,”
said
Mr.
Clacton
,
and
then
Mary
introduced
him
to
Miss
Hilbery
,
and
he
asked
her
,
in
a
very
formal
manner
,
if
she
were
interested
“
in
our
work
.
”
“
And
the
proofs
still
not
come
?
”
said
Mrs.
Seal
,
putting
both
her
elbows
on
the
table
,
and
propping
her
chin
on
her
hands
,
as
Mary
began
to
pour
out
tea
.
“
It’s
too
bad
—
too
bad
.
At
this
rate
we
shall
miss
the
country
post
.
Which
reminds
me
,
Mr.
Clacton
,
don’t
you
think
we
should
circularize
the
provinces
with
Partridge’s
last
speech
?
What
?
You’ve
not
read
it
?
Oh
,
it’s
the
best
thing
they’ve
had
in
the
House
this
Session
.
Even
the
Prime
Minister
—
”
But
Mary
cut
her
short
.
“
We
don’t
allow
shop
at
tea
,
Sally
,
”
she
said
firmly
.
“
We
fine
her
a
penny
each
time
she
forgets
,
and
the
fines
go
to
buying
a
plum
cake
,
”
she
explained
,
seeking
to
draw
Katharine
into
the
community
.
She
had
given
up
all
hope
of
impressing
her
.
“
I’m
sorry
,
I’m
sorry
,
”
Mrs.
Seal
apologized
.
“
It’s
my
misfortune
to
be
an
enthusiast
,
”
she
said
,
turning
to
Katharine
.
“
My
father’s
daughter
could
hardly
be
anything
else
.
I
think
I’ve
been
on
as
many
committees
as
most
people
.
Waifs
and
Strays
,
Rescue
Work
,
Church
Work
,
C
.
O
.
S.
—
local
branch
—
besides
the
usual
civic
duties
which
fall
to
one
as
a
householder
.
But
I’ve
given
them
all
up
for
our
work
here
,
and
I
don’t
regret
it
for
a
second
,
”
she
added
.
“
This
is
the
root
question
,
I
feel
;
until
women
have
votes
—
”
“
It’ll
be
sixpence
,
at
least
,
Sally
,
”
said
Mary
,
bringing
her
fist
down
on
the
table
.
“
And
we’re
all
sick
to
death
of
women
and
their
votes
.
”
Mrs.
Seal
looked
for
a
moment
as
though
she
could
hardly
believe
her
ears
,
and
made
a
deprecating
“
tut-tut-tut
”
in
her
throat
,
looking
alternately
at
Katharine
and
Mary
,
and
shaking
her
head
as
she
did
so
.
Then
she
remarked
,
rather
confidentially
to
Katharine
,
with
a
little
nod
in
Mary’s
direction
:
“
She’s
doing
more
for
the
cause
than
any
of
us
.
She’s
giving
her
youth
—
for
,
alas
!
when
I
was
young
there
were
domestic
circumstances
—
”
she
sighed
,
and
stopped
short
.
Mr.
Clacton
hastily
reverted
to
the
joke
about
luncheon
,
and
explained
how
Mrs.
Seal
fed
on
a
bag
of
biscuits
under
the
trees
,
whatever
the
weather
might
be
,
rather
,
Katharine
thought
,
as
though
Mrs.
Seal
were
a
pet
dog
who
had
convenient
tricks
.
“
Yes
,
I
took
my
little
bag
into
the
square
,
”
said
Mrs.
Seal
,
with
the
self-conscious
guilt
of
a
child
owning
some
fault
to
its
elders
.
“
It
was
really
very
sustaining
,
and
the
bare
boughs
against
the
sky
do
one
so
much
good
.
But
I
shall
have
to
give
up
going
into
the
square
,
”
she
proceeded
,
wrinkling
her
forehead
.
“
The
injustice
of
it
!
Why
should
I
have
a
beautiful
square
all
to
myself
,
when
poor
women
who
need
rest
have
nowhere
at
all
to
sit
?
”
She
looked
fiercely
at
Katharine
,
giving
her
short
locks
a
little
shake
.
“
It’s
dreadful
what
a
tyrant
one
still
is
,
in
spite
of
all
one’s
efforts
.
One
tries
to
lead
a
decent
life
,
but
one
can’t
.
Of
course
,
directly
one
thinks
of
it
,
one
sees
that
all
squares
should
be
open
to
everyone
.
Is
there
any
society
with
that
object
,
Mr.
Clacton
?
If
not
,
there
should
be
,
surely
.
”
“
A
most
excellent
object
,
”
said
Mr.
Clacton
in
his
professional
manner
.
“
At
the
same
time
,
one
must
deplore
the
ramification
of
organizations
,
Mrs.
Seal
.
So
much
excellent
effort
thrown
away
,
not
to
speak
of
pounds
,
shillings
,
and
pence
.
Now
how
many
organizations
of
a
philanthropic
nature
do
you
suppose
there
are
in
the
City
of
London
itself
,
Miss
Hilbery
?
”
he
added
,
screwing
his
mouth
into
a
queer
little
smile
,
as
if
to
show
that
the
question
had
its
frivolous
side
.
Katharine
smiled
,
too
.
Her
unlikeness
to
the
rest
of
them
had
,
by
this
time
,
penetrated
to
Mr.
Clacton
,
who
was
not
naturally
observant
,
and
he
was
wondering
who
she
was
;
this
same
unlikeness
had
subtly
stimulated
Mrs.
Seal
to
try
and
make
a
convert
of
her
.
Mary
,
too
,
looked
at
her
almost
as
if
she
begged
her
to
make
things
easy
.
For
Katharine
had
shown
no
disposition
to
make
things
easy
.
She
had
scarcely
spoken
,
and
her
silence
,
though
grave
and
even
thoughtful
,
seemed
to
Mary
the
silence
of
one
who
criticizes
.
“
Well
,
there
are
more
in
this
house
than
I’d
any
notion
of
,
”
she
said
.
“
On
the
ground
floor
you
protect
natives
,
on
the
next
you
emigrate
women
and
tell
people
to
eat
nuts
—
”
“
Why
do
you
say
that
‘we’
do
these
things
?
”
Mary
interposed
,
rather
sharply
.
“
We’re
not
responsible
for
all
the
cranks
who
choose
to
lodge
in
the
same
house
with
us
.
”
Mr.
Clacton
cleared
his
throat
and
looked
at
each
of
the
young
ladies
in
turn
.
He
was
a
good
deal
struck
by
the
appearance
and
manner
of
Miss
Hilbery
,
which
seemed
to
him
to
place
her
among
those
cultivated
and
luxurious
people
of
whom
he
used
to
dream
.
Mary
,
on
the
other
hand
,
was
more
of
his
own
sort
,
and
a
little
too
much
inclined
to
order
him
about
.
He
picked
up
crumbs
of
dry
biscuit
and
put
them
into
his
mouth
with
incredible
rapidity
.
“
You
don’t
belong
to
our
society
,
then
?
”
said
Mrs.
Seal
.
“
No
,
I’m
afraid
I
don’t
,
”
said
Katharine
,
with
such
ready
candor
that
Mrs.
Seal
was
nonplussed
,
and
stared
at
her
with
a
puzzled
expression
,
as
if
she
could
not
classify
her
among
the
varieties
of
human
beings
known
to
her
.
“
But
surely
,
”
she
began
.
“
Mrs.
Seal
is
an
enthusiast
in
these
matters
,
”
said
Mr.
Clacton
,
almost
apologetically
.
“
We
have
to
remind
her
sometimes
that
others
have
a
right
to
their
views
even
if
they
differ
from
our
own
...
.
“
Punch
”
has
a
very
funny
picture
this
week
,
about
a
Suffragist
and
an
agricultural
laborer
.
Have
you
seen
this
week’s
“
Punch
,
”
Miss
Datchet
?
”
Mary
laughed
,
and
said
“
No.
”
Mr.
Clacton
then
told
them
the
substance
of
the
joke
,
which
,
however
,
depended
a
good
deal
for
its
success
upon
the
expression
which
the
artist
had
put
into
the
people’s
faces
.
Mrs.
Seal
sat
all
the
time
perfectly
grave
.
Directly
he
had
done
speaking
she
burst
out
:
“
But
surely
,
if
you
care
about
the
welfare
of
your
sex
at
all
,
you
must
wish
them
to
have
the
vote
?
”
“
I
never
said
I
didn’t
wish
them
to
have
the
vote
,
”
Katharine
protested
.
“
Then
why
aren’t
you
a
member
of
our
society
?
”
Mrs.
Seal
demanded
.
Katharine
stirred
her
spoon
round
and
round
,
stared
into
the
swirl
of
the
tea
,
and
remained
silent
.
Mr.
Clacton
,
meanwhile
,
framed
a
question
which
,
after
a
moment’s
hesitation
,
he
put
to
Katharine
.
“
Are
you
in
any
way
related
,
I
wonder
,
to
the
poet
Alardyce
?
His
daughter
,
I
believe
,
married
a
Mr.
Hilbery
.
”
“
Yes
;
I’m
the
poet’s
granddaughter
,
”
said
Katharine
,
with
a
little
sigh
,
after
a
pause
;
and
for
a
moment
they
were
all
silent
.
“
The
poet’s
granddaughter
!
”
Mrs.
Seal
repeated
,
half
to
herself
,
with
a
shake
of
her
head
,
as
if
that
explained
what
was
otherwise
inexplicable
.
The
light
kindled
in
Mr.
Clacton’s
eye
.
“
Ah
,
indeed
.
That
interests
me
very
much
,
”
he
said
.
“
I
owe
a
great
debt
to
your
grandfather
,
Miss
Hilbery
.
At
one
time
I
could
have
repeated
the
greater
part
of
him
by
heart
.
But
one
gets
out
of
the
way
of
reading
poetry
,
unfortunately
.
You
don’t
remember
him
,
I
suppose
?
”
A
sharp
rap
at
the
door
made
Katharine’s
answer
inaudible
.
Mrs.
Seal
looked
up
with
renewed
hope
in
her
eyes
,
and
exclaiming
:
“
The
proofs
at
last
!
”
ran
to
open
the
door
.
“
Oh
,
it’s
only
Mr.
Denham
!
”
she
cried
,
without
any
attempt
to
conceal
her
disappointment
.
Ralph
,
Katharine
supposed
,
was
a
frequent
visitor
,
for
the
only
person
he
thought
it
necessary
to
greet
was
herself
,
and
Mary
at
once
explained
the
strange
fact
of
her
being
there
by
saying
:
“
Katharine
has
come
to
see
how
one
runs
an
office
.
”
Ralph
felt
himself
stiffen
uncomfortably
,
as
he
said
:
“
I
hope
Mary
hasn’t
persuaded
you
that
she
knows
how
to
run
an
office
?
”
“
What
,
doesn’t
she
?
”
said
Katharine
,
looking
from
one
to
the
other
.
At
these
remarks
Mrs.
Seal
began
to
exhibit
signs
of
discomposure
,
which
displayed
themselves
by
a
tossing
movement
of
her
head
,
and
,
as
Ralph
took
a
letter
from
his
pocket
,
and
placed
his
finger
upon
a
certain
sentence
,
she
forestalled
him
by
exclaiming
in
confusion
:
“
Now
,
I
know
what
you’re
going
to
say
,
Mr.
Denham
!
But
it
was
the
day
Kit
Markham
was
here
,
and
she
upsets
one
so
—
with
her
wonderful
vitality
,
always
thinking
of
something
new
that
we
ought
to
be
doing
and
aren’t
—
and
I
was
conscious
at
the
time
that
my
dates
were
mixed
.
It
had
nothing
to
do
with
Mary
at
all
,
I
assure
you
.
”
“
My
dear
Sally
,
don’t
apologize
,
”
said
Mary
,
laughing
.
“
Men
are
such
pedants
—
they
don’t
know
what
things
matter
,
and
what
things
don’t
.
”
“
Now
,
Denham
,
speak
up
for
our
sex
,
”
said
Mr.
Clacton
in
a
jocular
manner
,
indeed
,
but
like
most
insignificant
men
he
was
very
quick
to
resent
being
found
fault
with
by
a
woman
,
in
argument
with
whom
he
was
fond
of
calling
himself
“
a
mere
man
.
”
He
wished
,
however
,
to
enter
into
a
literary
conservation
with
Miss
Hilbery
,
and
thus
let
the
matter
drop
.
“
Doesn’t
it
seem
strange
to
you
,
Miss
Hilbery
,
”
he
said
,
“
that
the
French
,
with
all
their
wealth
of
illustrious
names
,
have
no
poet
who
can
compare
with
your
grandfather
?
Let
me
see
.
There’s
Chenier
and
Hugo
and
Alfred
de
Musset
—
wonderful
men
,
but
,
at
the
same
time
,
there’s
a
richness
,
a
freshness
about
Alardyce
—
”
Here
the
telephone
bell
rang
,
and
he
had
to
absent
himself
with
a
smile
and
a
bow
which
signified
that
,
although
literature
is
delightful
,
it
is
not
work
.
Mrs.
Seal
rose
at
the
same
time
,
but
remained
hovering
over
the
table
,
delivering
herself
of
a
tirade
against
party
government
.
“
For
if
I
were
to
tell
you
what
I
know
of
back-stairs
intrigue
,
and
what
can
be
done
by
the
power
of
the
purse
,
you
wouldn’t
credit
me
,
Mr.
Denham
,
you
wouldn’t
,
indeed
.
Which
is
why
I
feel
that
the
only
work
for
my
father’s
daughter
—
for
he
was
one
of
the
pioneers
,
Mr.
Denham
,
and
on
his
tombstone
I
had
that
verse
from
the
Psalms
put
,
about
the
sowers
and
the
seed
...
.
And
what
wouldn’t
I
give
that
he
should
be
alive
now
,
seeing
what
we’re
going
to
see
—
”
but
reflecting
that
the
glories
of
the
future
depended
in
part
upon
the
activity
of
her
typewriter
,
she
bobbed
her
head
,
and
hurried
back
to
the
seclusion
of
her
little
room
,
from
which
immediately
issued
sounds
of
enthusiastic
,
but
obviously
erratic
,
composition
.
Mary
made
it
clear
at
once
,
by
starting
a
fresh
topic
of
general
interest
,
that
though
she
saw
the
humor
of
her
colleague
,
she
did
not
intend
to
have
her
laughed
at
.
“
The
standard
of
morality
seems
to
me
frightfully
low
,
”
she
observed
reflectively
,
pouring
out
a
second
cup
of
tea
,
“
especially
among
women
who
aren’t
well
educated
.
They
don’t
see
that
small
things
matter
,
and
that’s
where
the
leakage
begins
,
and
then
we
find
ourselves
in
difficulties
—
I
very
nearly
lost
my
temper
yesterday
,
”
she
went
on
,
looking
at
Ralph
with
a
little
smile
,
as
though
he
knew
what
happened
when
she
lost
her
temper
.
“
It
makes
me
very
angry
when
people
tell
me
lies
—
doesn’t
it
make
you
angry
?
”
she
asked
Katharine
.
“
But
considering
that
every
one
tells
lies
,
”
Katharine
remarked
,
looking
about
the
room
to
see
where
she
had
put
down
her
umbrella
and
her
parcel
,
for
there
was
an
intimacy
in
the
way
in
which
Mary
and
Ralph
addressed
each
other
which
made
her
wish
to
leave
them
.
Mary
,
on
the
other
hand
,
was
anxious
,
superficially
at
least
,
that
Katharine
should
stay
and
so
fortify
her
in
her
determination
not
to
be
in
love
with
Ralph
.
Ralph
,
while
lifting
his
cup
from
his
lips
to
the
table
,
had
made
up
his
mind
that
if
Miss
Hilbery
left
,
he
would
go
with
her
.
“
I
don’t
think
that
I
tell
lies
,
and
I
don’t
think
that
Ralph
tells
lies
,
do
you
,
Ralph
?
”
Mary
continued
.
Katharine
laughed
,
with
more
gayety
,
as
it
seemed
to
Mary
,
than
she
could
properly
account
for
.
What
was
she
laughing
at
?
At
them
,
presumably
.
Katharine
had
risen
,
and
was
glancing
hither
and
thither
,
at
the
presses
and
the
cupboards
,
and
all
the
machinery
of
the
office
,
as
if
she
included
them
all
in
her
rather
malicious
amusement
,
which
caused
Mary
to
keep
her
eyes
on
her
straightly
and
rather
fiercely
,
as
if
she
were
a
gay-plumed
,
mischievous
bird
,
who
might
light
on
the
topmost
bough
and
pick
off
the
ruddiest
cherry
,
without
any
warning
.
Two
women
less
like
each
other
could
scarcely
be
imagined
,
Ralph
thought
,
looking
from
one
to
the
other
.
Next
moment
,
he
too
,
rose
,
and
nodding
to
Mary
,
as
Katharine
said
good-bye
,
opened
the
door
for
her
,
and
followed
her
out
.
Mary
sat
still
and
made
no
attempt
to
prevent
them
from
going
.
For
a
second
or
two
after
the
door
had
shut
on
them
her
eyes
rested
on
the
door
with
a
straightforward
fierceness
in
which
,
for
a
moment
,
a
certain
degree
of
bewilderment
seemed
to
enter
;
but
,
after
a
brief
hesitation
,
she
put
down
her
cup
and
proceeded
to
clear
away
the
tea-things
.
The
impulse
which
had
driven
Ralph
to
take
this
action
was
the
result
of
a
very
swift
little
piece
of
reasoning
,
and
thus
,
perhaps
,
was
not
quite
so
much
of
an
impulse
as
it
seemed
.
It
passed
through
his
mind
that
if
he
missed
this
chance
of
talking
to
Katharine
,
he
would
have
to
face
an
enraged
ghost
,
when
he
was
alone
in
his
room
again
,
demanding
an
explanation
of
his
cowardly
indecision
.
It
was
better
,
on
the
whole
,
to
risk
present
discomfiture
than
to
waste
an
evening
bandying
excuses
and
constructing
impossible
scenes
with
this
uncompromising
section
of
himself
.
For
ever
since
he
had
visited
the
Hilberys
he
had
been
much
at
the
mercy
of
a
phantom
Katharine
,
who
came
to
him
when
he
sat
alone
,
and
answered
him
as
he
would
have
her
answer
,
and
was
always
beside
him
to
crown
those
varying
triumphs
which
were
transacted
almost
every
night
,
in
imaginary
scenes
,
as
he
walked
through
the
lamplit
streets
home
from
the
office
.
To
walk
with
Katharine
in
the
flesh
would
either
feed
that
phantom
with
fresh
food
,
which
,
as
all
who
nourish
dreams
are
aware
,
is
a
process
that
becomes
necessary
from
time
to
time
,
or
refine
it
to
such
a
degree
of
thinness
that
it
was
scarcely
serviceable
any
longer
;
and
that
,
too
,
is
sometimes
a
welcome
change
to
a
dreamer
.
And
all
the
time
Ralph
was
well
aware
that
the
bulk
of
Katharine
was
not
represented
in
his
dreams
at
all
,
so
that
when
he
met
her
he
was
bewildered
by
the
fact
that
she
had
nothing
to
do
with
his
dream
of
her
.
When
,
on
reaching
the
street
,
Katharine
found
that
Mr.
Denham
proceeded
to
keep
pace
by
her
side
,
she
was
surprised
and
,
perhaps
,
a
little
annoyed
.
She
,
too
,
had
her
margin
of
imagination
,
and
to-night
her
activity
in
this
obscure
region
of
the
mind
required
solitude
.
If
she
had
had
her
way
,
she
would
have
walked
very
fast
down
the
Tottenham
Court
Road
,
and
then
sprung
into
a
cab
and
raced
swiftly
home
.
The
view
she
had
had
of
the
inside
of
an
office
was
of
the
nature
of
a
dream
to
her
.
Shut
off
up
there
,
she
compared
Mrs.
Seal
,
and
Mary
Datchet
,
and
Mr.
Clacton
to
enchanted
people
in
a
bewitched
tower
,
with
the
spiders’
webs
looping
across
the
corners
of
the
room
,
and
all
the
tools
of
the
necromancer’s
craft
at
hand
;
for
so
aloof
and
unreal
and
apart
from
the
normal
world
did
they
seem
to
her
,
in
the
house
of
innumerable
typewriters
,
murmuring
their
incantations
and
concocting
their
drugs
,
and
flinging
their
frail
spiders’
webs
over
the
torrent
of
life
which
rushed
down
the
streets
outside
.
She
may
have
been
conscious
that
there
was
some
exaggeration
in
this
fancy
of
hers
,
for
she
certainly
did
not
wish
to
share
it
with
Ralph
.
To
him
,
she
supposed
,
Mary
Datchet
,
composing
leaflets
for
Cabinet
Ministers
among
her
typewriters
,
represented
all
that
was
interesting
and
genuine
;
and
,
accordingly
,
she
shut
them
both
out
from
all
share
in
the
crowded
street
,
with
its
pendant
necklace
of
lamps
,
its
lighted
windows
,
and
its
throng
of
men
and
women
,
which
exhilarated
her
to
such
an
extent
that
she
very
nearly
forgot
her
companion
.
She
walked
very
fast
,
and
the
effect
of
people
passing
in
the
opposite
direction
was
to
produce
a
queer
dizziness
both
in
her
head
and
in
Ralph’s
,
which
set
their
bodies
far
apart
.
But
she
did
her
duty
by
her
companion
almost
unconsciously
.
“
Mary
Datchet
does
that
sort
of
work
very
well
...
.
She’s
responsible
for
it
,
I
suppose
?
”
“
Yes
.
The
others
don’t
help
at
all
...
.
Has
she
made
a
convert
of
you
?
”
“
Oh
no.
That
is
,
I’m
a
convert
already
.
”
“
But
she
hasn’t
persuaded
you
to
work
for
them
?
”
“
Oh
dear
no
—
that
wouldn’t
do
at
all
.
”
So
they
walked
on
down
the
Tottenham
Court
Road
,
parting
and
coming
together
again
,
and
Ralph
felt
much
as
though
he
were
addressing
the
summit
of
a
poplar
in
a
high
gale
of
wind
.
“
Suppose
we
get
on
to
that
omnibus
?
”
he
suggested
.
Katharine
acquiesced
,
and
they
climbed
up
,
and
found
themselves
alone
on
top
of
it
.
“
But
which
way
are
you
going
?
”
Katharine
asked
,
waking
a
little
from
the
trance
into
which
movement
among
moving
things
had
thrown
her
.
“
I’m
going
to
the
Temple
,
”
Ralph
replied
,
inventing
a
destination
on
the
spur
of
the
moment
.
He
felt
the
change
come
over
her
as
they
sat
down
and
the
omnibus
began
to
move
forward
.
He
imagined
her
contemplating
the
avenue
in
front
of
them
with
those
honest
sad
eyes
which
seemed
to
set
him
at
such
a
distance
from
them
.
But
the
breeze
was
blowing
in
their
faces
;
it
lifted
her
hat
for
a
second
,
and
she
drew
out
a
pin
and
stuck
it
in
again
,
—
a
little
action
which
seemed
,
for
some
reason
,
to
make
her
rather
more
fallible
.
Ah
,
if
only
her
hat
would
blow
off
,
and
leave
her
altogether
disheveled
,
accepting
it
from
his
hands
!
“
This
is
like
Venice
,
”
she
observed
,
raising
her
hand
.
“
The
motor-cars
,
I
mean
,
shooting
about
so
quickly
,
with
their
lights
.
”
“
I’ve
never
seen
Venice
,
”
he
replied
.
“
I
keep
that
and
some
other
things
for
my
old
age
.
”
“
What
are
the
other
things
?
”
she
asked
.
“
There’s
Venice
and
India
and
,
I
think
,
Dante
,
too
.
”
She
laughed
.
“
Think
of
providing
for
one’s
old
age
!
And
would
you
refuse
to
see
Venice
if
you
had
the
chance
?
”
Instead
of
answering
her
,
he
wondered
whether
he
should
tell
her
something
that
was
quite
true
about
himself
;
and
as
he
wondered
,
he
told
her
.
“
I’ve
planned
out
my
life
in
sections
ever
since
I
was
a
child
,
to
make
it
last
longer
.
You
see
,
I’m
always
afraid
that
I’m
missing
something
—
”
“
And
so
am
I
!
”
Katharine
exclaimed
.
“
But
,
after
all
,
”
she
added
,
“
why
should
you
miss
anything
?
”
“
Why
?
Because
I’m
poor
,
for
one
thing
,
”
Ralph
rejoined
.
“
You
,
I
suppose
,
can
have
Venice
and
India
and
Dante
every
day
of
your
life
.
”
She
said
nothing
for
a
moment
,
but
rested
one
hand
,
which
was
bare
of
glove
,
upon
the
rail
in
front
of
her
,
meditating
upon
a
variety
of
things
,
of
which
one
was
that
this
strange
young
man
pronounced
Dante
as
she
was
used
to
hearing
it
pronounced
,
and
another
,
that
he
had
,
most
unexpectedly
,
a
feeling
about
life
that
was
familiar
to
her
.
Perhaps
,
then
,
he
was
the
sort
of
person
she
might
take
an
interest
in
,
if
she
came
to
know
him
better
,
and
as
she
had
placed
him
among
those
whom
she
would
never
want
to
know
better
,
this
was
enough
to
make
her
silent
.
She
hastily
recalled
her
first
view
of
him
,
in
the
little
room
where
the
relics
were
kept
,
and
ran
a
bar
through
half
her
impressions
,
as
one
cancels
a
badly
written
sentence
,
having
found
the
right
one
.
“
But
to
know
that
one
might
have
things
doesn’t
alter
the
fact
that
one
hasn’t
got
them
,
”
she
said
,
in
some
confusion
.
“
How
could
I
go
to
India
,
for
example
?
Besides
,
”
she
began
impulsively
,
and
stopped
herself
.
Here
the
conductor
came
round
,
and
interrupted
them
.
Ralph
waited
for
her
to
resume
her
sentence
,
but
she
said
no
more
.
“
I
have
a
message
to
give
your
father
,
”
he
remarked
.
“
Perhaps
you
would
give
it
him
,
or
I
could
come
—
”
“
Yes
,
do
come
,
”
Katharine
replied
.
“
Still
,
I
don’t
see
why
you
shouldn’t
go
to
India
,
”
Ralph
began
,
in
order
to
keep
her
from
rising
,
as
she
threatened
to
do
.
But
she
got
up
in
spite
of
him
,
and
said
good-bye
with
her
usual
air
of
decision
,
and
left
him
with
a
quickness
which
Ralph
connected
now
with
all
her
movements
.
He
looked
down
and
saw
her
standing
on
the
pavement
edge
,
an
alert
,
commanding
figure
,
which
waited
its
season
to
cross
,
and
then
walked
boldly
and
swiftly
to
the
other
side
.
That
gesture
and
action
would
be
added
to
the
picture
he
had
of
her
,
but
at
present
the
real
woman
completely
routed
the
phantom
one
.
CHAPTER
VII
“
And
little
Augustus
Pelham
said
to
me
,
‘It’s
the
younger
generation
knocking
at
the
door
,
’
and
I
said
to
him
,
‘Oh
,
but
the
younger
generation
comes
in
without
knocking
,
Mr.
Pelham.’
Such
a
feeble
little
joke
,
wasn’t
it
,
but
down
it
went
into
his
notebook
all
the
same
.
”
“
Let
us
congratulate
ourselves
that
we
shall
be
in
the
grave
before
that
work
is
published
,
”
said
Mr.
Hilbery
.
The
elderly
couple
were
waiting
for
the
dinner-bell
to
ring
and
for
their
daughter
to
come
into
the
room
.
Their
arm-chairs
were
drawn
up
on
either
side
of
the
fire
,
and
each
sat
in
the
same
slightly
crouched
position
,
looking
into
the
coals
,
with
the
expressions
of
people
who
have
had
their
share
of
experiences
and
wait
,
rather
passively
,
for
something
to
happen
.
Mr.
Hilbery
now
gave
all
his
attention
to
a
piece
of
coal
which
had
fallen
out
of
the
grate
,
and
to
selecting
a
favorable
position
for
it
among
the
lumps
that
were
burning
already
.
Mrs.
Hilbery
watched
him
in
silence
,
and
the
smile
changed
on
her
lips
as
if
her
mind
still
played
with
the
events
of
the
afternoon
.
When
Mr.
Hilbery
had
accomplished
his
task
,
he
resumed
his
crouching
position
again
,
and
began
to
toy
with
the
little
green
stone
attached
to
his
watch-chain
.
His
deep
,
oval-shaped
eyes
were
fixed
upon
the
flames
,
but
behind
the
superficial
glaze
seemed
to
brood
an
observant
and
whimsical
spirit
,
which
kept
the
brown
of
the
eye
still
unusually
vivid
.
But
a
look
of
indolence
,
the
result
of
skepticism
or
of
a
taste
too
fastidious
to
be
satisfied
by
the
prizes
and
conclusions
so
easily
within
his
grasp
,
lent
him
an
expression
almost
of
melancholy
.
After
sitting
thus
for
a
time
,
he
seemed
to
reach
some
point
in
his
thinking
which
demonstrated
its
futility
,
upon
which
he
sighed
and
stretched
his
hand
for
a
book
lying
on
the
table
by
his
side
.
Directly
the
door
opened
he
closed
the
book
,
and
the
eyes
of
father
and
mother
both
rested
on
Katharine
as
she
came
towards
them
.
The
sight
seemed
at
once
to
give
them
a
motive
which
they
had
not
had
before
.
To
them
she
appeared
,
as
she
walked
towards
them
in
her
light
evening
dress
,
extremely
young
,
and
the
sight
of
her
refreshed
them
,
were
it
only
because
her
youth
and
ignorance
made
their
knowledge
of
the
world
of
some
value
.
“
The
only
excuse
for
you
,
Katharine
,
is
that
dinner
is
still
later
than
you
are
,
”
said
Mr.
Hilbery
,
putting
down
his
spectacles
.
“
I
don’t
mind
her
being
late
when
the
result
is
so
charming
,
”
said
Mrs.
Hilbery
,
looking
with
pride
at
her
daughter
.
“
Still
,
I
don’t
know
that
I
like
your
being
out
so
late
,
Katharine
,
”
she
continued
.
“
You
took
a
cab
,
I
hope
?
”
Here
dinner
was
announced
,
and
Mr.
Hilbery
formally
led
his
wife
downstairs
on
his
arm
.
They
were
all
dressed
for
dinner
,
and
,
indeed
,
the
prettiness
of
the
dinner-table
merited
that
compliment
.
There
was
no
cloth
upon
the
table
,
and
the
china
made
regular
circles
of
deep
blue
upon
the
shining
brown
wood
.
In
the
middle
there
was
a
bowl
of
tawny
red
and
yellow
chrysanthemums
,
and
one
of
pure
white
,
so
fresh
that
the
narrow
petals
were
curved
backwards
into
a
firm
white
ball
.
From
the
surrounding
walls
the
heads
of
three
famous
Victorian
writers
surveyed
this
entertainment
,
and
slips
of
paper
pasted
beneath
them
testified
in
the
great
man’s
own
handwriting
that
he
was
yours
sincerely
or
affectionately
or
for
ever
.
The
father
and
daughter
would
have
been
quite
content
,
apparently
,
to
eat
their
dinner
in
silence
,
or
with
a
few
cryptic
remarks
expressed
in
a
shorthand
which
could
not
be
understood
by
the
servants
.
But
silence
depressed
Mrs.
Hilbery
,
and
far
from
minding
the
presence
of
maids
,
she
would
often
address
herself
to
them
,
and
was
never
altogether
unconscious
of
their
approval
or
disapproval
of
her
remarks
.
In
the
first
place
she
called
them
to
witness
that
the
room
was
darker
than
usual
,
and
had
all
the
lights
turned
on
.
“
That’s
more
cheerful
,
”
she
exclaimed
.
“
D’you
know
,
Katharine
,
that
ridiculous
goose
came
to
tea
with
me
?
Oh
,
how
I
wanted
you
!
He
tried
to
make
epigrams
all
the
time
,
and
I
got
so
nervous
,
expecting
them
,
you
know
,
that
I
spilt
the
tea
—
and
he
made
an
epigram
about
that
!
”
“
Which
ridiculous
goose
?
”
Katharine
asked
her
father
.
“
Only
one
of
my
geese
,
happily
,
makes
epigrams
—
Augustus
Pelham
,
of
course
,
”
said
Mrs.
Hilbery
.
“
I’m
not
sorry
that
I
was
out
,
”
said
Katharine
.
“
Poor
Augustus
!
”
Mrs.
Hilbery
exclaimed
.
“
But
we’re
all
too
hard
on
him
.
Remember
how
devoted
he
is
to
his
tiresome
old
mother
.
”
“
That’s
only
because
she
is
his
mother
.
Any
one
connected
with
himself
—
”
“
No
,
no
,
Katharine
—
that’s
too
bad
.
That’s
—
what’s
the
word
I
mean
,
Trevor
,
something
long
and
Latin
—
the
sort
of
word
you
and
Katharine
know
—
”
Mr.
Hilbery
suggested
“
cynical
.
”
“
Well
,
that’ll
do
.
I
don’t
believe
in
sending
girls
to
college
,
but
I
should
teach
them
that
sort
of
thing
.
It
makes
one
feel
so
dignified
,
bringing
out
these
little
allusions
,
and
passing
on
gracefully
to
the
next
topic
.
But
I
don’t
know
what’s
come
over
me
—
I
actually
had
to
ask
Augustus
the
name
of
the
lady
Hamlet
was
in
love
with
,
as
you
were
out
,
Katharine
,
and
Heaven
knows
what
he
mayn’t
put
down
about
me
in
his
diary
.
”
“
I
wish
,
”
Katharine
started
,
with
great
impetuosity
,
and
checked
herself
.
Her
mother
always
stirred
her
to
feel
and
think
quickly
,
and
then
she
remembered
that
her
father
was
there
,
listening
with
attention
.
“
What
is
it
you
wish
?
”
he
asked
,
as
she
paused
.
He
often
surprised
her
,
thus
,
into
telling
him
what
she
had
not
meant
to
tell
him
;
and
then
they
argued
,
while
Mrs.
Hilbery
went
on
with
her
own
thoughts
.
“
I
wish
mother
wasn’t
famous
.
I
was
out
at
tea
,
and
they
would
talk
to
me
about
poetry
.
”
“
Thinking
you
must
be
poetical
,
I
see
—
and
aren’t
you
?
”
“
Who’s
been
talking
to
you
about
poetry
,
Katharine
?
”
Mrs.
Hilbery
demanded
,
and
Katharine
was
committed
to
giving
her
parents
an
account
of
her
visit
to
the
Suffrage
office
.
“
They
have
an
office
at
the
top
of
one
of
the
old
houses
in
Russell
Square
.
I
never
saw
such
queer-looking
people
.
And
the
man
discovered
I
was
related
to
the
poet
,
and
talked
to
me
about
poetry
.
Even
Mary
Datchet
seems
different
in
that
atmosphere
.
”
“
Yes
,
the
office
atmosphere
is
very
bad
for
the
soul
,
”
said
Mr.
Hilbery
.
“
I
don’t
remember
any
offices
in
Russell
Square
in
the
old
days
,
when
Mamma
lived
there
,
”
Mrs.
Hilbery
mused
,
“
and
I
can’t
fancy
turning
one
of
those
noble
great
rooms
into
a
stuffy
little
Suffrage
office
.
Still
,
if
the
clerks
read
poetry
there
must
be
something
nice
about
them
.
”
“
No
,
because
they
don’t
read
it
as
we
read
it
,
”
Katharine
insisted
.
“
But
it’s
nice
to
think
of
them
reading
your
grandfather
,
and
not
filling
up
those
dreadful
little
forms
all
day
long
,
”
Mrs.
Hilbery
persisted
,
her
notion
of
office
life
being
derived
from
some
chance
view
of
a
scene
behind
the
counter
at
her
bank
,
as
she
slipped
the
sovereigns
into
her
purse
.
“
At
any
rate
,
they
haven’t
made
a
convert
of
Katharine
,
which
was
what
I
was
afraid
of
,
”
Mr.
Hilbery
remarked
.
“
Oh
no
,
”
said
Katharine
very
decidedly
,
“
I
wouldn’t
work
with
them
for
anything
.
”
“
It’s
curious
,
”
Mr.
Hilbery
continued
,
agreeing
with
his
daughter
,
“
how
the
sight
of
one’s
fellow-enthusiasts
always
chokes
one
off
.
They
show
up
the
faults
of
one’s
cause
so
much
more
plainly
than
one’s
antagonists
.
One
can
be
enthusiastic
in
one’s
study
,
but
directly
one
comes
into
touch
with
the
people
who
agree
with
one
,
all
the
glamor
goes
.
So
I’ve
always
found
,
”
and
he
proceeded
to
tell
them
,
as
he
peeled
his
apple
,
how
he
committed
himself
once
,
in
his
youthful
days
,
to
make
a
speech
at
a
political
meeting
,
and
went
there
ablaze
with
enthusiasm
for
the
ideals
of
his
own
side
;
but
while
his
leaders
spoke
,
he
became
gradually
converted
to
the
other
way
of
thinking
,
if
thinking
it
could
be
called
,
and
had
to
feign
illness
in
order
to
avoid
making
a
fool
of
himself
—
an
experience
which
had
sickened
him
of
public
meetings
.
Katharine
listened
and
felt
as
she
generally
did
when
her
father
,
and
to
some
extent
her
mother
,
described
their
feelings
,
that
she
quite
understood
and
agreed
with
them
,
but
,
at
the
same
time
,
saw
something
which
they
did
not
see
,
and
always
felt
some
disappointment
when
they
fell
short
of
her
vision
,
as
they
always
did
.
The
plates
succeeded
each
other
swiftly
and
noiselessly
in
front
of
her
,
and
the
table
was
decked
for
dessert
,
and
as
the
talk
murmured
on
in
familiar
grooves
,
she
sat
there
,
rather
like
a
judge
,
listening
to
her
parents
,
who
did
,
indeed
,
feel
it
very
pleasant
when
they
made
her
laugh
.
Daily
life
in
a
house
where
there
are
young
and
old
is
full
of
curious
little
ceremonies
and
pieties
,
which
are
discharged
quite
punctually
,
though
the
meaning
of
them
is
obscure
,
and
a
mystery
has
come
to
brood
over
them
which
lends
even
a
superstitious
charm
to
their
performance
.
Such
was
the
nightly
ceremony
of
the
cigar
and
the
glass
of
port
,
which
were
placed
on
the
right
hand
and
on
the
left
hand
of
Mr.
Hilbery
,
and
simultaneously
Mrs.
Hilbery
and
Katharine
left
the
room
.
All
the
years
they
had
lived
together
they
had
never
seen
Mr.
Hilbery
smoke
his
cigar
or
drink
his
port
,
and
they
would
have
felt
it
unseemly
if
,
by
chance
,
they
had
surprised
him
as
he
sat
there
.
These
short
,
but
clearly
marked
,
periods
of
separation
between
the
sexes
were
always
used
for
an
intimate
postscript
to
what
had
been
said
at
dinner
,
the
sense
of
being
women
together
coming
out
most
strongly
when
the
male
sex
was
,
as
if
by
some
religious
rite
,
secluded
from
the
female
.
Katharine
knew
by
heart
the
sort
of
mood
that
possessed
her
as
she
walked
upstairs
to
the
drawing-room
,
her
mother’s
arm
in
hers
;
and
she
could
anticipate
the
pleasure
with
which
,
when
she
had
turned
on
the
lights
,
they
both
regarded
the
drawing-room
,
fresh
swept
and
set
in
order
for
the
last
section
of
the
day
,
with
the
red
parrots
swinging
on
the
chintz
curtains
,
and
the
arm-chairs
warming
in
the
blaze
.
Mrs.
Hilbery
stood
over
the
fire
,
with
one
foot
on
the
fender
,
and
her
skirts
slightly
raised
.
“
Oh
,
Katharine
,
”
she
exclaimed
,
“
how
you’ve
made
me
think
of
Mamma
and
the
old
days
in
Russell
Square
!
I
can
see
the
chandeliers
,
and
the
green
silk
of
the
piano
,
and
Mamma
sitting
in
her
cashmere
shawl
by
the
window
,
singing
till
the
little
ragamuffin
boys
outside
stopped
to
listen
.
Papa
sent
me
in
with
a
bunch
of
violets
while
he
waited
round
the
corner
.
It
must
have
been
a
summer
evening
.
That
was
before
things
were
hopeless
...
.
”
As
she
spoke
an
expression
of
regret
,
which
must
have
come
frequently
to
cause
the
lines
which
now
grew
deep
round
the
lips
and
eyes
,
settled
on
her
face
.
The
poet’s
marriage
had
not
been
a
happy
one
.
He
had
left
his
wife
,
and
after
some
years
of
a
rather
reckless
existence
,
she
had
died
,
before
her
time
.
This
disaster
had
led
to
great
irregularities
of
education
,
and
,
indeed
,
Mrs.
Hilbery
might
be
said
to
have
escaped
education
altogether
.
But
she
had
been
her
father’s
companion
at
the
season
when
he
wrote
the
finest
of
his
poems
.
She
had
sat
on
his
knee
in
taverns
and
other
haunts
of
drunken
poets
,
and
it
was
for
her
sake
,
so
people
said
,
that
he
had
cured
himself
of
his
dissipation
,
and
become
the
irreproachable
literary
character
that
the
world
knows
,
whose
inspiration
had
deserted
him
.
As
Mrs.
Hilbery
grew
old
she
thought
more
and
more
of
the
past
,
and
this
ancient
disaster
seemed
at
times
almost
to
prey
upon
her
mind
,
as
if
she
could
not
pass
out
of
life
herself
without
laying
the
ghost
of
her
parent’s
sorrow
to
rest
.
Katharine
wished
to
comfort
her
mother
,
but
it
was
difficult
to
do
this
satisfactorily
when
the
facts
themselves
were
so
much
of
a
legend
.
The
house
in
Russell
Square
,
for
example
,
with
its
noble
rooms
,
and
the
magnolia-tree
in
the
garden
,
and
the
sweet-voiced
piano
,
and
the
sound
of
feet
coming
down
the
corridors
,
and
other
properties
of
size
and
romance
—
had
they
any
existence
?
Yet
why
should
Mrs.
Alardyce
live
all
alone
in
this
gigantic
mansion
,
and
,
if
she
did
not
live
alone
,
with
whom
did
she
live
?
For
its
own
sake
,
Katharine
rather
liked
this
tragic
story
,
and
would
have
been
glad
to
hear
the
details
of
it
,
and
to
have
been
able
to
discuss
them
frankly
.
But
this
it
became
less
and
less
possible
to
do
,
for
though
Mrs.
Hilbery
was
constantly
reverting
to
the
story
,
it
was
always
in
this
tentative
and
restless
fashion
,
as
though
by
a
touch
here
and
there
she
could
set
things
straight
which
had
been
crooked
these
sixty
years
.
Perhaps
,
indeed
,
she
no
longer
knew
what
the
truth
was
.
“
If
they’d
lived
now
,
”
she
concluded
,
“
I
feel
it
wouldn’t
have
happened
.
People
aren’t
so
set
upon
tragedy
as
they
were
then
.
If
my
father
had
been
able
to
go
round
the
world
,
or
if
she’d
had
a
rest
cure
,
everything
would
have
come
right
.
But
what
could
I
do
?
And
then
they
had
bad
friends
,
both
of
them
,
who
made
mischief
.
Ah
,
Katharine
,
when
you
marry
,
be
quite
,
quite
sure
that
you
love
your
husband
!
”
The
tears
stood
in
Mrs.
Hilbery’s
eyes
.
While
comforting
her
,
Katharine
thought
to
herself
,
“
Now
this
is
what
Mary
Datchet
and
Mr.
Denham
don’t
understand
.
This
is
the
sort
of
position
I’m
always
getting
into
.
How
simple
it
must
be
to
live
as
they
do
!
”
for
all
the
evening
she
had
been
comparing
her
home
and
her
father
and
mother
with
the
Suffrage
office
and
the
people
there
.
“
But
,
Katharine
,
”
Mrs.
Hilbery
continued
,
with
one
of
her
sudden
changes
of
mood
,
“
though
,
Heaven
knows
,
I
don’t
want
to
see
you
married
,
surely
if
ever
a
man
loved
a
woman
,
William
loves
you
.
And
it’s
a
nice
,
rich-sounding
name
too
—
Katharine
Rodney
,
which
,
unfortunately
,
doesn’t
mean
that
he’s
got
any
money
,
because
he
hasn’t
.
”
The
alteration
of
her
name
annoyed
Katharine
,
and
she
observed
,
rather
sharply
,
that
she
didn’t
want
to
marry
any
one
.
“
It’s
very
dull
that
you
can
only
marry
one
husband
,
certainly
,
”
Mrs.
Hilbery
reflected
.
“
I
always
wish
that
you
could
marry
everybody
who
wants
to
marry
you
.
Perhaps
they’ll
come
to
that
in
time
,
but
meanwhile
I
confess
that
dear
William
—
”
But
here
Mr.
Hilbery
came
in
,
and
the
more
solid
part
of
the
evening
began
.
This
consisted
in
the
reading
aloud
by
Katharine
from
some
prose
work
or
other
,
while
her
mother
knitted
scarves
intermittently
on
a
little
circular
frame
,
and
her
father
read
the
newspaper
,
not
so
attentively
but
that
he
could
comment
humorously
now
and
again
upon
the
fortunes
of
the
hero
and
the
heroine
.
The
Hilberys
subscribed
to
a
library
,
which
delivered
books
on
Tuesdays
and
Fridays
,
and
Katharine
did
her
best
to
interest
her
parents
in
the
works
of
living
and
highly
respectable
authors
;
but
Mrs.
Hilbery
was
perturbed
by
the
very
look
of
the
light
,
gold-wreathed
volumes
,
and
would
make
little
faces
as
if
she
tasted
something
bitter
as
the
reading
went
on
;
while
Mr.
Hilbery
would
treat
the
moderns
with
a
curious
elaborate
banter
such
as
one
might
apply
to
the
antics
of
a
promising
child
.
So
this
evening
,
after
five
pages
or
so
of
one
of
these
masters
,
Mrs.
Hilbery
protested
that
it
was
all
too
clever
and
cheap
and
nasty
for
words
.
“
Please
,
Katharine
,
read
us
something
real
.
”
Katharine
had
to
go
to
the
bookcase
and
choose
a
portly
volume
in
sleek
,
yellow
calf
,
which
had
directly
a
sedative
effect
upon
both
her
parents
.
But
the
delivery
of
the
evening
post
broke
in
upon
the
periods
of
Henry
Fielding
,
and
Katharine
found
that
her
letters
needed
all
her
attention
.
CHAPTER
VIII
She
took
her
letters
up
to
her
room
with
her
,
having
persuaded
her
mother
to
go
to
bed
directly
Mr.
Hilbery
left
them
,
for
so
long
as
she
sat
in
the
same
room
as
her
mother
,
Mrs.
Hilbery
might
,
at
any
moment
,
ask
for
a
sight
of
the
post
.
A
very
hasty
glance
through
many
sheets
had
shown
Katharine
that
,
by
some
coincidence
,
her
attention
had
to
be
directed
to
many
different
anxieties
simultaneously
.
In
the
first
place
,
Rodney
had
written
a
very
full
account
of
his
state
of
mind
,
which
was
illustrated
by
a
sonnet
,
and
he
demanded
a
reconsideration
of
their
position
,
which
agitated
Katharine
more
than
she
liked
.
Then
there
were
two
letters
which
had
to
be
laid
side
by
side
and
compared
before
she
could
make
out
the
truth
of
their
story
,
and
even
when
she
knew
the
facts
she
could
not
decide
what
to
make
of
them
;
and
finally
she
had
to
reflect
upon
a
great
many
pages
from
a
cousin
who
found
himself
in
financial
difficulties
,
which
forced
him
to
the
uncongenial
occupation
of
teaching
the
young
ladies
of
Bungay
to
play
upon
the
violin
.
But
the
two
letters
which
each
told
the
same
story
differently
were
the
chief
source
of
her
perplexity
.
She
was
really
rather
shocked
to
find
it
definitely
established
that
her
own
second
cousin
,
Cyril
Alardyce
,
had
lived
for
the
last
four
years
with
a
woman
who
was
not
his
wife
,
who
had
borne
him
two
children
,
and
was
now
about
to
bear
him
another
.
This
state
of
things
had
been
discovered
by
Mrs.
Milvain
,
her
aunt
Celia
,
a
zealous
inquirer
into
such
matters
,
whose
letter
was
also
under
consideration
.
Cyril
,
she
said
,
must
be
made
to
marry
the
woman
at
once
;
and
Cyril
,
rightly
or
wrongly
,
was
indignant
with
such
interference
with
his
affairs
,
and
would
not
own
that
he
had
any
cause
to
be
ashamed
of
himself
.
Had
he
any
cause
to
be
ashamed
of
himself
,
Katharine
wondered
;
and
she
turned
to
her
aunt
again
.
“
Remember
,
”
she
wrote
,
in
her
profuse
,
emphatic
statement
,
“
that
he
bears
your
grandfather’s
name
,
and
so
will
the
child
that
is
to
be
born
.
The
poor
boy
is
not
so
much
to
blame
as
the
woman
who
deluded
him
,
thinking
him
a
gentleman
,
which
he
is
,
and
having
money
,
which
he
has
not
.
”
“
What
would
Ralph
Denham
say
to
this
?
”
thought
Katharine
,
beginning
to
pace
up
and
down
her
bedroom
.
She
twitched
aside
the
curtains
,
so
that
,
on
turning
,
she
was
faced
by
darkness
,
and
looking
out
,
could
just
distinguish
the
branches
of
a
plane-tree
and
the
yellow
lights
of
some
one
else’s
windows
.
“
What
would
Mary
Datchet
and
Ralph
Denham
say
?
”
she
reflected
,
pausing
by
the
window
,
which
,
as
the
night
was
warm
,
she
raised
,
in
order
to
feel
the
air
upon
her
face
,
and
to
lose
herself
in
the
nothingness
of
night
.
But
with
the
air
the
distant
humming
sound
of
far-off
crowded
thoroughfares
was
admitted
to
the
room
.
The
incessant
and
tumultuous
hum
of
the
distant
traffic
seemed
,
as
she
stood
there
,
to
represent
the
thick
texture
of
her
life
,
for
her
life
was
so
hemmed
in
with
the
progress
of
other
lives
that
the
sound
of
its
own
advance
was
inaudible
.
People
like
Ralph
and
Mary
,
she
thought
,
had
it
all
their
own
way
,
and
an
empty
space
before
them
,
and
,
as
she
envied
them
,
she
cast
her
mind
out
to
imagine
an
empty
land
where
all
this
petty
intercourse
of
men
and
women
,
this
life
made
up
of
the
dense
crossings
and
entanglements
of
men
and
women
,
had
no
existence
whatever
.
Even
now
,
alone
,
at
night
,
looking
out
into
the
shapeless
mass
of
London
,
she
was
forced
to
remember
that
there
was
one
point
and
here
another
with
which
she
had
some
connection
.
William
Rodney
,
at
this
very
moment
,
was
seated
in
a
minute
speck
of
light
somewhere
to
the
east
of
her
,
and
his
mind
was
occupied
,
not
with
his
book
,
but
with
her
.
She
wished
that
no
one
in
the
whole
world
would
think
of
her
.
However
,
there
was
no
way
of
escaping
from
one’s
fellow-beings
,
she
concluded
,
and
shut
the
window
with
a
sigh
,
and
returned
once
more
to
her
letters
.
She
could
not
doubt
but
that
William’s
letter
was
the
most
genuine
she
had
yet
received
from
him
.
He
had
come
to
the
conclusion
that
he
could
not
live
without
her
,
he
wrote
.
He
believed
that
he
knew
her
,
and
could
give
her
happiness
,
and
that
their
marriage
would
be
unlike
other
marriages
.
Nor
was
the
sonnet
,
in
spite
of
its
accomplishment
,
lacking
in
passion
,
and
Katharine
,
as
she
read
the
pages
through
again
,
could
see
in
what
direction
her
feelings
ought
to
flow
,
supposing
they
revealed
themselves
.
She
would
come
to
feel
a
humorous
sort
of
tenderness
for
him
,
a
zealous
care
for
his
susceptibilities
,
and
,
after
all
,
she
considered
,
thinking
of
her
father
and
mother
,
what
is
love
?
Naturally
,
with
her
face
,
position
,
and
background
,
she
had
experience
of
young
men
who
wished
to
marry
her
,
and
made
protestations
of
love
,
but
,
perhaps
because
she
did
not
return
the
feeling
,
it
remained
something
of
a
pageant
to
her
.
Not
having
experience
of
it
herself
,
her
mind
had
unconsciously
occupied
itself
for
some
years
in
dressing
up
an
image
of
love
,
and
the
marriage
that
was
the
outcome
of
love
,
and
the
man
who
inspired
love
,
which
naturally
dwarfed
any
examples
that
came
her
way
.
Easily
,
and
without
correction
by
reason
,
her
imagination
made
pictures
,
superb
backgrounds
casting
a
rich
though
phantom
light
upon
the
facts
in
the
foreground
.
Splendid
as
the
waters
that
drop
with
resounding
thunder
from
high
ledges
of
rock
,
and
plunge
downwards
into
the
blue
depths
of
night
,
was
the
presence
of
love
she
dreamt
,
drawing
into
it
every
drop
of
the
force
of
life
,
and
dashing
them
all
asunder
in
the
superb
catastrophe
in
which
everything
was
surrendered
,
and
nothing
might
be
reclaimed
.
The
man
,
too
,
was
some
magnanimous
hero
,
riding
a
great
horse
by
the
shore
of
the
sea
.
They
rode
through
forests
together
,
they
galloped
by
the
rim
of
the
sea
.
But
waking
,
she
was
able
to
contemplate
a
perfectly
loveless
marriage
,
as
the
thing
one
did
actually
in
real
life
,
for
possibly
the
people
who
dream
thus
are
those
who
do
the
most
prosaic
things
.
At
this
moment
she
was
much
inclined
to
sit
on
into
the
night
,
spinning
her
light
fabric
of
thoughts
until
she
tired
of
their
futility
,
and
went
to
her
mathematics
;
but
,
as
she
knew
very
well
,
it
was
necessary
that
she
should
see
her
father
before
he
went
to
bed
.
The
case
of
Cyril
Alardyce
must
be
discussed
,
her
mother’s
illusions
and
the
rights
of
the
family
attended
to
.
Being
vague
herself
as
to
what
all
this
amounted
to
,
she
had
to
take
counsel
with
her
father
.
She
took
her
letters
in
her
hand
and
went
downstairs
.
It
was
past
eleven
,
and
the
clocks
had
come
into
their
reign
,
the
grandfather’s
clock
in
the
hall
ticking
in
competition
with
the
small
clock
on
the
landing
.
Mr.
Hilbery’s
study
ran
out
behind
the
rest
of
the
house
,
on
the
ground
floor
,
and
was
a
very
silent
,
subterranean
place
,
the
sun
in
daytime
casting
a
mere
abstract
of
light
through
a
skylight
upon
his
books
and
the
large
table
,
with
its
spread
of
white
papers
,
now
illumined
by
a
green
reading-lamp
.
Here
Mr.
Hilbery
sat
editing
his
review
,
or
placing
together
documents
by
means
of
which
it
could
be
proved
that
Shelley
had
written
“
of
”
instead
of
“
and
,
”
or
that
the
inn
in
which
Byron
had
slept
was
called
the
“
Nag’s
Head
”
and
not
the
“
Turkish
Knight
,
”
or
that
the
Christian
name
of
Keats’s
uncle
had
been
John
rather
than
Richard
,
for
he
knew
more
minute
details
about
these
poets
than
any
man
in
England
,
probably
,
and
was
preparing
an
edition
of
Shelley
which
scrupulously
observed
the
poet’s
system
of
punctuation
.
He
saw
the
humor
of
these
researches
,
but
that
did
not
prevent
him
from
carrying
them
out
with
the
utmost
scrupulosity
.
He
was
lying
back
comfortably
in
a
deep
arm-chair
smoking
a
cigar
,
and
ruminating
the
fruitful
question
as
to
whether
Coleridge
had
wished
to
marry
Dorothy
Wordsworth
,
and
what
,
if
he
had
done
so
,
would
have
been
the
consequences
to
him
in
particular
,
and
to
literature
in
general
.
When
Katharine
came
in
he
reflected
that
he
knew
what
she
had
come
for
,
and
he
made
a
pencil
note
before
he
spoke
to
her
.
Having
done
this
,
he
saw
that
she
was
reading
,
and
he
watched
her
for
a
moment
without
saying
anything
.
She
was
reading
“
Isabella
and
the
Pot
of
Basil
,
”
and
her
mind
was
full
of
the
Italian
hills
and
the
blue
daylight
,
and
the
hedges
set
with
little
rosettes
of
red
and
white
roses
.
Feeling
that
her
father
waited
for
her
,
she
sighed
and
said
,
shutting
her
book
:
“
I’ve
had
a
letter
from
Aunt
Celia
about
Cyril
,
father
...
.
It
seems
to
be
true
—
about
his
marriage
.
What
are
we
to
do
?
”
“
Cyril
seems
to
have
been
behaving
in
a
very
foolish
manner
,
”
said
Mr.
Hilbery
,
in
his
pleasant
and
deliberate
tones
.
Katharine
found
some
difficulty
in
carrying
on
the
conversation
,
while
her
father
balanced
his
finger-tips
so
judiciously
,
and
seemed
to
reserve
so
many
of
his
thoughts
for
himself
.
“
He’s
about
done
for
himself
,
I
should
say
,
”
he
continued
.
Without
saying
anything
,
he
took
Katharine’s
letters
out
of
her
hand
,
adjusted
his
eyeglasses
,
and
read
them
through
.
At
length
he
said
“
Humph
!
”
and
gave
the
letters
back
to
her
.
“
Mother
knows
nothing
about
it
,
”
Katharine
remarked
.
“
Will
you
tell
her
?
”
“
I
shall
tell
your
mother
.
But
I
shall
tell
her
that
there
is
nothing
whatever
for
us
to
do
.
”
“
But
the
marriage
?
”
Katharine
asked
,
with
some
diffidence
.
Mr.
Hilbery
said
nothing
,
and
stared
into
the
fire
.
“
What
in
the
name
of
conscience
did
he
do
it
for
?
”
he
speculated
at
last
,
rather
to
himself
than
to
her
.
Katharine
had
begun
to
read
her
aunt’s
letter
over
again
,
and
she
now
quoted
a
sentence
.
“
Ibsen
and
Butler
...
.
He
has
sent
me
a
letter
full
of
quotations
—
nonsense
,
though
clever
nonsense
.
”
“
Well
,
if
the
younger
generation
want
to
carry
on
its
life
on
those
lines
,
it’s
none
of
our
affair
,
”
he
remarked
.
“
But
isn’t
it
our
affair
,
perhaps
,
to
make
them
get
married
?
”
Katharine
asked
rather
wearily
.
“
Why
the
dickens
should
they
apply
to
me
?
”
her
father
demanded
with
sudden
irritation
.
“
Only
as
the
head
of
the
family
—
”
“
But
I’m
not
the
head
of
the
family
.
Alfred’s
the
head
of
the
family
.
Let
them
apply
to
Alfred
,
”
said
Mr.
Hilbery
,
relapsing
again
into
his
arm-chair
.
Katharine
was
aware
that
she
had
touched
a
sensitive
spot
,
however
,
in
mentioning
the
family
.
“
I
think
,
perhaps
,
the
best
thing
would
be
for
me
to
go
and
see
them
,
”
she
observed
.
“
I
won’t
have
you
going
anywhere
near
them
,
”
Mr.
Hilbery
replied
with
unwonted
decision
and
authority
.
“
Indeed
,
I
don’t
understand
why
they’ve
dragged
you
into
the
business
at
all
—
I
don’t
see
that
it’s
got
anything
to
do
with
you
.
”
“
I’ve
always
been
friends
with
Cyril
,
”
Katharine
observed
.
“
But
did
he
ever
tell
you
anything
about
this
?
”
Mr.
Hilbery
asked
rather
sharply
.
Katharine
shook
her
head
.
She
was
,
indeed
,
a
good
deal
hurt
that
Cyril
had
not
confided
in
her
—
did
he
think
,
as
Ralph
Denham
or
Mary
Datchet
might
think
,
that
she
was
,
for
some
reason
,
unsympathetic
—
hostile
even
?
“
As
to
your
mother
,
”
said
Mr.
Hilbery
,
after
a
pause
,
in
which
he
seemed
to
be
considering
the
color
of
the
flames
,
“
you
had
better
tell
her
the
facts
.
She’d
better
know
the
facts
before
every
one
begins
to
talk
about
it
,
though
why
Aunt
Celia
thinks
it
necessary
to
come
,
I’m
sure
I
don’t
know
.
And
the
less
talk
there
is
the
better
.
”
Granting
the
assumption
that
gentlemen
of
sixty
who
are
highly
cultivated
,
and
have
had
much
experience
of
life
,
probably
think
of
many
things
which
they
do
not
say
,
Katharine
could
not
help
feeling
rather
puzzled
by
her
father’s
attitude
,
as
she
went
back
to
her
room
.
What
a
distance
he
was
from
it
all
!
How
superficially
he
smoothed
these
events
into
a
semblance
of
decency
which
harmonized
with
his
own
view
of
life
!
He
never
wondered
what
Cyril
had
felt
,
nor
did
the
hidden
aspects
of
the
case
tempt
him
to
examine
into
them
.
He
merely
seemed
to
realize
,
rather
languidly
,
that
Cyril
had
behaved
in
a
way
which
was
foolish
,
because
other
people
did
not
behave
in
that
way
.
He
seemed
to
be
looking
through
a
telescope
at
little
figures
hundreds
of
miles
in
the
distance
.
Her
selfish
anxiety
not
to
have
to
tell
Mrs.
Hilbery
what
had
happened
made
her
follow
her
father
into
