“beastly
obstinate
.
”
Algitha
had
not
fixed
any
time
.
It
would
depend
on
her
mother
.
She
wished
to
make
things
as
little
painful
as
possible
.
That
it
was
her
duty
to
spare
her
pain
altogether
by
remaining
at
home
,
Algitha
refused
to
admit
.
She
and
Hadria
had
thought
out
the
question
from
all
sides
.
The
work
she
was
going
to
do
was
useful
,
but
she
did
not
justify
herself
on
that
ground
.
She
claimed
the
right
to
her
life
and
her
liberty
,
apart
from
what
she
intended
to
do
with
either
.
She
owed
it
to
her
own
conscience
alone
to
make
good
use
of
her
liberty
.
“
I
do
n't
want
to
pose
as
a
philanthropist
,
”
she
added
,
“
though
I
honestly
do
desire
to
be
of
service
.
I
want
to
spread
my
wings
.
And
why
should
I
not
?
Nobody
turns
pale
when
Ernest
wants
to
spread
his
.
How
do
I
know
what
life
is
like
,
or
how
best
to
use
it
,
if
I
remain
satisfied
with
my
present
ignorance
?
How
can
I
even
appreciate
what
I
possess
,
if
I
have
nothing
to
compare
it
with
?
Of
course
,
the
truly
nice
and
womanly
thing
to
do
,
is
to
remain
at
home
,
waiting
to
be
married
.
I
have
elected
to
be
un
womanly
.
”
“
I
wonder
how
all
this
will
turn
out
,
”
said
Ernest
,
“
whether
you
wo
n't
regret
it
some
day
when
it
is
too
late
.
”
“
Do
n't
people
always
regret
what
they
do
—
some
day
?
”
asked
Hadria
.
“
Perhaps
so
,
especially
if
they
do
it
sooner
than
other
people
.
”
“
When
are
you
going
to
make
the
announcement
at
head
quarters
?
”
asked
Fred
.
There
was
a
pause
.
The
colour
had
left
Algitha
's
cheeks
.
She
answered
at
length
with
an
effort
—
“
I
shall
speak
to
mother
to-day
.
”
CHAPTER
IV
.
MRS.
FULLERTON
had
gone
to
the
study
,
to
consult
with
her
husband
on
some
matter
of
domestic
importance
.
It
was
a
long
,
low-pitched
room
,
situated
in
the
part
of
the
house
that
stood
at
right
angles
to
the
central
block
,
with
long
,
narrow
windows
looking
on
to
a
rough
orchard
.
A
few
old
portraits
,
very
yellow
and
somewhat
grotesque
,
hung
on
the
walls
;
a
wood
fire
burnt
on
the
hob-grate
,
and
beside
it
stood
a
vast
arm
chair
,
considerably
worn
,
with
depressions
shewing
where
its
owner
had
been
leaning
his
head
,
day
after
day
,
when
he
smoked
his
pipe
,
or
took
his
after-dinner
nap
.
The
bookshelves
were
stocked
with
scientific
works
,
and
some
volumes
on
philosophy
of
a
materialistic
character
.
With
the
exception
of
Robert
Burns
,
not
one
poet
was
represented
.
The
owner
of
the
house
sat
before
a
big
writing-table
,
which
was
covered
with
papers
.
His
face
was
that
of
a
hard
thinker
;
the
head
was
fine
in
form
,
the
forehead
broad
and
high
;
the
features
regular
,
almost
severe
.
The
severity
was
softened
by
a
genial
expression
.
Mrs.
Fullerton
,
though
also
obviously
above
the
average
of
humanity
,
shewed
signs
of
incomplete
development
.
The
shape
of
the
head
and
brow
promised
many
faculties
that
the
expression
of
the
face
did
not
encourage
one
to
expect
.
She
was
finely
built
;
and
carried
herself
with
dignity
.
When
her
daughters
accompanied
her
on
a
round
of
calls
in
the
neighbourhood
,
they
expressed
a
certain
quality
in
her
appearance
,
in
rough
and
ready
terms
:
“
Other
married
women
always
look
such
fools
beside
mother
!
”
And
they
did
.
Mrs.
Fullerton
wore
her
fine
black
hair
brushed
neatly
over
her
forehead
;
her
eyes
were
large
,
and
keen
in
expression
.
The
mouth
shewed
determination
.
It
was
easy
to
see
that
this
lady
had
unbounded
belief
in
her
husband
's
wisdom
,
except
in
social
matters
,
for
which
he
cared
nothing
.
On
that
point
she
had
to
keep
her
ambitions
to
herself
.
In
questions
of
philosophy
,
she
had
imbibed
his
tenets
unmodified
,
and
though
she
went
regularly
every
Sunday
to
the
close
little
Scottish
church
at
Ballochcoil
,
she
had
no
more
respect
than
her
husband
had
,
for
the
doctrines
that
were
preached
there
.
“
No
doubt
it
is
all
superstition
and
nonsense
,
”
she
used
to
say
,
“
but
in
this
country
,
one
ca
n't
afford
to
fly
in
the
face
of
prejudice
.
It
would
seriously
tell
against
the
girls
.
”
“
Well
,
have
your
own
way
,
”
Mr.
Fullerton
would
reply
,
“
but
I
ca
n't
see
the
use
of
always
bothering
about
what
people
will
think
.
What
more
do
the
girls
want
than
a
good
home
and
plenty
of
lawn-tennis
?
They
'll
get
husbands
fast
enough
,
without
your
asphyxiating
yourself
every
Sunday
in
their
interests
.
”
In
her
youth
,
Mrs.
Fullerton
had
shewn
signs
of
qualities
which
had
since
been
submerged
.
Her
husband
had
influenced
her
development
profoundly
,
to
the
apparent
stifling
of
every
native
tendency
.
A
few
volumes
of
poetry
,
and
other
works
of
imagination
,
bore
testimony
to
the
lost
sides
of
her
nature
.
Mr.
Fullerton
thought
imagination
“
all
nonsense
,
”
and
his
wife
had
no
doubt
he
was
right
,
though
there
was
something
to
be
said
for
one
or
two
of
the
poets
.
The
buried
impulses
had
broken
out
,
like
a
half-smothered
flame
,
in
her
children
,
especially
in
her
younger
daughter
.
Singularly
enough
,
the
mother
regarded
these
qualities
,
partly
inherited
from
herself
,
as
erratic
and
annoying
.
The
memory
of
her
own
youth
taught
her
no
sympathy
.
It
was
a
benumbed
sort
of
life
that
she
led
,
in
her
picturesque
old
home
,
whose
charm
she
perceived
but
dimly
with
the
remnants
of
her
lost
aptitudes
.
“
Picturesque
!
”
Mr.
Fullerton
used
to
cry
with
a
snort
;
“
why
not
say
‘unhealthy’
and
be
done
with
it
?
”
From
these
native
elements
of
character
,
modified
in
so
singular
a
fashion
in
the
mother
's
life
,
the
children
of
this
pair
had
drawn
certain
of
their
peculiarities
.
The
inborn
strength
and
authenticity
of
the
parents
had
transmuted
itself
,
in
the
younger
generation
,
to
a
spirit
of
free
enquiry
,
and
an
audacity
of
thought
which
boded
ill
for
Mrs.
Fullerton
's
ambitions
.
The
talent
in
her
daughters
,
from
which
she
had
hoped
so
much
,
seemed
likely
to
prove
a
most
dangerous
obstacle
to
their
success
.
Why
was
it
that
clever
people
were
never
sensible
?
The
gong
sounded
for
luncheon
.
Austin
put
his
head
in
at
the
door
of
the
study
,
to
ask
if
his
father
would
shew
him
a
drop
of
ditch-water
through
the
microscope
,
in
the
afternoon
.
“
If
you
will
provide
the
ditch-water
,
I
will
provide
the
microscope
,
”
promised
Mr.
Fullerton
genially
.
Luncheon
,
usually
a
merry
meal
at
Dunaghee
,
passed
off
silently
.
There
was
a
sense
of
oppression
in
the
air
.
Algitha
and
her
sister
made
spasmodic
remarks
,
and
there
were
long
pauses
.
The
conversation
was
chiefly
sustained
by
the
parents
and
the
ever-talkative
Fred
.
The
latter
had
some
anecdotes
to
tell
of
the
ravages
made
by
wasps
.
“
If
Buchanan
would
only
adopt
my
plan
of
destroying
them
,
”
said
Mr.
Fullerton
,
“
we
should
soon
get
rid
of
the
pest
.
”
“
It
's
some
chemical
,
is
n't
it
?
”
asked
Mrs.
Fullerton
.
“
Oh
,
no
;
that
's
no
use
at
all
!
Wasps
positively
enjoy
chemicals
.
What
you
do
is
this
—
.
”
And
then
followed
a
long
and
minute
explanation
of
his
plan
,
which
had
the
merit
of
extreme
originality
.
Mr.
Fullerton
had
his
own
particular
way
of
doing
everything
,
a
piece
of
presumption
which
was
naturally
resented
,
with
proper
spirit
,
by
his
neighbours
.
He
found
it
an
expensive
luxury
.
In
the
management
of
the
estate
,
he
had
outraged
the
feelings
of
every
landlord
and
land-agent
within
a
radius
of
many
miles
,
but
he
gained
the
affection
of
his
tenants
,
and
this
he
seemed
to
value
more
than
the
approval
of
his
fellow-proprietors
.
In
theory
,
he
stuck
out
for
his
privileges
;
in
practice
,
he
was
the
friend
and
brother
of
the
poorest
on
the
estate
.
In
his
mode
of
farming
he
was
as
eccentric
as
in
his
method
of
management
.
He
had
taken
Croachmore
into
his
own
hands
,
and
this
devoted
farm
had
become
the
subject
of
a
series
of
drastic
scientific
experiments
,
to
the
great
grief
and
indignation
of
his
bailiff
.
Mrs.
Fullerton
believed
implicitly
in
the
value
of
these
experiments
,
and
so
long
as
her
husband
tried
science
only
on
the
farm
she
had
no
misgivings
;
but
,
alas
,
he
had
lately
taken
shares
in
some
company
,
that
was
to
revolutionize
agriculture
through
an
ingenious
contrivance
for
collecting
nitrogen
from
the
atmosphere
.
Mr.
Fullerton
was
confident
that
the
new
method
was
to
be
a
gigantic
success
.
But
on
this
point
,
his
wife
uneasily
shook
her
head
.
She
had
even
tried
to
persuade
Mr.
Fullerton
to
rid
himself
of
his
liability
.
It
was
so
great
,
she
argued
,
and
why
should
one
be
made
anxious
?
But
her
husband
assured
her
that
she
did
n't
understand
anything
about
it
;
women
ought
not
to
meddle
in
business
matters
;
it
was
a
stupendous
discovery
,
sure
to
make
the
fortunes
of
the
original
shareholders
.
“
When
once
the
prejudice
against
a
new
thing
has
been
got
over
,
”
said
the
man
of
science
,
“
you
will
see
—
the
thing
will
go
like
wild-fire
.
”
Many
years
afterwards
,
these
words
were
remembered
by
Mrs.
Fullerton
,
and
she
bitterly
regretted
that
she
had
not
urged
the
matter
more
strenuously
.
“
Well
,
Algitha
,
”
said
her
father
,
wondering
at
her
silence
,
“
how
are
the
roses
getting
on
?
And
I
hope
you
have
not
forgotten
the
sweet-brier
that
you
promised
to
grow
for
me
.
”
“
Oh
,
no
,
father
,
the
sweet-brier
has
been
ordered
,
”
returned
Algitha
,
without
her
usual
brightness
of
manner
.
“
Have
you
a
headache
?
”
enquired
Mrs.
Fullerton
.
“
I
hope
you
have
not
all
been
sitting
up
talking
in
Hadria
's
room
,
as
you
are
too
fond
of
doing
.
You
have
the
whole
day
in
which
to
express
your
ideas
,
and
I
think
you
might
let
the
remainder
wait
over
till
morning
.
”
“
We
were
rather
late
last
night
,
”
Algitha
confessed
.
“
Pressure
of
ideas
overpowering
,
”
added
Fred
.
“
When
I
was
young
,
ideas
would
never
have
been
tolerated
in
young
people
for
a
moment
,
”
said
Mrs.
Fullerton
,
“
it
would
have
been
considered
a
mark
of
ill-breeding
.
You
may
think
yourselves
lucky
to
be
born
at
this
end
of
the
century
,
instead
of
the
other
.
”
“
Indeed
we
do
!
”
exclaimed
Ernest
.
“
It
's
getting
jolly
interesting
!
“
In
some
respects
,
no
doubt
we
have
advanced
,
”
observed
his
mother
,
“
but
I
confess
I
do
n't
understand
all
your
modern
notions
.
Everybody
seems
to
be
getting
discontented
.
The
poor
want
to
be
rich
,
and
the
rich
want
to
be
millionaires
;
men
want
to
do
their
master
's
work
,
and
women
want
to
do
men
's
;
everything
is
topsy-turvy
!
”
“
The
question
is
:
What
constitutes
being
right
side
up
?
”
said
Ernest
.
“
One
ca
n't
exactly
say
what
is
topsy-turvy
till
one
knows
that
.
”
“
When
I
was
young
we
thought
we
did
know
,
”
said
Mrs.
Fullerton
,
“
but
no
doubt
we
are
old-fashioned
.
”
When
luncheon
was
over
,
Mr.
Fullerton
went
to
the
garden
with
his
family
,
according
to
a
time-honoured
custom
.
His
love
of
flowers
sometimes
made
Hadria
wonder
whether
her
father
also
had
been
born
with
certain
instincts
,
which
the
accidents
of
life
had
stifled
or
failed
to
develop
.
Terrible
was
the
tyranny
of
circumstance
!
What
had
Emerson
been
dreaming
of
?
Mr.
Fullerton
,
with
a
rose-bud
in
his
button-hole
,
went
off
with
the
boys
for
a
farming
walk
.
Mrs.
Fullerton
returned
to
the
house
,
and
the
sisters
were
left
pacing
together
in
the
sheltered
old
garden
,
between
two
rows
of
gorgeous
autumn
flowers
.
Hadria
felt
sick
with
dread
of
the
coming
interview
.
Algitha
was
buoyed
up
,
for
the
moment
,
by
a
strong
conviction
that
she
was
in
the
right
.
“
It
ca
n't
be
fair
even
for
parents
to
order
one
's
whole
life
according
to
their
pleasure
,
”
she
said
.
“
Other
girls
submit
,
I
know
—
”
“
And
so
the
world
is
full
of
abortive
,
ambiguous
beings
,
fit
for
nothing
.
The
average
woman
always
seem
to
me
to
be
muffled
—
or
morbid
.
”
“
That
's
what
I
should
become
if
I
pottered
about
here
much
longer
,
”
said
Algitha
—
“
morbid
;
and
if
there
is
one
thing
on
the
face
of
the
earth
that
I
loathe
,
it
is
morbidness
.
”
Both
sisters
were
instinctively
trying
to
buttress
up
Algitha
's
courage
,
by
strengthening
her
position
with
additional
arguments
.
“
Is
it
fair
,
”
Hadria
asked
,
“
to
summon
children
into
the
world
,
and
then
run
up
bills
against
them
for
future
payment
?
Why
should
one
not
see
the
bearings
of
the
matter
?
”
“
In
theory
one
can
see
them
clearly
enough
;
but
it
is
poor
comfort
when
it
comes
to
practice
.
”
“
Oh
,
seeing
the
bearings
of
things
is
always
poor
comfort
!
”
exclaimed
the
younger
sister
,
with
sudden
vehemence
.
“
Upon
my
word
,
I
think
it
is
better
,
after
all
,
to
absorb
indiscriminately
whatever
idiotcy
may
happen
to
be
around
one
,
and
go
with
the
crowd
.
”
“
Nonsense
!
”
cried
Algitha
,
who
had
no
sympathy
with
these
passionate
discouragements
that
alternated
,
in
Hadria
,
with
equally
passionate
exaltations
.
“
When
you
have
gone
,
I
will
ask
Mrs.
Gordon
to
teach
me
the
spirit
of
acquiescence
,
and
one
of
those
distracting
games
—
bésique
or
halma
,
or
some
of
the
other
infernal
pastimes
that
heaven
decrees
for
recalcitrant
spirits
in
need
of
crushing
discipline
.
”
“
I
think
I
see
you
!
”
Algitha
exclaimed
with
a
dispirited
laugh
.
“
It
will
be
a
trial
,
”
Hadria
admitted
;
“
but
it
is
said
that
suffering
strengthens
the
character
.
You
may
look
forward
before
long
,
to
claiming
as
sister
a
creature
of
iron
purpose
.
”
“
I
wonder
,
I
wonder
,
”
cried
Algitha
,
bending
her
fine
head
;
“
we
owe
everything
to
her
.
”
“
I
know
we
do
.
It
's
of
no
use
disguising
the
unpleasant
side
of
the
matter
.
A
mother
disappointed
in
her
children
must
be
a
desperately
unhappy
woman
.
She
has
nothing
left
;
for
has
she
not
resigned
everything
for
them
?
But
is
sacrifice
for
ever
to
follow
on
sacrifice
?
Is
life
to
go
rolling
after
life
,
like
the
cheeses
that
the
idiot
in
the
fable
sent
running
downhill
,
the
one
to
fetch
the
other
back
?
”
“
Yes
,
for
ever
,
”
said
Algitha
,
“
until
a
few
dare
to
break
through
the
tradition
,
and
then
everyone
will
wonder
at
its
folly
.
If
only
I
could
talk
the
matter
over
,
in
a
friendly
spirit
,
with
mother
,
but
she
wo
n't
let
me
.
Ahl
!
if
it
were
not
that
one
is
born
with
feelings
and
energies
and
ambitions
of
one
's
own
,
parents
might
treat
one
as
a
showman
treats
his
marionettes
,
and
we
should
all
be
charmed
to
lie
prone
on
our
backs
,
or
to
dance
as
may
be
convenient
to
our
creators
.
But
,
as
it
is
,
the
life
of
a
marionette
—
how
ever
affectionate
the
wire-pullers
—
does
become
monotonous
after
a
time
.
”
“
As
to
that
,
”
said
the
younger
sister
,
with
a
little
raising
of
the
brows
,
as
if
half
shrinking
from
what
she
meant
to
say
,
“
I
think
most
parents
regard
their
children
with
such
favourable
eyes
,
not
so
much
because
they
are
they
as
because
they
are
theirs
.
”
The
sisters
paced
the
length
of
the
garden
without
speaking
.
Then
Hadria
came
to
a
standstill
at
the
sun-dial
,
at
the
crossing
of
the
paths
,
and
began
absently
to
trace
the
figures
of
the
hours
,
with
the
stalk
of
a
rose
.
“
After
all
,
”
she
said
,
“
parents
are
presumably
not
actuated
by
humanitarian
motives
in
bringing
one
into
this
wild
world
.
They
do
n't
even
profess
to
have
felt
an
unselfish
desire
to
see
one
enjoying
oneself
at
their
expense
(
though
,
as
a
matter
of
fact
,
what
enjoyment
one
has
generally
is
at
their
expense
)
.
People
are
always
enthusiastically
congratulated
on
the
arrival
of
a
new
child
,
though
it
be
the
fourteenth
,
and
the
income
two
hundred
a
year
!
This
seems
to
point
to
a
pronounced
taste
for
new
children
,
regardless
of
the
consequences
!
”
“
Oh
,
of
course
,
”
said
Algitha
,
“
it
's
one
of
the
canons
!
Women
,
above
all
,
are
expected
to
jubilate
at
all
costs
.
And
I
think
most
of
them
do
,
more
or
less
sincerely
.
”
“
Very
well
then
,
”
cried
Hadria
,
“
it
is
universally
admitted
that
children
are
summoned
into
the
world
to
gratify
parental
instincts
.
Yet
the
parents
throw
all
the
onus
of
existence
,
after
all
,
upon
the
children
,
and
make
them
pay
for
it
,
and
apologise
for
it
,
and
justify
it
by
a
thousand
sacrifices
and
an
ever-flowing
gratitude
.
”
“
I
am
quite
ready
to
give
gratitude
and
sacrifice
too
,
”
said
Algitha
,
“
but
I
do
n't
feel
that
I
ought
to
sacrifice
everything
to
an
idea
that
seems
to
me
wrong
.
Surely
a
human
being
has
a
right
to
his
own
life
.
If
he
has
not
that
,
what
,
in
heaven
's
name
,
has
he
?
”
“
Anything
but
that
!
”
cried
Hadria
.
While
the
momentous
interview
was
going
on
,
Hadria
walked
restlessly
up
and
down
the
garden
,
feverishly
waiting
.
The
borders
were
brilliant
with
vast
sunflowers
,
white
lilies
,
and
blazing
“
red-hot
pokers
”
tangled
together
in
splendid
profusion
,
a
very
type
of
richness
and
glory
of
life
.
Such
was
the
sort
of
existence
that
Hadria
claimed
from
Fate
.
Her
eyes
turned
to
the
bare
,
forlorn
hills
that
even
the
August
sunshine
could
not
conjure
into
sumptuousness
,
and
there
she
saw
the
threatened
reality
.
When
at
last
Algitha
's
fine
figure
appeared
at
the
further
end
of
the
path
,
Hadria
hastened
forward
and
took
her
sister
's
arm
.
“
It
was
worse
than
I
had
feared
,
”
Algitha
said
,
with
a
quiver
in
her
voice
.
“
I
know
I
am
right
,
and
yet
it
seems
almost
more
than
I
am
equal
for
.
When
I
told
mother
,
she
turned
deadly
white
,
and
I
thought
,
for
a
moment
,
that
she
was
going
to
faint
.
Let
's
sit
down
on
this
seat
.
”
“
Oh
,
it
was
horrible
,
Hadria
!
Mother
must
have
been
cherishing
hopes
about
us
,
in
a
way
that
I
do
n't
think
she
quite
knew
herself
.
After
that
first
moment
of
wretchedness
,
she
flew
into
a
passion
of
rage
—
that
dreadful
,
tearing
anger
that
people
only
feel
when
something
of
themselves
is
being
wrenched
away
from
them
.
She
said
that
her
children
were
all
bad
and
unnatural
;
that
she
had
spent
her
whole
life
in
their
interests
;
that
if
it
had
not
been
for
her
,
we
should
all
of
us
have
grown
up
without
education
or
accomplishments
,
or
looks
,
or
anything
else
;
that
she
watched
over
us
incessantly
when
we
were
little
children
,
denying
herself
,
spending
her
youth
in
devotion
to
us
,
when
she
might
have
gone
into
the
world
,
and
had
some
brightness
and
pleasure
.
If
we
imagined
that
she
had
never
felt
the
dulness
of
her
life
,
and
never
longed
to
go
about
and
see
people
and
things
,
we
were
much
mistaken
.
But
she
had
renounced
everything
she
cared
for
,
from
her
girlhood
—
she
was
scarcely
older
than
I
when
her
sacrifices
began
—
and
now
her
children
gave
no
consideration
to
her
;
they
were
ready
to
scatter
themselves
hither
and
thither
without
a
thought
of
her
,
or
her
wishes
.
They
even
talked
scoffingly
of
the
kind
of
life
that
she
had
led
for
them
—
for
them
,
she
repeated
bitterly
.
”
Hadria
's
face
had
clouded
.
“
Truly
parents
must
have
a
bad
time
of
it
!
”
she
exclaimed
,
“
but
does
it
really
console
them
that
their
children
should
have
a
bad
time
of
it
too
?
”
Algitha
was
trembling
and
very
pale
.
“
Mother
says
I
shall
ruin
my
life
by
this
fad
.
What
real
good
am
I
going
to
do
?
She
says
it
is
absurd
the
way
we
talk
of
things
we
know
nothing
about
.
”
“
But
she
wo
n't
let
us
know
about
things
;
one
must
talk
about
some
thing
!
”
cried
Hadria
with
a
dispirited
laugh
.
“
She
says
she
has
experience
of
life
,
and
we
are
ignorant
of
it
.
I
reminded
her
that
our
ignorance
was
not
exactly
our
fault
.
”
“
Ah
!
precisely
.
Parents
thrown
their
children
's
ignorance
in
their
teeth
,
having
taken
precious
good
care
to
prevent
their
knowing
anything
.
I
ca
n't
understand
parents
;
they
must
have
been
young
themselves
once
.
Yet
they
seem
to
have
forgotten
all
about
it
.
They
keep
us
hoodwinked
and
infantile
,
and
then
launch
us
headlong
into
life
,
with
all
its
problems
to
meet
,
and
all
momentous
decisions
made
for
us
,
past
hope
of
undoing
.
”
Hadria
rose
restlessly
in
her
excitement
.
“
Surely
no
creature
was
ever
dealt
with
so
insanely
as
the
well-brought-up
girl
!
Surely
no
well-wisher
so
sincere
as
the
average
parent
ever
ill-treated
his
charge
so
preposterously
.
”
Again
there
was
a
long
silence
,
filled
with
painful
thought
.
“
One
begins
to
understand
a
little
,
why
women
do
things
that
one
despises
,
and
why
the
proudest
of
them
so
often
submit
to
absolute
indignity
.
You
remember
when
Mrs.
Arbuthnot
and
—
”
“
Ah
,
do
n't
!
”
cried
Algitha
,
flushing
.
“
Nothing
ought
to
induce
a
woman
to
endure
that
.
”
“
H
'm
—
I
suspect
the
world
that
we
know
nothing
about
,
Algitha
,
has
ways
and
means
of
applying
the
pressure
such
as
you
and
I
scarcely
dream
of
.
”
Hadria
spoke
with
half-closed
eyes
that
seemed
to
see
deep
and
far
.
“
I
have
read
and
heard
things
that
have
almost
taken
my
breath
away
!
I
feel
as
if
I
could
kill
every
man
who
acquiesces
in
the
present
order
of
things
.
It
is
an
insult
to
every
woman
alive
!
”
In
Hadria
's
room
that
night
,
Algitha
finally
decided
to
delay
her
going
for
another
six
months
,
hoping
by
that
time
that
her
mother
would
have
grown
used
to
the
idea
,
and
less
opposed
to
it
.
Mr.
Fullerton
dismissed
it
,
as
obviously
absurd
.
But
this
high-handed
treatment
roused
all
the
determination
that
Algitha
had
inherited
from
her
father
.
The
six
months
had
to
be
extended
,
in
order
to
procure
funds
.
Algitha
had
a
small
income
of
her
own
,
left
her
by
her
godmother
,
Miss
Fortescue
.
She
put
aside
this
,
for
her
purpose
.
Further
delay
,
through
Mrs.
Trevelyan
,
brought
the
season
round
again
to
autumn
,
before
Algitha
was
able
to
make
her
final
preparations
for
departure
.
“
Do
try
and
reconcile
them
to
the
idea
,
”
she
said
to
her
sister
,
as
they
stood
on
the
platform
of
Ballochcoil
station
,
very
white
and
wretched-looking
.
“
It
breaks
my
heart
to
see
father
look
so
fixed
and
angry
,
and
mother
so
miserable
.
I
am
not
going
away
for
ever
.
Dear
me
,
a
day
's
journey
will
bring
me
back
,
at
any
time
.
”
“
I
'll
do
my
best
,
”
said
Hadria
,
“
here
's
your
train
;
what
a
clumsy
instrument
of
fate
it
does
look
!
”
There
was
not
much
time
for
farewells
.
In
a
few
minutes
the
train
was
steaming
out
of
the
station
.
A
solitary
figure
stood
on
the
platform
,
watching
the
monster
curving
and
diminishing
along
the
line
,
with
its
white
smoke
soaring
merrily
into
the
air
,
in
great
rolling
masses
,
that
melted
,
as
if
by
some
incantation
,
from
thick
,
snow-like
whiteness
to
rapid
annihilation
.
CHAPTER
V.
AS
Hadria
drove
over
the
winding
upland
road
back
to
her
home
,
her
thoughts
followed
her
sister
into
her
new
existence
,
and
then
turned
wistfully
backwards
to
the
days
that
had
been
marked
off
into
the
past
by
Algitha
's
departure
.
How
bright
and
eager
and
hopeful
they
had
all
been
,
how
full
of
enthusiasm
and
generous
ambitions
!
Even
as
they
talked
of
battle
,
they
stretched
forth
their
hands
for
the
crown
of
victory
.
At
the
last
meeting
of
the
Preposterous
Society
,
Ernest
had
repeated
a
poem
of
his
favourite
Emerson
,
called
Days
,
and
the
poem
,
which
was
familiar
to
Hadria
,
sounded
in
her
memory
,
as
the
pony
trotted
merrily
along
the
well-known
homeward
way
.
Daughters
of
Time
,
the
hypocritic
Days
,
Muffled
and
dumb
,
like
barefoot
Dervishes
,
And
marching
single
in
an
endless
file
,
Bring
diadems
and
faggots
in
their
hands
.
To
each
they
offer
gifts
after
his
will
,
Bread
,
kingdoms
,
stars
,
and
sky
that
holds
them
all
.
I
,
in
my
pleached
garden
,
watched
the
pomp
,
Forgot
my
morning
wishes
,
hastily
Took
a
few
herbs
and
apples
,
and
the
Day
Turned
and
departed
silent
.
I
,
too
late
,
Under
her
solemn
fillet
saw
the
scorn
.
”
In
spite
of
Hadria
's
memorable
lecture
of
a
year
ago
,
it
was
still
the
orthodox
creed
of
the
Society
,
that
Circumstance
is
the
handmaid
of
the
Will
;
that
one
can
demand
of
one
's
days
“
bread
,
kingdoms
,
stars
,
or
sky
,
”
and
that
the
Days
will
obediently
produce
the
objects
desired
.
If
one
has
but
the
spirit
that
can
soar
high
enough
to
really
be
resolved
upon
stars
,
or
the
ambition
sufficiently
vaulting
to
be
determined
on
kingdoms
,
then
—
so
ran
the
dogma
—
stars
and
kingdoms
would
be
forthcoming
,
though
obstacles
were
never
so
determined
.
No
member
except
Hadria
had
ever
dreamt
of
insinuating
that
one
might
have
a
very
pronounced
taste
for
stars
and
kingdoms
—
nay
,
a
taste
so
dominant
that
life
would
be
worthless
unless
they
were
achieved
—
yet
might
be
forced
,
by
the
might
of
events
,
to
forego
them
.
Hadria
's
own
heresy
had
been
of
the
head
rather
than
of
the
heart
.
But
to-day
,
feeling
began
to
share
the
scepticism
of
the
intellect
.
What
if
one
's
stars
and
kingdoms
lay
on
the
further
side
of
a
crime
or
a
cruelty
?
What
then
was
left
but
to
gather
up
one
's
herbs
and
apples
,
and
bear
,
as
best
one
might
,
the
scorn
of
the
unjust
Days
?
Hadria
cast
about
in
her
mind
for
a
method
of
utilizing
to
the
best
advantage
possible
,
the
means
at
her
disposal
:
to
force
circumstance
to
yield
a
harvest
to
her
will
.
To
be
the
family
consolation
meant
no
light
task
,
for
Mrs.
Fullerton
was
exacting
by
nature
:
she
had
given
much
,
and
she
expected
much
in
return
.
Her
logic
was
somewhat
faulty
,
but
that
could
not
be
gracefully
pointed
out
to
her
by
her
daughter
.
Having
allowed
her
own
abilities
to
decay
,
Mrs.
Fullerton
had
developed
an
extraordinary
power
of
interfering
with
the
employment
of
the
abilities
of
others
.
Hadria
had
rather
underrated
than
exaggerated
this
difficulty
.
Her
mother
would
keep
her
for
hours
,
discussing
a
trivial
point
of
domestic
business
,
giving
elaborate
directions
about
it
,
only
to
do
it
herself
in
the
end
.
She
spent
her
whole
life
in
trifles
of
this
kind
,
or
over
social
matters
.
Everything
was
done
cumbrously
,
with
an
incredible
amount
of
toil
and
consideration
,
and
without
any
noticeable
results
.
Hadria
,
fighting
against
a
multitude
of
harassing
little
difficulties
,
struggled
to
turn
the
long
winter
months
to
some
use
.
But
Mrs.
Fullerton
broke
the
good
serviceable
time
into
jagged
fragments
.
“
I
really
ca
n't
see
,
”
said
the
mother
,
when
the
daughter
proposed
to
set
apart
certain
hours
for
household
duties
,
and
to
have
other
portions
of
the
day
to
herself
,
“
I
really
ca
n't
see
why
a
girl
's
little
occupations
should
be
treated
with
so
much
consideration
.
However
,
I
have
no
wish
for
grudging
assistance
.
”
Hadria
's
temper
was
far
indeed
from
perfect
,
and
painful
scenes
often
occurred
.
But
as
a
rule
,
she
would
afterwards
be
seized
with
a
fit
of
remorse
,
knowing
that
her
mother
was
suffering
bitterly
from
her
keen
disappointment
about
Algitha
.
The
failure
of
a
life-long
hope
must
try
the
endurance
of
the
bravest
.
Mrs.
Fullerton
,
seeing
that
Hadria
was
more
patient
,
quickly
took
advantage
of
the
favourable
moment
,
with
a
rapid
instinct
that
had
often
done
her
good
service
in
the
management
of
a
niggard
destiny
.
The
valuable
mood
must
not
be
allowed
to
die
fruitless
.
The
elder
girl
's
defection
thus
became
,
to
the
mother
,
a
sort
of
investment
,
bearing
interest
of
docility
in
the
younger
.
Because
the
heartless
Algitha
had
left
home
,
it
seemed
to
Mrs.
Fullerton
that
the
very
least
that
Hadria
could
do
,
was
to
carry
out
her
mother
's
lightest
wish
.
And
so
the
weeks
went
by
,
in
dreary
,
troublous
fashion
,
cut
into
a
hundred
little
barren
segments
.
The
mind
had
no
space
,
or
stretch
,
or
solitude
.
It
was
incessantly
harassed
,
and
its
impetus
was
perpetually
checked
.
But
Hadria
hoped
on
.
This
could
not
last
for
ever
.
Some
day
,
doubtless
,
if
she
sank
not
in
spirit
,
the
stars
and
the
kingdoms
would
come
.
Meanwhile
,
the
position
of
affairs
was
decidedly
ridiculous
.
She
was
here
as
the
family
consolation
,
and
nobody
seemed
to
be
consoled
!
Her
efforts
had
been
sincere
and
even
enthusiastic
,
but
the
boys
only
laughed
at
her
,
in
this
rôle
,
and
nobody
was
apparently
in
the
least
gratified
(
except
those
imps
of
boys
!
)
.
For
a
long
time
,
Mrs.
Fullerton
seemed
to
be
oblivious
of
her
daughter
's
efforts
,
but
one
day
,
when
they
had
been
talking
about
Algitha
,
the
mother
said
:
“
Your
father
and
I
now
look
to
you
,
Hadria
.
I
do
think
that
you
are
beginning
to
feel
a
little
what
your
duty
is
.
If
you
also
were
to
turn
deserter
in
our
old
age
,
I
think
it
would
kill
us
.
”
Hadria
felt
a
thrill
of
horror
.
The
network
of
Fate
seemed
to
be
fast
closing
round
her
.
The
temporary
was
to
become
fixed
.
She
must
act
all
her
days
according
to
the
conviction
of
others
,
or
her
parents
would
die
of
grief
!
When
she
went
to
the
hills
that
afternoon
,
she
felt
as
if
she
must
walk
on
and
on
into
the
dreamy
distance
,
away
from
all
these
toils
and
claims
,
away
into
the
unknown
world
and
never
return
.
But
,
alas
!
the
night
descended
and
return
she
must
.
These
wild
impulses
could
never
be
followed
.
The
day
had
been
peculiarly
harassing
and
cut
up
;
some
neighbours
had
been
to
afternoon
tea
and
tennis
,
and
the
sight
of
their
faces
and
the
sound
of
their
talk
had
caused
,
in
Hadria
,
an
unutterable
depression
.
The
light
,
conventional
phrases
rang
in
her
ears
still
,
the
expression
of
the
faces
haunted
her
,
and
into
her
heart
crept
a
chill
that
benumbed
every
wish
and
hope
and
faith
that
she
had
ever
cherished
.
She
sat
up
late
into
the
night
.
Since
freedom
and
solitude
could
not
be
had
by
day
,
the
nights
were
often
her
sole
opportunity
.
At
such
times
she
would
work
out
her
musical
ideas
,
which
in
the
dead
silence
of
the
house
were
brought
forth
plentifully
.
These
,
from
her
point
of
view
,
were
the
fruitful
hours
of
the
twenty-four
.
Thoughts
would
throng
the
darkness
like
swarms
of
living
things
.
Hadria
's
mood
found
expression
to-night
in
a
singular
and
most
melancholy
composition
.
She
called
it
Futility
.
It
was
unlike
anything
that
she
had
ever
done
before
,
and
she
felt
that
it
shewed
an
access
of
musical
power
.
She
dreamt
an
absurd
dream
:
That
she
was
herself
one
of
those
girls
with
the
high
pattering
accents
,
playing
tennis
without
ceasing
and
with
apparent
cheerfulness
;
talking
just
as
they
had
talked
,
and
about
just
the
same
things
;
and
all
the
time
,
a
vast
circle
of
shadowy
forms
stood
watching
,
beckoning
,
and
exhorting
and
warning
,
and
turning
away
,
at
last
,
in
sorrowful
contempt
,
because
she
preferred
to
spend
her
youth
eternally
in
futilities
.
And
then
they
all
slowly
drifted
by
with
sad
eyes
fixed
on
her
,
and
she
was
still
left
playing
,
playing
.
And
it
seemed
as
if
whole
weeks
passed
in
that
way
,
and
she
grew
mortally
tired
,
but
some
power
prevented
her
from
resting
.
The
evil
spell
held
her
enthralled
.
Always
cheerful
,
always
polite
and
agreeable
,
she
continued
her
task
,
finding
herself
growing
accustomed
to
it
at
last
,
and
duly
resigned
to
the
necessity
,
wearisome
though
it
was
.
Then
all
hope
that
the
game
would
ever
cease
went
away
,
and
she
played
on
,
mechanically
,
but
always
with
that
same
polite
cheerfulness
,
as
of
afternoon
calls
.
She
would
not
for
the
world
admit
that
she
was
tired
.
But
she
was
so
tired
that
existence
became
a
torture
to
her
,
and
her
heart
seemed
about
to
break
with
the
intolerable
strain
—
when
she
woke
up
with
a
start
,
and
found
herself
lying
in
a
constrained
attitude
,
half-choked
by
the
bed-clothes
.
She
did
not
see
the
comic
side
of
the
dream
till
next
morning
,
when
she
told
it
at
breakfast
for
the
benefit
of
the
family
.
As
Hadria
was
an
ardent
tennis-player
,
it
struck
her
brethren
as
a
particularly
inappropriate
form
of
nightmare
.
Hadria
,
at
this
time
,
went
frequently
with
her
father
on
his
farming
walks
,
as
he
liked
to
have
one
or
more
of
the
family
with
him
.
She
enjoyed
these
walks
,
for
Mr.
Fullerton
would
talk
about
philosophy
and
science
,
often
of
the
most
abstruse
and
entrancing
kind
.
His
children
were
devoted
to
him
.
During
these
expeditions
,
they
always
vied
with
one
another
to
ferret
out
the
most
absurd
story
to
tell
him
,
he
being
held
as
conqueror
who
made
their
father
laugh
most
heartily
.
Sometimes
they
all
went
in
a
body
,
armed
with
wild
stories
;
and
occasionally
,
across
the
open
fields
,
a
row
of
eccentric-looking
figures
might
be
seen
,
struggling
in
the
grip
of
hilarious
paroxysms
;
Mr.
Fullerton
doubled
up
in
the
middle
of
a
turnip-field
,
perhaps
,
with
his
family
in
contortions
round
him
.
The
air
of
the
hills
seemed
to
run
to
their
heads
,
like
wine
.
Roulades
of
laughter
,
hearty
guffaws
,
might
have
been
heard
for
surprising
distances
,
much
to
the
astonishment
of
the
sober
labourers
bending
over
their
toil
.
Ernest
had
to
go
back
to
college
;
Fred
and
Austin
to
school
.
The
house
seemed
very
quiet
and
sad
after
the
boys
left
,
and
Hadria
missed
her
sister
more
and
more
,
as
time
went
on
.
Algitha
wrote
most
happily
.
“
With
all
its
drawbacks
,
this
existence
of
hard
work
(
yet
not
too
hard
)
suits
me
exactly
.
It
uses
up
my
energies
;
yet
,
in
spite
of
the
really
busy
life
I
lead
,
I
literally
have
more
leisure
than
I
used
to
have
at
home
,
where
all
through
the
day
,
there
was
some
little
detail
to
be
attended
to
,
some
call
to
make
,
some
convention
to
offer
incense
to
,
some
prejudice
to
respect
.
Here
,
once
my
day
's
work
is
over
,
it
is
over
,
and
I
have
good
solid
hours
of
leisure
.
I
feel
that
I
have
earned
those
hours
when
they
come
;
also
that
I
have
earned
a
right
to
my
keep
,
as
Wilfred
Burton
,
the
socialist
,
puts
it
somewhat
crudely
.
When
I
go
to
bed
at
night
,
I
can
say
:
‘Because
of
me
,
this
day
,
heavy
hearts
have
been
made
a
little
lighter.’
I
hear
all
sorts
of
opinions
,
and
see
all
sorts
of
people
.
I
never
was
so
happy
in
my
life
.
”
It
was
Hadria
's
habit
still
to
take
solitary
rambles
over
the
country
.
A
passionate
lover
of
Nature
,
she
found
endless
pleasure
in
its
ever-changing
aspects
.
Yet
of
late
,
a
new
feeling
had
begun
to
mutter
angrily
within
her
:
a
resentment
against
these
familiar
sights
and
sounds
,
because
they
were
the
boundaries
of
her
horizon
.
She
hated
the
line
of
the
round
breezy
hills
where
the
row
of
fir-trees
stood
against
the
sky
,
because
that
was
the
edge
of
her
world
,
and
she
wanted
to
see
what
was
beyond
.
She
must
and
would
see
what
was
beyond
,
some
day
.
Her
hope
was
always
vague
;
for
if
she
dared
to
wonder
how
the
curtain
of
life
was
to
be
lifted
,
she
had
to
face
the
fact
that
there
was
no
reasonable
prospect
of
such
a
lifting
.
Still
,
the
utter
horror
of
living
on
always
,
in
this
fashion
,
seemed
to
prove
it
impossible
.
On
one
dim
afternoon
,
when
the
sun
was
descending
,
Hadria
's
solitary
figure
was
noticed
by
a
white-haired
lady
,
presumably
a
tourist
,
who
had
stopped
to
ask
a
question
of
some
farm
labourers
,
working
in
a
field
.
She
ceased
to
listen
to
the
information
,
on
the
subject
of
Dunaghee
,
that
was
given
to
her
in
a
broad
Scottish
dialect
.
The
whole
scene
,
which
an
instant
before
had
impressed
her
as
one
of
beauty
and
peace
,
suddenly
focussed
itself
round
the
dark
figure
,
and
grew
sinister
in
its
aspect
.
At
that
moment
,
nothing
would
have
persuaded
the
onlooker
that
the
hastening
figure
was
not
hastening
towards
misfortune
.
A
woman
of
impulse
,
she
set
off
in
purposeless
pursuit
.
Hadria
's
pace
was
very
rapid
;
she
was
trying
to
outrun
thought
.
It
was
impossible
to
live
without
hope
,
yet
hope
,
in
this
forlorn
land
,
was
growing
faint
and
tired
.
Her
pursuer
was
a
remarkable-looking
woman
,
no
longer
young
,
with
her
prematurely
white
hair
drawn
up
from
her
brow
with
a
proud
sweep
that
suited
well
her
sharply
defined
features
and
her
air
of
defiance
.
She
was
carelessly
dressed
after
the
prevailing
fashion
,
and
gave
the
impression
of
not
having
her
life
successfully
in
hand
,
but
rather
of
being
driven
by
it
,
as
by
a
blustering
wind
,
against
her
inclination
.
The
impression
which
had
seized
her
,
a
moment
ago
,
deepened
as
she
went
.
Something
in
the
scene
and
the
hastening
figure
roused
a
sense
of
dread
.
With
her
,
an
impression
was
like
a
spark
to
gunpowder
.
Her
imagination
blazed
up
.
Life
,
in
its
most
tragic
aspect
,
seemed
before
her
in
the
lonely
scene
,
with
the
lonely
figure
,
moving
,
as
if
in
pursuit
of
a
lost
hope
,
towards
the
setting
sun
.
If
Hadria
had
not
paused
on
the
brow
of
the
hill
,
it
is
unlikely
that
she
would
have
been
overtaken
,
but
that
pause
decided
the
matter
.
The
stranger
seemed
suddenly
to
hesitate
,
wondering
,
apparently
,
what
she
had
done
this
eccentric
thing
for
.
Hadria
,
feeling
a
presence
behind
her
,
turned
nervously
round
and
gave
a
slight
start
.
It
was
so
rare
to
meet
anybody
on
these
lonely
hills
,
that
the
apparition
of
a
striking-looking
woman
with
white
hair
,
dark
eyes
,
and
a
strange
exalted
sort
of
expression
,
gave
a
shock
of
surprise
.
As
the
lady
had
stopped
short
,
Hadria
supposed
that
she
had
lost
her
way
,
and
wished
to
make
some
enquiries
.
“
Can
I
direct
you
,
or
give
you
any
assistance
?
”
she
asked
,
after
a
second
's
pause
.
“
Oh
,
thank
you
,
you
are
very
kind
.
I
have
come
over
from
Ballochcoil
to
explore
the
country
.
I
have
been
trying
to
find
out
the
history
of
the
old
houses
of
the
district
.
Could
you
tell
me
,
by
the
way
,
anything
about
that
house
with
the
square
tower
at
the
end
;
I
have
been
loitering
round
it
half
the
afternoon
.
And
I
would
have
given
anything
to
know
its
history
,
and
what
it
is
like
inside
.
”
“
Well
,
I
can
help
you
there
,
for
that
old
house
is
my
home
.
If
you
have
time
to
come
with
me
now
,
I
will
show
you
all
over
it
,
”
said
Hadria
,
impulsively
.
“
That
is
too
tempting
an
offer
.
And
yet
I
really
do
n't
like
to
intrude
in
this
way
.
I
am
a
perfect
stranger
to
you
and
—
your
parents
I
suppose
?
”
“
They
will
be
delighted
,
”
Hadria
assured
her
new
acquaintance
,
somewhat
imprudently
.
“
Well
,
I
ca
n't
resist
the
temptation
,
”
said
the
latter
,
and
they
walked
on
together
.
Hadria
related
what
she
knew
about
the
history
of
the
house
.
Very
scanty
records
had
survived
.
It
had
obviously
been
one
of
the
old
Scottish
strongholds
,
built
in
the
lawless
days
when
the
country
was
plunged
in
feuds
and
chieftains
lived
on
plunder
.
A
few
traditions
lingered
about
it
:
among
them
that
of
a
chief
who
had
carried
off
,
by
force
,
the
daughter
of
his
bitterest
enemy
,
in
revenge
for
some
deed
of
treachery
.
He
had
tortured
her
with
insolent
courtship
,
and
then
starved
her
to
death
in
a
garret
in
the
tower
,
while
her
father
and
his
followers
assaulted
its
thick
walls
in
vain
.
“
The
tradition
is
,
that
on
stormy
nights
one
can
still
hear
the
sound
of
the
attack
,
the
shouts
of
the
men
and
the
father
's
imprecations
.
”
“
A
horrible
story
!
”
“
When
people
say
the
world
has
not
progressed
,
I
always
think
of
that
story
,
and
remember
that
such
crimes
were
common
in
those
days
,
”
Hadria
remarked
.
“
I
doubt
if
we
are
really
less
ferocious
to-day
,
”
the
other
said
;
“
our
ferocity
is
directed
against
the
weakest
,
now
as
then
,
but
there
are
happily
not
so
many
weak
,
so
we
get
the
credit
of
being
juster
,
without
expense
.
As
a
matter
of
fact
,
our
opportunities
are
less
,
and
so
we
make
a
virtue
of
necessity
—
with
a
vengeance
!
”
Hadria
looked
at
her
companion
with
startled
interest
.
“
Will
you
tell
me
to
whom
I
have
the
pleasure
of
speaking
?
”
the
lady
asked
.
“
My
name
is
Fullerton
—
Hadria
Fullerton
.
”
“
Thank
you
.
And
here
is
my
card
,
at
least
I
think
it
is
.
Oh
,
no
,
that
is
a
friend
's
card
!
How
very
tiresome
!
I
am
reduced
to
pronouncing
my
own
name
—
Miss
Du
Prel
,
Valeria
Du
Prel
;
you
may
know
it
.
”
Hadria
came
to
a
sudden
standstill
.
She
might
know
it
!
she
might
indeed
.
Valeria
Du
Prel
had
long
been
to
her
a
name
to
swear
by
.
“
Miss
Du
Prel
!
Is
that
—
are
you
—
may
I
ask
,
are
you
the
writer
of
those
wonderful
books
?
”
Miss
Du
Prel
gave
a
gratified
smile
.
“
I
am
glad
they
please
you
.
”
“
Ah
!
if
you
could
guess
how
I
have
longed
to
know
you
.
I
simply
ca
n't
believe
it
.
”
“
And
so
my
work
has
really
given
you
pleasure
?
”
“
Pleasure
!
It
has
given
me
hope
,
it
has
given
me
courage
,
it
has
given
me
faith
in
all
that
is
worth
living
for
.
It
was
an
epoch
in
my
life
when
I
first
read
your
Parthena
.
”
Miss
Du
Prel
seemed
so
genuinely
pleased
by
this
enthusiasm
that
Hadria
was
surprised
.
“
I
have
plenty
of
compliments
,
but
very
seldom
a
word
that
makes
me
feel
that
I
have
spoken
to
the
heart
.
I
feel
as
if
I
had
called
in
the
darkness
and
had
no
response
,
or
like
one
who
has
cried
from
the
house-tops
to
a
city
of
the
dead
.
”
“
And
I
so
often
thought
of
writing
to
you
,
but
did
not
like
to
intrude
,
”
cried
Hadria
.
“
Ah
!
if
you
only
had
written
to
me
!
”
Miss
Du
Prel
exclaimed
.
Hadria
gazed
incredulously
at
the
familiar
scene
,
as
they
approached
the
back
of
the
house
,
with
its
round
tower
and
its
confusion
of
picturesque
,
lichen-covered
roofs
.
An
irregular
circle
of
stately
trees
stood
as
sentinels
round
the
stronghold
.
After
all
,
something
did
happen
,
once
in
a
while
,
in
this
remote
corner
of
the
universe
,
whose
name
,
Hadria
used
to
think
,
had
been
erased
from
the
book
of
Destiny
.
She
was
perhaps
vaguely
disappointed
to
find
that
the
author
of
Parthena
wore
ordinary
human
serge
,
and
a
cape
cut
after
the
fashion
of
any
other
person
's
cape
.
Still
,
she
had
no
idea
what
supersensuous
material
she
could
reasonably
have
demanded
of
her
heroine
(
unless
it
were
the
mythic
“
bombazine
”
that
Ernest
used
to
talk
about
,
in
his
ignorant
efforts
to
describe
female
apparel
)
,
or
what
transcendental
form
of
cape
would
have
satisfied
her
imagination
.
“
You
have
a
lovely
home
,
”
said
Valeria
Du
Prel
,
“
you
must
be
very
happy
here
.
”
“
Would
you
be
happy
here
?
”
“
Well
,
of
course
that
would
depend
.
I
am
,
I
fear
,
too
roving
by
nature
to
care
to
stay
long
in
one
place
.
Still
I
envy
girls
their
home-life
in
the
country
;
it
is
so
healthy
and
free
.
”
Hadria
,
without
answering
,
led
her
companion
round
the
flank
of
the
tower
,
and
up
to
the
front
door
.
It
was
situated
in
the
angle
of
the
wings
,
a
sheltered
nook
,
hospitably
careful
of
the
guest
,
whom
the
winds
of
the
uplands
were
disposed
to
treat
but
roughly
.
Hadria
and
her
companion
entered
a
little
panelled
hall
,
whence
a
flight
of
broad
stairs
with
stout
wooden
balusters
,
of
quaint
design
,
led
to
the
first
floor
.
The
visitor
was
charmed
with
the
quiet
old
rooms
,
especially
with
Hadria
's
bedroom
in
the
tower
,
whose
windows
were
so
deep-set
that
they
had
to
be
approached
through
a
little
tunnel
cut
out
of
the
thickness
of
the
wall
.
The
windows
looked
on
to
the
orchard
at
the
back
,
and
in
front
over
the
hills
.
Miss
Du
Prel
was
taken
to
see
the
scene
of
the
tragedy
,
and
the
meeting-room
of
the
Preposterous
Society
.
“
You
must
see
the
drawing-room
,
”
said
Hadria
.
She
opened
a
door
as
she
spoke
,
and
ushered
her
visitor
into
a
large
,
finely-proportioned
room
with
three
tall
windows
of
stately
form
,
divided
into
oblong
panes
,
against
which
vagrant
sprays
of
ivy
were
gently
tapping
.
This
room
was
also
panelled
with
painted
wood
;
its
character
was
quiet
and
stately
and
reposeful
.
Yet
one
felt
that
many
human
lives
had
been
lived
in
it
.
It
was
full
of
the
sentiment
of
the
past
,
from
the
old
prints
and
portraits
on
the
walls
,
to
the
delicate
outlines
of
the
wooden
mantel-piece
,
with
its
finely
wrought
urns
and
garlands
.
Before
this
mantel-piece
,
with
the
firelight
flickering
in
her
face
,
sat
Mrs.
Fullerton
,
working
at
a
large
piece
of
embroidery
.
For
the
first
time
,
Hadria
hesitated
.
“
Mother
,
”
she
said
,
“
this
is
Miss
Du
Prel
.
We
met
out
on
the
hills
this
afternoon
,
and
I
have
brought
her
home
to
see
the
house
,
which
she
admires
very
much
.
”
Mrs.
Fullerton
had
looked
up
in
astonishment
,
at
this
incursion
into
her
very
sanctuary
,
of
a
stranger
met
at
haphazard
on
the
hills
.
Hadria
wheeled
up
an
easy-chair
for
the
visitor
.
“
I
fear
Miss
Du
Prel
will
not
find
much
to
see
in
the
old
house
,
”
said
Mrs.
Fullerton
,
whose
manner
had
grown
rigid
,
partly
because
she
was
shy
,
partly
because
she
was
annoyed
with
Hadria
for
her
impulsive
conduct
,
and
largely
because
she
disliked
the
idea
of
a
literary
acquaintance
for
her
daughter
,
who
was
quite
extraordinary
enough
as
it
was
.
“
We
have
been
all
over
the
house
,
”
said
Hadria
hastily
,
with
an
anxious
glance
at
Miss
Du
Prel
,
whom
she
half
expected
to
rise
and
walk
out
of
the
room
.
It
must
surely
be
the
first
time
in
her
life
that
her
presence
had
not
been
received
as
an
honour
!
”
“
It
is
all
very
old
and
shabby
,
”
said
Mrs.
Fullerton
.
“
I
hope
you
will
take
some
tea
;
if
you
have
walked
far
to-day
,
you
must
be
cold
and
in
need
of
something
to
eat
.
”
“
Oh
no
,
no
,
thank
you
,
”
returned
the
visitor
;
“
I
ought
to
be
getting
back
to
Ballochcoil
to-night
.
”
“
To
Ballochcoil
!
”
exclaimed
mother
and
daughter
in
simultaneous
dismay
.
“
But
it
is
nearly
seven
miles
off
,
and
the
sun
is
down
.
You
ca
n't
get
back
to-night
on
foot
.
”
“
Dear
me
,
can
I
not
?
I
suppose
I
forgot
all
about
getting
back
,
in
the
interest
of
the
scenery
.
”
“
What
an
extraordinary
person
!
”
thought
Mrs.
Fullerton
.
Miss
Du
Prel
glanced
helplessly
at
Hadria
;
rising
then
and
looking
out
of
the
window
at
the
dusk
,
which
had
come
on
so
rapidly
.
“
Dear
me
,
how
dark
it
has
grown
!
Still
I
think
I
can
walk
it
,
or
perhaps
I
can
get
a
fly
at
some
inn
on
the
way
.
”
“
Can
we
offer
you
a
carriage
?
”
asked
Mrs.
Fullerton
.
“
Oh
no
,
thank
you
;
that
is
quite
unnecessary
.
I
have
already
intruded
far
too
long
;
I
shall
wend
my
way
back
,
or
what
might
perhaps
be
better
,
I
could
get
a
lodging
at
the
farmhouse
down
the
road
.
I
am
told
that
they
put
travellers
up
sometimes
.
”
Miss
Du
Prel
hurried
off
,
evidently
chilled
by
Mrs.
Fullerton
's
freezing
courtesy
.
Hadria
,
disregarding
her
mother
's
glance
of
admonition
,
accompanied
the
visitor
to
the
farm
of
Craw
Gill
,
having
first
given
directions
to
old
Maggie
to
put
together
a
few
things
that
Miss
Du
Prel
would
require
for
the
night
.
Hadria
's
popularity
at
the
farm
,
secured
her
new
friend
a
welcome
.
Mrs.
McEwen
was
a
fine
example
of
the
best
type
of
Scottish
character
;
warm
of
heart
,
honest
of
purpose
,
and
full
of
a
certain
unconscious
poetry
,
and
a
dignity
that
lingers
still
in
districts
where
the
railway
whistle
is
not
too
often
heard
.
Miss
Du
Prel
seemed
to
nestle
up
to
the
good
woman
,
as
a
child
to
its
mother
after
some
scaring
adventure
.
Mrs.
McEwen
was
recommending
a
hot
water-bottle
and
gruel
in
case
of
a
chill
,
when
Hadria
wended
her
way
homeward
to
brave
her
mother
's
wrath
.
CHAPTER
VI
.
“
I
CANNOT
make
you
realize
that
you
are
an
ignorant
girl
who
knows
nothing
of
the
world
,
and
that
it
is
necessary
you
should
accept
my
experience
,
and
condescend
to
be
guided
by
my
wishes
.
You
put
me
in
a
most
unpleasant
position
this
afternoon
,
forcing
me
to
receive
a
person
whom
I
have
never
been
introduced
to
,
or
heard
of
—
”
“
Valeria
Du
Prel
has
been
heard
of
throughout
the
English-speaking
world
,
”
said
Hadria
rhetorically
.
“
So
much
the
worse
,
”
retorted
Mrs.
Fullerton
.
“
No
nicely
brought
up
woman
is
ever
heard
of
outside
her
own
circle
.
”
Hadria
recalled
a
similar
sentiment
among
the
ancient
Greeks
,
and
thought
how
hard
an
old
idea
dies
.
“
She
might
have
been
some
awful
person
,
some
unprincipled
adventuress
,
and
that
I
believe
is
what
she
is
.
What
was
she
prowling
about
the
back
of
our
house
for
,
I
should
like
to
know
?
”
“
I
suspect
she
wanted
to
steal
chickens
or
something
,
”
Hadria
was
goaded
into
suggesting
,
and
the
interview
ended
painfully
.
When
Hadria
went
to
Craw
Gill
,
next
morning
,
to
enquire
for
Miss
Du
Prel
,
Mrs.
McEwen
said
that
the
visitor
had
breakfasted
in
bed
.
The
farmer
's
wife
also
informed
Miss
Fullerton
that
the
lady
had
decided
to
stay
on
at
Craw
Gill
,
for
some
time
.
She
had
been
looking
out
for
a
retreat
of
the
kind
.
“
She
seems
a
nice-like
body
,
”
said
Mrs.
McEwen
,
“
and
I
see
no
objection
to
the
arrangement
.
”
Hadria
's
heart
beat
faster
.
Could
it
be
possible
that
Valeria
Du
Prel
was
to
be
a
near
neighbour
?
It
seemed
too
good
to
be
true
!
When
Miss
Du
Prel
came
down
in
her
walking
garments
,
she
greeted
Hadria
with
a
certain
absence
of
mind
,
which
smote
chill
upon
the
girl
's
eagerness
.
“
I
wanted
to
know
if
you
were
comfortable
,
if
I
could
do
anything
for
you
.
”
Miss
Du
Prel
woke
up
.
“
Oh
no
,
thank
you
;
you
are
very
kind
.
I
am
most
comfortable
—
at
least
—
it
is
very
strange
,
but
I
have
lost
my
keys
and
my
umbrella
and
my
hand-bag-I
ca
n't
think
what
I
can
have
done
with
them
.
Oh
,
and
my
purse
is
gone
too
”
Thereupon
Mrs.
McEwen
in
dismay
,
Mr.
McEwen
(
who
then
appeared
)
,
the
maid
,
and
Hadria
,
hunted
high
and
low
for
the
missing
properties
,
which
were
brought
to
light
,
one
by
one
,
in
places
where
their
owner
had
already
thoroughly
searched
,
”
and
about
which
she
had
long
since
abandoned
hope
.
She
received
them
with
mingled
joy
and
amazement
,
and
having
responded
to
Mrs.
McEwen
's
questions
as
to
what
she
would
like
for
dinner
,
she
proposed
to
Hadria
that
they
should
take
a
walk
together
.
Hadria
beamed
.
Miss
Du
Prel
seemed
both
amused
and
gratified
by
her
companion
's
worship
,
and
the
talk
ran
on
,
in
a
light
and
pleasant
vein
,
differing
from
the
talk
of
the
ordinary
mortal
,
Hadria
considered
,
as
champagne
differs
from
ditch-water
.
In
recording
it
for
Algitha
's
benefit
that
evening
,
Hadria
found
that
she
could
not
reproduce
the
exhilarating
quality
,
or
describe
the
influence
of
Miss
Du
Prel
's
personality
.
It
was
as
if
,
literally
,
a
private
and
particular
atmosphere
had
encompassed
her
.
She
was
“
alive
all
round
,
”
as
her
disciple
asserted
.
Her
love
of
Nature
was
intense
.
Hadria
