nature
to
get
rid
either
of
Sarah
or
the
young
man
,
and
has
succumbed
.
'
'
And
the
Tysons
?
And
that
poor
Walker
girl
?
'
'
Oh
,
dear
me
,
Catherine
!
'
said
Rose
,
a
strange
disproportionate
flash
of
impatience
breaking
through
.
'
Every
one
in
Long
Whindale
is
always
just
where
and
what
they
were
last
year
.
I
admit
they
are
born
and
die
,
but
they
do
nothing
else
of
a
decisive
kind
.
'
Catherine
's
hands
worked
away
for
a
while
,
then
she
laid
down
her
book
and
said
,
lifting
her
clear
large
eyes
on
her
sister
,
—
'
Was
there
never
a
time
when
you
loved
the
valley
,
Rose
?
'
'
Never
!
'
cried
Rose
.
Then
she
pushed
away
her
work
,
and
leaning
her
elbows
on
the
