,in
judging
of
the
behaviour
that
would
best
secure
his
dignity
.
Everything
requiring
self-command
was
easier
to
him
because
of
Esther
's
presence
;
for
her
admiration
was
just
then
the
object
which
this
well-tanned
man
of
the
world
had
it
most
at
heart
to
secure
.
When
he
entered
the
witness-box
he
was
much
admired
by
the
ladies
amongst
the
audience
,
many
of
whom
sighed
a
little
at
the
thought
of
his
wrong
course
in
politics
.
He
certainly
looked
like
a
handsome
portrait
by
Sir
Thomas
Lawrence
,
in
which
that
remarkable
artist
had
happily
omitted
the
usual
excess
of
honeyed
blandness
mixed
with
alert
intelligence
,
which
is
hardly
compatible
with
the
state
of
man
out
of
paradise
.
He
stood
not
far
off
Felix
;
and
the
two
Radicals
certainly
made
a
striking
contrast
.
Felix
might
have
come
from
the
hands
of
a
sculptor
in
the
later
Roman
period
,
when
the
plastic
impulse
was
stirred
by
the
grandeur
of
barbaric
forms
—
when
rolled
collars
were
not
yet
conceived
,
and
satin
stocks
were
not
.
Harold
Transome
declared
that
he
had
had
only
one
interview
with
the
prisoner
:
it
was
the
interview
referred
to
by
the
previous
witness
,
in
whose
presence
and
in
whose
house
it
was
begun
.
The
interview
,
however
,
was
continued
beyond
the
observation
of
Mr
Lyon
.
The
prisoner
and
himself
quitted
the
Dissenting
minister
's
house
in
Malthouse
Yard
together
,
and
proceeded
to
the
office
of
Mr
Jermyn
,
who
was
then
conducting
electioneering
business
on
his
behalf
.
His
object
was
to
comply
with
Holt
's
remonstrance
by
inquiring
into
the
alleged
proceedings
at
Sproxton
,
and
,
if
possible
,
to
put
a
stop
to
them
.
Holt
's
language
,
both
in
Malthouse
Yard
and
in
the
attorney
's
office
,
was
strong
:
he
was
evidently
indignant
,
and
his
indignation
turned
on
the
danger
of
employing
ignorant
men
excited
by
drink
on
an
occasion
of
popular
concourse
.
He
believed
that
Holt
's
sole
motive
was
the
prevention
of
disorder
,
and
what
he
considered
the
demoralisation
of
the
workmen
by
treating
.
The
event
had
certainly
justified
his
remonstrances
.
He
had
not
had
any
subsequent
opportunities
of
observing
the
prisoner
;
but
if
any
reliance
was
to
be
placed
on
a
rational
conclusion
,
it
must
,
he
thought
,
be
plain
that
the
anxiety
thus
manifested
by
Holt
was
a
guarantee
of
the
statement
he
had
made
as
to
his
motives
on
the
day
of
the
riot
.
His
entire
impression
from
Holt
's
manner
in
that
single
interview
was
,
that
he
was
a
moral
and
political
enthusiast
,
who
,
if
he
sought
to
coerce
others
,
would
seek
to
coerce
them
into
a
difficult
,
and
perhaps
impracticable
,
scrupulosity
.
Harold
spoke
with
as
noticeable
a
directness
and
emphasis
,
as
if
what
he
said
could
have
no
reaction
on
himself
.
He
had
of
course
not
entered
unnecessarily
into
what
occurred
in
Jermyn
's
office
.
But
now
he
was
subjected
to
a
cross-examination
on
this
subject
,
which
gave
rise
to
some
subdued
shrugs
,
smiles
,
and
winks
,
among
county
gentlemen
.
The
questions
were
directed
so
as
to
bring
out
,
if
possible
,
some
indication
that
Felix
Holt
was
moved
to
his
remonstrance
by
personal
resentment
against
the
political
agents
concerned
in
setting
on
foot
the
treating
at
Sproxton
,
but
such
questioning
is
a
sort
of
target-shooting
that
sometimes
hits
about
widely
.
The
cross-examining
counsel
had
close
connections
among
the
Tories
of
Loamshire
,
and
enjoyed
his
business
to-day
.
Under
the
fire
of
various
questions
about
Jermyn
and
the
agent
employed
by
him
at
Sproxton
,
Harold
got
warm
,
and
in
one
of
his
replies
said
,
with
his
rapid
sharpness
,
"
Mr
Jermyn
was
my
agent
then
,
not
now
:
I
have
no
longer
any
but
hostile
relations
with
him
.
"
The
sense
that
he
had
shown
a
slight
heat
would
have
vexed
Harold
more
if
he
had
not
got
some
satisfaction
out
of
the
thought
that
Jermyn
heard
those
words
.
He
recovered
his
good
temper
quickly
,
and
when
,
subsequently
,
the
question
came
,
"
You
acquiesced
in
the
treating
of
the
Sproxton
men
,
as
necesary
to
the
efficient
working
of
the
reformed
constituency
?
"
Harold
replied
,
with
quiet
fluency
,
"
Yes
;
on
my
return
to
England
,
before
I
put
up
for
North
Loamshire
,
I
got
the
best
advice
from
practised
agents
,
both
Whig
and
Tory
.
They
all
agreed
as
to
electioneering
measures
.
"
The
next
witness
was
Michael
Brincey
,
otherwise
Mike
Brindle
,
who
gave
evidence
of
the
sayings
and
doings
of
the
prisoner
amongst
the
Sproxton
men
.
Mike
declared
the
Felix
went
"
uncommon
again
'
drink
,
and
pitch-and-toss
,
and
quarrelling
,
and
sich
,
"
and
was
"
all
for
schooling
and
bringing
up
the
little
chaps
;
"
but
on
being
cross-examined
,
he
admitted
that
he
"
could
n't
give
much
account
;
"
that
Felix
did
talk
again'idle
folks
,
whether
poor
or
rich
,
and
that
most
like
he
meant
the
rich
,
who
had
"
a
rights
to
be
idle
,
"
which
was
what
he
,
Mike
,
liked
himself
sometimes
,
though
for
the
most
part
he
was
"
a
hard-working
butty
.
"
On
being
checked
for
this
superfluous
allegation
of
his
own
theory
and
practice
,
Mike
became
timidly
conscious
that
answering
was
a
great
mystery
beyond
the
reaches
of
a
butty
's
soul
,
and
began
to
err
from
defect
instead
of
excess
.
However
,
he
reasserted
that
what
Felix
most
wanted
was
,
"
to
get
'
em
to
set
up
a
school
for
the
little
chaps
.
"
With
the
two
succeeding
witnesses
,
who
swore
to
the
fact
that
Felix
had
tried
to
lead
the
mob
along
Hobb
's
Lane
instead
of
towards
the
Manor
,
and
to
the
violently
threatening
character
of
Tucker
's
attack
on
him
,
the
case
for
the
defence
was
understood
to
close
.
Meanwhile
Esther
had
been
looking
on
and
listening
with
growing
misery
,
in
the
sense
that
all
had
not
been
said
which
might
have
been
said
on
behalf
of
Felix
.
If
it
was
the
jury
who
were
to
be
acted
on
,
she
argued
to
herself
,
there
might
have
been
an
impression
made
on
their
feeling
which
would
determine
their
verdict
.
Was
it
not
constantly
said
and
seen
that
juries
pronounced
Guilty
or
Not
Guilty
from
sympathy
for
or
against
the
accused
?
She
was
too
inexperienced
to
check
her
own
argument
by
thoroughly
representing
to
herself
the
course
of
things
:
how
the
counsel
for
the
prosecution
would
reply
,
and
how
the
judge
would
sum
up
,
with
the
object
of
cooling
down
sympathy
into
deliberation
.
What
she
had
painfully
pressing
on
her
inward
vision
was
,
that
the
trial
was
coming
to
an
end
,
and
that
the
voice
of
right
and
truth
had
not
been
strong
enough
.
When
a
woman
feels
purely
and
nobly
,
that
ardour
of
hers
which
breaks
through
formulas
too
rigorously
urged
on
men
by
daily
practical
needs
,
makes
one
of
her
most
precious
influences
:
she
is
the
added
impulse
that
shatters
the
stiffening
crust
of
cautious
experience
.
Her
inspired
ignorance
gives
a
sublimity
to
actions
so
incongruously
simple
,
that
otherwise
they
would
make
men
smile
.
Some
of
that
ardour
which
has
flashed
out
and
illuminated
all
poetry
and
history
was
burning
to-day
in
the
bosom
of
sweet
Esther
Lyon
.
In
this
,
at
least
,
her
woman
's
lot
was
perfect
:
that
the
man
she
loved
was
her
hero
;
that
her
woman
's
passion
and
her
reverence
for
rarest
goodness
rushed
together
in
an
undivided
current
.
And
to-day
they
were
making
one
danger
,
one
terror
,
one
irresistible
impulse
for
her
heart
.
Her
feelings
were
growing
into
a
necessity
for
action
,
rather
than
a
resolve
to
act
.
She
could
not
support
the
thought
that
the
trial
would
come
to
an
end
,
that
sentence
would
be
passed
on
Felix
,
and
that
all
the
while
something
had
been
omitted
which
might
have
been
said
for
him
.
There
had
been
no
witness
to
tell
what
had
been
his
behaviour
and
state
of
mind
just
before
the
riot
.
She
must
do
it
.
It
was
possible
.
There
was
time
.
But
not
too
much
time
.
All
other
agitation
became
merged
in
eagerness
not
to
let
the
moment
escape
.
The
last
witness
was
being
called
.
Harold
Transome
had
not
been
able
to
get
back
to
her
on
leaving
the
witness-box
,
but
Mr
Lingon
was
close
by
her
.
With
firm
quickness
she
said
to
him
—
"
Pray
tell
the
attorney
that
I
have
evidence
to
give
for
the
prisoner
—
lose
no
time
.
"
"
Do
you
know
what
you
are
going
to
say
,
my
dear
?
"
said
Mr
Lingon
,
looking
at
her
in
astonishment
.
"
Yes
—
I
entreat
you
,
for
God
's
sake
,
"
said
Esther
,
in
that
low
tone
of
urgent
beseeching
which
is
equivalent
to
a
cry
;
and
with
a
look
of
appeal
more
penetrating
still
,
"
I
would
rather
die
than
not
do
it
.
"
The
old
Rector
,
always
leaning
to
the
good-natured
view
of
things
,
felt
chiefly
that
there
seemed
to
be
an
additional
chance
for
the
poor
fellow
who
had
got
himself
into
trouble
.
He
disputed
no
farther
,
but
went
to
the
attorney
.
Before
Harold
was
aware
of
Esther
's
intention
she
was
on
her
way
to
the
witness-box
.
When
she
appeared
there
,
it
was
as
if
a
vibration
,
quick
as
light
,
had
gone
through
the
Court
and
had
shaken
Felix
himself
,
who
had
hitherto
seemed
impassive
.
A
sort
of
gleam
seemed
to
shoot
across
his
face
,
and
any
one
close
to
him
could
have
seen
that
his
hand
,
which
lay
on
the
edge
of
the
dock
,
trembled
.
At
the
first
moment
Harold
was
startled
and
alarmed
;
the
next
,
he
felt
delight
in
Esther
's
beautiful
aspect
,
and
in
the
admiration
of
the
Court
.
There
was
no
blush
on
her
face
:
she
stood
,
divested
of
all
personal
considerations
whether
of
vanity
or
shyness
.
Her
clear
voice
sounded
as
it
might
have
done
if
she
had
been
making
a
confession
of
faith
.
She
began
and
went
on
without
query
or
interruption
.
Every
face
looked
grave
and
respectful
.
"
I
am
Esther
Lyon
,
the
daughter
of
Mr
Lyon
,
the
Independent
minister
at
Treby
,
who
has
been
one
of
the
witnesses
for
the
prisoner
.
I
know
Felix
Holt
well
.
On
the
day
of
the
election
at
Treby
,
when
I
had
been
much
alarmed
by
the
noises
that
reached
me
from
the
main
street
,
Felix
Holt
came
to
call
upon
me
.
He
knew
that
my
father
was
away
,
and
he
thought
that
I
should
be
alarmed
by
the
sounds
of
disturbance
.
It
was
about
the
middle
of
the
day
,
and
he
came
to
tell
me
that
the
disturbance
was
quieted
,
and
that
the
streets
were
nearly
emptied
.
But
he
said
he
feared
that
the
men
would
collect
again
after
drinking
,
and
that
something
worse
might
happen
later
in
the
day
.
And
he
was
in
much
sadness
at
this
thought
.
He
stayed
a
little
while
,
and
then
he
left
me
.
He
was
very
melancholy
.
His
mind
was
full
of
great
resolutions
that
came
from
his
kind
feeling
towards
others
.
It
was
the
last
thing
he
would
have
done
to
join
in
riot
or
to
hurt
any
man
,
if
he
could
have
helped
it
.
His
nature
is
very
noble
;
he
is
tender-hearted
;
he
could
never
have
had
any
intention
that
was
not
brave
and
good
.
"
There
was
something
so
naive
and
beautiful
in
this
action
of
Esther
's
,
that
it
conquered
every
low
or
petty
suggestion
even
in
the
commonest
minds
.
The
three
men
in
that
assembly
who
knew
her
best
—
even
her
father
and
Felix
Holt
—
felt
a
thrill
of
surprise
mingling
with
their
admiration
.
This
bright
,
delicate
,
beautiful-shaped
thing
that
seemed
most
like
a
toy
or
ornament
—
some
hand
had
touched
the
chords
,
and
there
came
forth
music
that
brought
tears
.
Half
a
year
before
,
Esther
's
dread
of
being
ridiculous
spread
over
the
surface
of
her
life
;
but
the
depth
below
was
sleeping
.
Harold
Transome
was
ready
to
give
her
his
hand
and
lead
her
back
to
her
place
.
When
she
was
there
,
Felix
,
for
the
first
time
,
could
not
help
looking
towards
her
,
and
their
eyes
met
in
one
solemn
glance
.
Afterwards
Esther
found
herself
unable
to
listen
so
as
to
form
any
judgment
on
what
she
heard
.
The
acting
out
of
that
strong
impulse
had
exhausted
her
energy
.
There
was
a
brief
pause
,
filled
with
a
murmur
,
a
buzz
,
and
much
coughing
.
The
audience
generally
felt
as
if
dull
weather
was
setting
in
again
.
And
under
those
auspices
the
counsel
for
the
prosecution
got
up
to
make
his
reply
.
Esther
's
deed
had
its
effect
beyond
the
momentary
one
,
but
the
effect
was
not
visible
in
the
rigid
necessities
of
legal
procedure
.
The
counsel
's
duty
of
restoring
all
unfavourable
facts
to
due
prominence
in
the
minds
of
the
jurors
,
had
its
effect
altogether
reinforced
by
the
summing-up
of
the
judge
.
Even
the
bare
discernment
of
facts
,
much
more
their
arrangement
with
a
view
to
inferences
,
must
carry
a
bias
:
human
impartiality
,
whether
judicial
or
not
,
can
hardly
escape
being
more
or
less
loaded
.
It
was
not
that
the
judge
had
severe
intentions
;
it
was
only
that
he
saw
with
severity
.
The
conduct
of
Felix
was
not
such
as
inclined
him
to
indulgent
consideration
,
and
,
in
his
directions
to
the
jury
,
that
mental
attitude
necessarily
told
on
the
light
in
which
he
placed
the
homicide
.
Even
to
many
in
the
Court
who
were
not
constrained
by
judicial
duty
,
it
seemed
that
though
this
high
regard
felt
for
the
prisoner
by
his
friends
,
and
especially
by
a
generous-hearted
woman
,
was
very
pretty
,
such
conduct
as
his
was
not
the
less
dangerous
and
foolish
,
and
assaulting
and
killing
a
constable
was
not
the
less
an
offence
to
be
regarded
without
leniency
.
Esther
seemed
now
so
tremulous
,
and
looked
so
ill
,
that
Harold
begged
her
to
leave
the
Court
with
his
mother
and
Mr
Lingon
.
He
would
come
and
tell
her
the
issue
.
But
she
said
,
quietly
,
that
she
would
rather
stay
;
she
was
only
a
little
overcome
by
the
exertion
of
speaking
.
She
was
inwardly
resolved
to
see
Felix
to
the
last
moment
before
he
left
the
Court
.
Though
she
could
not
follow
the
address
of
the
counsel
or
the
judge
,
she
had
a
keen
ear
for
what
was
brief
and
decisive
.
She
heard
the
verdict
,
"
Guilty
of
manslaughter
.
"
And
every
word
uttered
by
the
judge
in
pronouncing
sentence
fell
upon
her
like
an
unforgetable
sound
that
would
come
back
in
dreaming
and
in
waking
.
She
had
her
eyes
on
Felix
,
and
at
the
words
,
"
Imprisonment
for
four
years
,
"
she
saw
his
lip
tremble
.
But
otherwise
he
stood
firm
and
calm
.
Esther
gave
a
start
from
her
seat
.
Her
heart
swelled
with
a
horrible
sensation
of
pain
;
but
,
alarmed
lest
she
should
lose
her
self-command
,
she
grasped
Mrs
Transome
's
hand
,
getting
some
strength
from
that
human
contact
.
Esther
saw
that
Felix
had
turned
.
She
could
no
longer
see
his
face
.
"
Yes
,
"
she
said
,
drawing
down
her
veil
,
"
let
us
go
.
"
CHAPTER
XLVII
.
The
devil
tempts
us
not
—
'
tis
we
tempt
him
,
Beckoning
his
skill
with
opportunity
.
The
more
permanent
effect
of
Esther
's
action
in
the
trial
was
visible
in
a
meeting
which
took
place
the
next
day
in
the
principal
room
of
the
White
Hart
at
Loamford
.
To
the
magistrates
and
other
county
gentlemen
who
were
drawn
together
about
noon
,
some
of
the
necessary
impulse
might
have
been
lacking
but
for
that
stirring
of
heart
in
certain
just-spirited
men
and
good
fathers
among
them
,
which
had
been
raised
to
a
high
pitch
of
emotion
by
Esther
's
maidenly
fervour
.
Among
these
one
of
the
foremost
was
Sir
Maximus
Debarry
,
who
had
come
to
the
assizes
with
a
mind
,
as
usual
,
slightly
rebellious
under
an
influence
which
he
never
ultimately
resisted
—
the
influence
of
his
son
.
Philip
Debarry
himself
was
detained
in
London
,
but
in
his
correspondence
with
his
father
he
had
urged
him
,
as
well
as
his
uncle
Augustus
,
to
keep
eyes
and
interest
awake
on
the
subject
of
Felix
Holt
,
whom
,
from
all
the
knowledge
of
the
case
he
had
been
able
to
obtain
,
he
was
inclined
to
believe
peculiarly
unfortunate
rather
than
guilty
.
Philip
had
said
he
was
the
more
anxious
that
his
family
should
intervene
benevolently
in
this
affair
,
if
it
were
possible
,
because
he
understood
that
Mr
Lyon
took
the
young
man
's
case
particularly
to
heart
,
and
he
should
always
regard
himself
as
obliged
to
the
old
preacher
.
At
this
superfineness
of
consideration
Sir
Maximus
had
vented
a
few
"
pshaws
!
"
and
,
in
relation
to
the
whole
affair
,
had
grumbled
that
Phil
was
always
setting
him
to
do
he
did
n't
know
what
—
always
seeming
to
turn
nothing
into
something
by
dint
of
words
which
had
n't
so
much
substance
as
a
mote
behind
them
.
Nevertheless
he
was
coerced
;
and
in
reality
he
was
willing
to
do
anything
fair
or
good-natured
which
had
a
handle
that
his
understanding
could
lay
hold
of
.
His
brother
,
the
Rector
,
desired
to
be
rigorously
just
;
but
he
had
come
to
Loamford
with
a
severe
opinion
concerning
Felix
,
thinking
that
some
sharp
punishment
might
be
a
wholesome
check
on
the
career
of
a
young
man
disposed
to
rely
too
much
on
his
own
crude
devices
.
Before
the
trial
commenced
,
Sir
Maximus
had
naturally
been
one
of
those
who
had
observed
Esther
with
curiosity
,
owing
to
the
report
of
her
inheritance
,
and
her
probable
marriage
to
his
once
welcome
but
now
exasperating
neighbour
,
Harold
Transome
;
and
he
had
made
the
emphatic
comment
—
"
A
fine
girl
!
something
thoroughbred
in
the
look
of
her
.
Too
good
for
a
Radical
;
that
's
all
I
have
to
say
.
"
But
during
the
trial
Sir
Maximus
was
wrought
into
a
state
of
sympathetic
ardour
that
needed
no
fanning
.
As
soon
as
he
could
take
his
brother
by
the
buttonhole
,
he
said
,
"
I
tell
you
what
,
Gus
!
we
must
exert
ourselves
to
get
a
pardon
for
this
young
fellow
.
Confound
it
!
what
's
the
use
of
mewing
him
up
for
four
years
?
Example
?
Nonsense
.
Will
there
be
a
man
knocked
down
the
less
for
it
?
That
girl
made
me
cry
.
Depend
upon
it
,
whether
she
's
going
to
marry
Transome
or
not
,
she
's
been
fond
of
Holt
—
in
her
poverty
,
you
know
.
She
's
a
modest
,
brave
,
beautiful
woman
.
I
'd
ride
a
steeplechase
,
old
as
I
am
,
to
gratify
her
feelings
.
Hang
it
!
the
fellow
's
a
good
fellow
if
she
thinks
so
.
And
he
threw
out
a
fine
sneer
,
I
thought
,
at
the
Radical
candidate
.
Depend
upon
it
,
he
's
a
good
fellow
at
bottom
.
"
The
Rector
had
not
exactly
the
same
kind
of
ardour
,
nor
was
he
open
to
precisely
that
process
of
proof
which
appeared
to
have
convinced
Sir
Maximus
;
but
he
had
been
so
far
influenced
as
to
be
inclined
to
unite
in
an
effort
on
the
side
of
mercy
,
observing
,
also
,
that
he
"
knew
Phil
would
be
on
that
side
.
"
And
by
the
co-operation
of
similar
movements
in
the
minds
of
other
men
whose
names
were
of
weight
,
a
meeting
had
been
determined
on
to
consult
about
getting
up
a
memorial
to
the
Home
Secretary
on
behalf
of
Felix
Holt
.
His
case
had
never
had
the
sort
of
significance
that
could
rouse
political
partisanship
;
and
such
interest
as
was
now
felt
in
him
was
still
more
unmixed
with
that
inducement
.
The
gentlemen
who
gathered
in
the
room
at
the
White
Hart
were
—
not
as
the
large
imagination
of
the
North
Loamshire
Herald
suggested
,
"
of
all
shades
of
political
opinion
,
"
but
—
of
as
many
shades
as
were
to
be
found
among
the
gentlemen
of
that
county
.
Harold
Transome
had
been
energetically
active
in
bringing
about
this
meeting
.
Over
and
above
the
stings
of
conscience
and
a
determination
to
act
up
to
the
level
of
all
recognised
honourableness
,
he
had
the
powerful
motive
of
desiring
to
do
what
would
satisfy
Esther
.
His
gradually
heightened
perception
that
she
had
a
strong
feeling
towards
Felix
Holt
had
not
made
him
uneasy
.
Harold
had
a
conviction
that
might
have
seemed
like
fatuity
if
it
had
not
been
that
he
saw
the
effect
he
produced
on
Esther
by
the
light
of
his
opinions
about
women
in
general
.
The
conviction
was
,
that
Felix
Holt
could
not
be
his
rival
in
any
formidable
sense
:
Esther
's
admiration
for
this
eccentric
young
man
was
,
he
thought
,
a
moral
enthusiasm
,
a
romantic
fervour
,
which
was
one
among
those
many
attractions
quite
novel
in
his
own
experience
;
her
distress
about
the
trouble
of
one
who
had
been
a
familiar
object
in
her
former
home
,
was
no
more
than
naturally
followed
from
a
tender
woman
's
compassion
.
The
place
young
Holt
had
held
in
her
regard
had
necessarily
changed
its
relations
now
that
her
lot
was
so
widely
changed
.
It
is
undeniable
,
that
what
most
conduced
to
the
quieting
nature
of
Harold
's
conclusions
was
the
influence
on
his
imagination
of
the
more
or
less
detailed
reasons
that
Felix
Holt
was
a
watchmaker
,
that
his
home
and
dress
were
of
a
certain
quality
,
that
his
person
and
manners
—
that
,
in
short
(
for
Harold
,
like
the
rest
of
us
,
had
many
impressions
which
saved
him
the
trouble
of
distinct
ideas
)
,
Felix
Holt
was
not
the
sort
of
man
a
woman
would
be
likely
to
be
in
love
with
when
she
was
wooed
by
Harold
Transome
.
Thus
,
he
was
sufficiently
at
rest
on
this
point
not
to
be
exercising
any
painful
self-conquest
in
acting
as
the
zealous
advocate
of
Felix
Holt
's
cause
with
all
persons
worth
influencing
;
but
it
was
by
no
direct
intercourse
between
him
and
Sir
Maximus
that
they
found
themselves
in
co-operation
,
for
the
old
baronet
would
not
recognise
Harold
by
more
than
the
faintest
bow
,
and
Harold
was
not
a
man
to
expose
himself
to
a
rebuff
.
Whatever
he
in
his
inmost
soul
regarded
as
nothing
more
than
a
narrow
prejudice
,
he
could
defy
,
not
with
airs
of
importance
,
but
with
easy
indifference
.
He
could
bear
most
things
good-humouredly
where
he
felt
that
he
had
the
superiority
.
The
object
of
the
meeting
was
discussed
,
and
the
memorial
agreed
upon
without
any
clashing
.
Mr
Lingon
was
gone
home
,
but
it
was
expected
that
his
concurrence
and
signature
would
be
given
,
as
well
as
those
of
other
gentlemen
who
were
absent
.
The
business
gradually
reached
that
stage
at
which
the
concentration
of
interest
ceases
—
when
the
attention
of
all
but
a
few
who
are
more
practically
concerned
drops
off
and
disperses
itself
in
private
chat
,
and
there
is
no
longer
any
particular
reason
why
everybody
stays
except
that
everybody
is
there
.
The
room
was
rather
a
long
one
,
and
invited
to
a
little
movement
:
one
gentleman
drew
another
aside
to
speak
in
an
under-tone
about
Scotch
bullocks
,
another
had
something
to
say
about
the
North
Loamshire
Hunt
to
a
friend
who
was
the
reverse
of
good-looking
,
but
who
,
nevertheless
,
while
listening
,
showed
his
strength
of
mind
by
giving
a
severe
attention
also
to
his
full-length
reflection
in
the
handsome
tall
mirror
that
filled
the
space
between
two
windows
.
And
in
this
way
the
groups
were
continually
shifting
.
But
in
the
mean
time
there
were
moving
towards
this
room
at
the
White
Hart
the
footsteps
of
a
person
whose
presence
had
not
been
invited
,
and
who
,
very
far
from
being
drawn
thither
by
the
belief
that
he
would
be
welcome
,
knew
well
that
his
entrance
would
,
to
one
person
at
least
,
be
bitterly
disagreeable
.
They
were
the
footsteps
of
Mr
Jermyn
,
whose
appearance
that
morning
was
not
less
comely
and
less
carefully
tended
than
usual
,
but
who
was
suffering
the
torment
of
a
compressed
rage
,
which
,
if
not
impotent
to
inflict
pain
on
another
,
was
impotent
to
avert
evil
from
himself
.
After
his
interview
with
Mrs
Transome
there
had
been
for
some
reasons
a
delay
of
positive
procedures
against
him
by
Harold
,
of
which
delay
Jermyn
had
twice
availed
himself
;
first
,
to
seek
an
interview
with
Harold
,
and
then
to
send
him
a
letter
.
The
interview
had
been
refused
;
and
the
letter
had
been
returned
,
with
the
statement
that
no
communication
could
take
place
except
through
Harold
's
lawyers
.
And
yesterday
Johnson
had
brought
Jermyn
the
information
that
he
would
quickly
hear
of
the
proceedings
in
Chancery
being
resumed
:
the
watch
Johnson
kept
in
town
had
given
him
secure
knowledge
on
this
head
.
A
doomed
animal
,
with
every
issue
earthed
up
except
that
where
its
enemy
stands
,
must
,
if
it
has
teeth
and
fierceness
,
try
its
one
chance
without
delay
.
And
a
man
may
reach
a
point
in
his
life
in
which
his
impulses
are
not
distinguished
from
those
of
a
hunted
brute
by
any
capability
of
scruples
.
Our
selfishness
is
so
robust
and
many-clutching
,
that
,
well
encouraged
,
it
easily
devours
all
sustenance
away
from
our
poor
little
scruples
.
Since
Harold
would
not
give
Jermyn
access
to
him
,
that
vigorous
attorney
was
resolved
to
take
it
.
He
knew
all
about
the
meeting
at
the
White
Hart
,
and
he
was
going
thither
with
the
determination
of
accosting
Harold
.
He
thought
he
knew
what
he
should
say
,
and
the
tone
in
which
he
should
say
it
.
It
would
be
a
vague
intimation
,
carrying
the
effect
of
a
threat
,
which
should
compel
Harold
to
give
him
a
private
interview
.
To
any
counter-consideration
that
presented
itself
in
his
mind
—
to
anything
that
an
imagined
voice
might
say
—
the
imagined
answer
arose
,
"
That
's
all
very
fine
,
but
I
'm
not
going
to
be
ruined
if
I
can
help
it
—
least
of
all
,
ruined
in
that
way
.
"
Shall
we
call
it
degeneration
or
gradual
development
—
this
effect
of
thirty
additional
winters
on
the
soft-glancing
,
versifying
young
Jermyn
?
When
Jermyn
entered
the
room
at
the
White
Hart
he
did
not
immediately
see
Harold
.
The
door
was
at
the
extremity
of
the
room
,
and
the
view
was
obstructed
by
groups
of
gentlemen
with
figures
broadened
by
overcoats
.
His
entrance
excited
no
peculiar
observation
:
several
persons
had
come
in
late
.
Only
one
or
two
,
who
knew
Jermyn
well
,
were
not
too
much
preoccupied
to
have
a
glancing
remembrance
of
what
had
been
chatted
about
freely
the
day
before
—
Harold
's
irritated
reply
about
his
agent
,
from
the
witness-box
.
Receiving
and
giving
a
slight
nod
here
and
there
,
Jermyn
pushed
his
way
,
looking
round
keenly
,
until
he
saw
Harold
standing
near
the
other
end
of
the
room
.
The
solicitor
who
had
acted
for
Felix
was
just
then
speaking
to
him
,
but
having
put
a
paper
into
his
hand
turned
away
;
and
Harold
,
standing
isolated
,
though
at
no
great
distance
from
others
,
bent
his
eyes
on
the
paper
.
He
looked
brilliant
that
morning
;
his
blood
was
flowing
prosperously
.
He
had
come
in
after
a
ride
,
and
was
additionally
brightened
by
rapid
talk
and
the
excitement
of
seeking
to
impress
himself
favourably
,
or
at
least
powerfully
,
on
the
minds
of
neighbours
nearer
or
more
remote
.
He
had
just
that
amount
of
flush
which
indicates
that
life
is
more
enjoyable
than
usual
;
and
as
he
stood
with
his
left
hand
caressing
his
whisker
,
and
his
right
holding
the
paper
and
his
riding-whip
,
his
dark
eyes
running
rapidly
along
the
written
lines
,
and
his
lips
reposing
in
a
curve
of
good-humour
which
had
more
happiness
in
it
than
a
smile
,
all
beholders
might
have
seen
that
his
mind
was
at
ease
.
Jermyn
walked
quickly
and
quietly
close
up
to
him
.
The
two
men
were
of
the
same
height
,
and
before
Harold
looked
round
Jermyn
's
voice
was
saying
,
close
to
his
ear
,
not
in
a
whisper
,
but
in
a
hard
,
incisive
,
disrespectful
and
yet
not
loud
tone
.
"
Mr
Transome
,
I
must
speak
to
you
in
private
.
"
The
sound
jarred
through
Harold
with
a
sensation
all
the
more
insufferable
because
of
the
revulsion
from
the
satisfied
,
almost
elated
,
state
in
which
it
had
seized
him
.
He
started
and
looked
round
into
Jermyn
's
eyes
.
For
an
instant
,
which
seemed
long
,
there
was
no
sound
between
them
,
but
only
angry
hatred
gathering
in
the
two
faces
.
Harold
felt
himself
going
to
crush
this
insolence
:
Jermyn
felt
that
he
had
words
within
him
that
were
fangs
to
clutch
this
obstinate
strength
,
and
wring
forth
the
blood
and
compel
submission
.
And
Jermyn
's
impulse
was
the
more
urgent
.
He
said
,
in
a
tone
that
was
rather
lower
,
but
yet
harder
and
more
biting
.
"
You
will
repent
else
—
for
your
mother
's
sake
.
"
At
that
sound
,
quick
as
a
leaping
flame
,
Harold
had
struck
Jermyn
across
the
face
with
his
whip
.
The
brim
of
the
hat
had
been
a
defence
.
Jermyn
,
a
powerful
man
,
had
instantly
thrust
out
his
hand
and
clutched
Harold
hard
by
the
clothes
just
below
the
throat
,
pushing
him
slightly
so
as
to
make
him
stagger
.
By
this
time
everybody
's
attention
had
been
called
to
this
end
of
the
room
,
but
both
Jermyn
and
Harold
were
beyond
being
arrested
by
any
consciousness
of
spectators
.
"
Let
me
go
,
you
scoundrel
!
"
said
Harold
,
fiercely
,
"
or
I
'll
be
the
death
of
you
.
"
"
Do
,
"
said
Jermyn
,
in
a
grating
voice
;
"
I
am
your
father
.
"
In
the
thrust
by
which
Harold
had
been
made
to
stagger
backward
a
little
,
the
two
men
had
got
very
near
the
long
mirror
.
They
were
both
white
;
both
had
anger
and
hatred
in
their
faces
;
the
hands
of
both
were
upraised
.
As
Harold
heard
the
last
terrible
words
he
started
at
a
leaping
throb
that
went
through
him
,
and
in
the
start
turned
his
eyes
away
from
Jermyn
's
face
.
He
turned
them
on
the
same
face
in
the
glass
with
his
own
beside
it
,
and
saw
the
hated
fatherhood
reasserted
.
The
young
strong
man
reeled
with
a
sick
faintness
.
But
in
the
same
moment
Jermyn
released
his
hold
,
and
Harold
felt
himself
supported
by
the
arm
.
It
was
Sir
Maximus
Debarry
who
had
taken
hold
of
him
.
"
Leave
the
room
,
sir
!
"
the
Baronet
said
to
Jermyn
,
in
a
voice
of
imperious
scorn
.
"
This
is
a
meeting
of
gentlemen
.
"
"
Come
,
Harold
,
"
he
said
,
in
the
old
friendly
voice
,
"
come
away
with
me
.
"
CHAPTER
XLVIII
.
'
Tis
law
as
stedfast
as
the
throne
of
Zeus---
Our
days
are
heritors
of
days
gone
by
.
Æschylus
:
Agamemnon
.
A
little
after
five
o'clock
that
day
,
Harold
arrived
at
Transome
Court
.
As
he
was
winding
along
the
broad
road
of
the
park
,
some
parting
gleams
of
the
March
sun
pierced
the
trees
here
and
there
,
and
threw
on
the
grass
a
long
shadow
of
himself
and
the
groom
riding
,
and
illuminated
a
window
or
two
of
the
home
he
was
approaching
.
But
the
bitterness
in
his
mind
made
these
sunny
gleams
almost
as
odious
as
an
artificial
smile
.
He
wished
he
had
never
come
back
to
this
pale
English
sunshine
.
In
the
course
of
his
eighteen
miles
'
drive
,
he
had
made
up
his
mind
what
he
would
do
.
He
understood
now
,
as
he
had
never
understood
before
,
the
neglected
solitariness
of
his
mother
's
life
,
the
allusions
and
innuendoes
which
had
come
out
during
the
election
.
But
with
a
proud
insurrection
against
the
hardship
of
an
ignominy
which
was
not
of
his
own
making
,
he
inwardly
said
,
that
if
the
circumstances
of
his
birth
were
such
as
to
warrant
any
man
in
regarding
his
character
of
gentleman
with
ready
suspicion
,
that
character
should
be
the
more
strongly
asserted
in
his
conduct
.
No
one
should
be
able
to
allege
with
any
show
of
proof
that
he
had
inherited
meanness
.
As
he
stepped
from
the
carriage
and
entered
the
hall
,
there
were
the
voice
and
the
trotting
feet
of
little
Harry
as
usual
,
and
the
rush
to
clasp
his
father
's
leg
and
make
his
joyful
puppy-like
noises
.
Harold
just
touched
the
boy
's
head
,
and
then
said
to
Dominic
in
a
weary
voice
.
"
Take
the
child
away
.
Ask
where
my
mother
is
.
"
Mrs
Transome
,
Dominic
said
,
was
up-stairs
.
He
had
seen
her
go
up
after
coming
in
from
her
walk
with
Miss
Lyon
,
and
she
had
not
come
down
again
.
Harold
,
throwing
off
his
hat
and
greatcoat
,
went
straight
to
his
mother
's
dressing-room
.
There
was
still
a
hope
in
his
mind
.
He
might
be
suffering
simply
from
a
lie
.
There
is
much
misery
created
in
the
world
by
mere
mistake
or
slander
,
and
he
might
have
been
stunned
by
a
lie
suggested
by
such
slander
.
He
rapped
at
his
mother
's
door
.
Her
voice
said
immediately
,
"
Come
in
.
"
Mrs
Transome
was
resting
in
her
easy-chair
,
as
she
often
did
between
an
afternoon
walk
and
dinner
.
She
had
taken
off
her
walking-dress
and
wrapped
herself
in
a
soft
dressing-gown
.
She
was
neither
more
nor
less
empty
of
joy
than
usual
.
But
when
she
saw
Harold
,
a
dreadful
certainty
took
possession
of
her
.
It
was
as
if
a
long-expected
letter
,
with
a
black
seal
,
had
come
at
last
.
Harold
's
face
told
her
what
to
fear
the
more
decisively
,
because
she
had
never
before
seen
it
express
a
man
's
deep
agitation
.
Since
the
time
of
its
pouting
childhood
and
careless
youth
she
had
seen
only
the
confident
strength
and
good-humoured
imperiousness
of
maturity
.
The
last
five
hours
had
made
a
change
as
great
as
illness
makes
.
Harold
looked
as
if
he
had
been
wrestling
,
and
had
had
some
terrible
blow
.
His
eyes
had
that
sunken
look
which
,
because
it
is
unusual
,
seems
to
intensify
expression
.
He
looked
at
his
mother
as
he
entered
,
and
her
eyes
followed
him
as
he
moved
,
till
he
came
and
stood
in
front
of
her
,
she
looking
up
at
him
,
with
white
lips
.
"
Mother
,
"
he
said
,
speaking
with
a
distinct
slow-ness
,
in
strange
contrast
with
his
habitual
manner
,
"
tell
me
the
truth
,
that
I
may
know
how
to
act
.
"
He
paused
a
moment
,
and
then
said
,
"
Who
is
my
father
?
"
She
was
mute
:
her
lips
only
trembled
.
Harold
stood
silent
for
a
few
moments
,
as
if
waiting
.
Then
he
spoke
again
.
"
He
has
said
—
said
it
before
others
—
that
he
is
my
father
.
"
He
looked
still
at
his
mother
.
She
seemed
as
if
age
were
striking
her
with
a
sudden
wand
—
as
if
her
trembling
face
were
getting
haggard
before
him
.
She
was
mute
.
But
her
eyes
had
not
fallen
;
they
looked
up
in
helpless
misery
at
her
son
.
Her
son
turned
away
his
eyes
from
her
,
and
left
her
.
In
that
moment
Harold
felt
hard
:
he
could
show
no
pity
.
All
the
pride
of
his
nature
rebelled
against
his
sonship
.
CHAPTER
XLIX
.
That
day
Esther
dined
with
old
Mr
Transome
only
.
Harold
sent
word
that
he
was
engaged
and
had
already
dined
,
and
Mrs
Transome
that
she
was
feeling
ill.
Esther
was
much
disappointed
that
any
tidings
Harold
might
have
brought
relating
to
Felix
were
deferred
in
this
way
;
and
,
her
anxiety
making
her
fearful
,
she
was
haunted
by
the
thought
that
if
there
had
been
anything
cheering
to
tell
,
he
would
have
found
time
to
tell
it
without
delay
.
Old
Mr
Transome
went
as
usual
to
his
sofa
in
the
library
to
sleep
after
dinner
,
and
Esther
had
to
seat
herself
in
the
small
drawing-room
,
in
a
well-lit
solitude
that
was
unusually
dispiriting
to
her
.
Pretty
as
this
room
was
,
she
did
not
like
it
.
Mrs
Transome
's
fulllength
portrait
,
being
the
only
picture
there
,
urged
itself
too
strongly
on
her
attention
:
the
youthful
brilliancy
it
represented
saddened
Esther
by
its
inevitable
association
with
what
she
daily
saw
had
come
instead
of
it
—
a
joyless
,
embittered
age
.
The
sense
that
Mrs
Transome
was
unhappy
,
affected
Esther
more
and
more
deeply
as
the
growing
familiarity
which
relaxed
the
efforts
of
the
hostess
revealed
more
and
more
the
threadbare
tissue
of
this
majestic
lady
's
life
.
Even
the
flowers
and
the
pure
sunshine
and
the
sweet
waters
of
Paradise
would
have
been
spoiled
for
a
young
heart
,
if
the
bowered
walks
had
been
haunted
by
an
Eve
gone
grey
with
bitter
memories
of
an
Adam
who
had
complained
,
"
The
woman
...
she
gave
me
of
the
tree
,
and
I
did
eat
.
"
And
many
of
us
know
how
,
even
in
our
childhood
,
some
blank
discontented
face
on
the
background
of
our
home
has
marred
our
summer
mornings
.
Why
was
it
,
when
the
birds
were
singing
,
when
the
fields
were
a
garden
,
and
when
we
were
clasping
another
little
hand
just
larger
than
our
own
,
there
was
somebody
who
found
it
hard
to
smile
?
Esther
had
got
far
beyond
that
childhood
to
a
time
and
circumstances
when
this
daily
presence
of
elderly
dissatisfaction
amidst
such
outward
things
as
she
had
always
thought
must
greatly
help
to
satisfy
,
awaked
,
not
merely
vague
questioning
emotion
,
but
strong
determining
thought
.
And
now
,
in
these
hours
since
her
return
from
Loamford
,
her
mind
was
in
that
state
of
highly-wrought
activity
,
that
large
discourse
,
in
which
we
seem
to
stand
aloof
from
our
own
life
—
weighing
impartially
our
own
temptations
and
the
weak
desires
that
most
habitually
solicit
us
.
"
I
think
I
am
getting
that
power
Felix
wished
me
to
have
:
I
shall
soon
see
strong
visions
,
"
she
said
to
herself
,
with
a
melancholy
smile
flitting
across
her
face
,
as
she
put
out
the
wax
lights
that
she
might
get
rid
of
the
oppressive
urgency
of
walls
and
upholstery
and
that
portrait
smiling
with
deluded
brightness
,
unwitting
of
the
future
.
Just
then
Dominic
came
to
say
that
Mr
Harold
sent
his
compliments
,
and
begged
that
she
would
grant
him
an
interview
in
his
study
.
He
disliked
the
small
drawing-room
:
if
she
would
oblige
him
by
going
to
the
study
at
once
,
he
would
join
her
very
soon
.
Esther
went
,
in
some
wonder
and
anxiety
.
What
she
most
feared
or
hoped
in
these
moments
related
to
Felix
Holt
,
and
it
did
not
occur
to
her
that
Harold
could
have
anything
special
to
say
to
her
that
evening
on
other
subjects
.
Certainly
the
study
was
pleasanter
than
the
small
drawing-room
.
A
quiet
light
shone
on
nothing
but
greenness
and
dark
wood
,
and
Dominic
had
placed
a
delightful
chair
for
her
opposite
to
his
master
's
,
which
was
still
empty
.
All
the
little
objects
of
luxury
around
indicated
Harold
's
habitual
occupancy
;
and
as
Esther
sat
opposite
all
these
things
along
with
the
empty
chair
which
suggested
the
coming
presence
,
the
expectation
of
his
beseeching
homage
brought
with
it
an
impatience
and
repugnance
which
she
had
never
felt
before
.
While
these
feelings
were
strongly
upon
her
,
the
door
opened
and
Harold
appeared
.
He
had
recovered
his
self-possession
since
his
interview
with
his
mother
:
he
had
dressed
,
and
was
perfectly
calm
.
He
had
been
occupied
with
resolute
thoughts
,
determining
to
do
what
he
knew
that
perfect
honour
demanded
,
let
it
cost
him
what
it
would
.
It
is
true
he
had
a
tacit
hope
behind
,
that
it
might
not
cost
him
what
he
prized
most
highly
:
it
is
true
he
had
a
glimpse
even
of
reward
;
but
it
was
not
less
true
that
he
would
have
acted
as
he
did
without
that
hope
or
glimpse
.
It
was
the
most
serious
moment
in
Harold
Transome
's
life
:
for
the
first
time
the
iron
had
entered
into
his
soul
,
and
he
felt
the
hard
pressure
of
our
common
lot
,
the
yoke
of
that
mighty
resistless
destiny
laid
upon
us
by
the
acts
of
other
men
as
well
as
our
own
.
When
Esther
looked
at
him
she
relented
,
and
felt
ashamed
of
her
gratuitous
impatience
.
She
saw
that
his
mind
was
in
some
way
burdened
.
But
then
immediately
sprang
the
dread
that
he
had
to
say
something
hopeless
about
Felix
.
They
shook
hands
in
silence
,
Esther
looking
at
him
with
anxious
surprise
.
He
released
her
hand
,
but
it
did
not
occur
to
her
to
sit
down
,
and
they
both
continued
standing
on
the
hearth
.
"
Do
n't
let
me
alarm
you
,
"
said
Harold
,
seeing
that
her
face
gathered
solemnity
from
his
.
"
I
suppose
I
carry
the
marks
of
a
past
agitation
.
It
relates
entirely
to
troubles
of
my
own
—
of
my
own
family
.
No
one
beyond
is
involved
in
them
.
"
Esther
wondered
still
more
,
and
felt
still
more
relenting
.
"
But
,
"
said
Harold
,
after
a
slight
pause
,
and
in
a
voice
that
was
weighted
with
new
feeling
,
"
it
involves
a
difference
in
my
position
with
regard
to
you
;
and
it
is
on
this
point
that
I
wished
to
speak
to
you
at
once
.
When
a
man
sees
what
ought
to
be
done
,
he
had
better
do
it
forthwith
.
He
ca
n't
answer
for
himself
to-morrow
.
"
While
Esther
continued
to
look
at
him
,
with
eyes
widened
by
anxious
expectation
,
Harold
turned
a
little
,
leaned
on
the
mantelpiece
,
and
ceased
to
look
at
her
as
he
spoke
.
"
My
feelings
drag
me
another
way
.
I
need
not
tell
you
that
your
regard
has
become
very
important
to
me
—
that
if
our
mutual
position
had
been
different
—
that
,
in
short
,
you
must
have
seen
—
if
it
had
not
seemed
to
be
a
matter
of
worldly
interest
,
I
should
have
told
you
plainly
already
that
I
loved
you
,
and
that
my
happiness
could
be
complete
only
if
you
would
consent
to
marry
me
.
"
Esther
felt
her
heart
beginning
to
beat
painfully
.
Harold
's
voice
and
words
moved
her
so
much
that
her
own
task
seemed
more
difficult
than
she
had
before
imagined
.
It
seemed
as
if
the
silence
,
unbroken
by
anything
but
the
clicking
of
the
fire
,
had
been
long
,
before
Harold
turned
round
towards
her
again
and
said
.
"
But
to-day
I
have
heard
something
that
affects
my
own
position
.
I
cannot
tell
you
what
it
is
.
There
is
no
need
.
It
is
not
any
culpability
of
my
own
.
But
I
have
not
just
the
same
unsullied
name
and
fame
in
the
eyes
of
the
world
around
us
,
as
I
believed
that
I
had
when
I
allowed
myself
to
entertain
that
wish
about
you
.
You
are
very
young
,
entering
on
a
fresh
life
with
bright
prospects
—
you
are
worthy
of
everything
that
is
best
.
I
may
be
too
vain
in
thinking
it
was
at
all
necessary
;
but
I
take
this
precaution
against
myself
.
I
shut
myself
out
from
the
chance
of
trying
,
after
to-day
,
to
induce
you
to
accept
anything
which
others
may
regard
as
specked
and
stained
by
any
obloquy
,
however
slight
.
"
Esther
was
keenly
touched
.
With
a
paradoxical
longing
,
such
as
often
happens
to
us
,
she
wished
at
that
moment
that
she
could
have
loved
this
man
with
her
whole
heart
.
The
tears
came
into
her
eyes
;
she
did
not
speak
,
but
,
with
an
angel
's
tenderness
in
her
face
,
she
laid
her
hand
on
his
sleeve
.
Harold
commanded
himself
strongly
,
and
said
,
"
What
is
to
be
done
now
is
,
that
we
should
proceed
at
once
to
the
necessary
legal
measures
for
putting
you
in
possession
of
your
own
,
and
arranging
mutual
claims
.
After
that
I
shall
probably
leave
England
.
"
Esther
was
oppressed
by
an
overpowering
difficulty
.
Her
sympathy
with
Harold
at
this
moment
was
so
strong
,
that
it
spread
itself
like
a
mist
over
all
previous
thought
and
resolve
.
It
was
impossible
now
to
wound
him
afresh
.
With
her
hand
still
resting
on
his
arm
,
she
said
timidly
,
"
Should
you
be
urged
—
obliged
to
go
—
in
any
case
?
"
"
Not
in
every
case
,
perhaps
,
"
Harold
said
,
with
an
evident
movement
of
the
blood
towards
his
face
;
"
at
least
not
for
long
,
not
for
always
.
"
Esther
was
conscious
of
the
gleam
in
his
eyes
.
With
terror
at
herself
,
she
said
,
in
difficult
haste
,
"
I
ca
n't
speak
.
I
ca
n't
say
anything
to-night
.
A
great
decision
has
to
be
made
:
I
must
wait
—
till
to-morrow
.
"
She
was
moving
her
hand
from
his
arm
,
when
Harold
took
it
reverentially
and
raised
it
to
his
lips
.
She
turned
towards
her
chair
,
and
as
he
released
her
hand
she
sank
down
on
the
seat
with
a
sense
that
she
needed
that
support
.
She
did
not
want
to
go
away
from
Harold
yet
.
All
the
while
there
was
something
she
needed
to
know
,
and
yet
she
could
not
bring
herself
to
ask
it
.
She
must
resign
herself
to
depend
entirely
on
his
recollection
of
anything
beyond
his
own
immediate
trial
.
She
sat
helpless
under
contending
sympathies
,
while
Harold
stood
at
some
distance
from
her
,
feeling
more
harassed
by
weariness
and
uncertainty
,
now
that
he
had
fulfilled
his
resolve
,
and
was
no
longer
under
the
excitement
of
actually
fulfilling
it
.
Esther
's
last
words
had
forbidden
his
revival
of
the
subject
that
was
necessarily
supreme
with
him
.
But
still
she
sat
there
,
and
his
mind
,
busy
as
to
the
probabilities
of
her
feeling
,
glanced
over
all
she
had
done
and
said
in
the
later
days
of
their
intercourse
.
It
was
this
retrospect
that
led
him
to
say
at
last
,
"
You
will
be
glad
to
hear
that
we
shall
get
a
very
powerfully
signed
memorial
to
the
Home
Secretary
about
young
Holt
.
I
think
your
speaking
for
him
helped
a
great
deal
.
You
made
all
the
men
wish
what
you
wished
.
"
This
was
what
Esther
had
been
yearning
to
hear
and
dared
not
ask
,
as
well
from
respect
for
Harold
's
absorption
in
his
own
sorrow
,
as
from
the
shrinking
that
belongs
to
our
dearest
need
.
The
intense
relief
of
hearing
what
she
longed
to
hear
,
affected
her
whole
frame
:
her
colour
,
her
expression
,
changed
as
if
she
had
been
suddenly
freed
from
some
torturing
constraint
.
But
we
interpret
signs
of
emotion
as
we
interpret
other
signs
—
often
quite
erroneously
,
unless
we
have
the
right
key
to
what
they
signify
.
Harold
did
not
gather
that
this
was
what
Esther
had
waited
for
,
or
that
the
change
in
her
indicated
more
than
he
had
expected
her
to
feel
at
this
allusion
to
an
unusual
act
which
she
had
done
under
a
strong
impulse
.
Besides
,
the
introduction
of
a
new
subject
after
very
momentous
words
have
passed
,
and
are
still
dwelling
on
the
mind
,
is
necessarily
a
sort
of
concussion
,
shaking
us
into
a
new
adjustment
of
ourselves
.
It
seemed
natural
that
soon
afterward
Esther
put
out
her
hand
and
said
,
"
Good-night
.
"
Harold
went
to
his
bedroom
on
the
same
level
with
his
study
,
thinking
of
the
morning
with
an
uncertainty
that
dipped
on
the
side
of
hope
.
This
sweet
woman
,
for
whom
he
felt
a
passion
newer
than
any
he
had
expected
to
feel
,
might
possibly
make
some
hard
things
more
bearable
—
if
she
loved
him
.
If
not
—
well
,
he
had
acted
so
that
he
could
defy
any
one
to
say
he
was
not
a
gentleman
.
Esther
went
up-stairs
to
her
bedroom
,
thinking
that
she
should
not
sleep
that
night
.
She
set
her
light
on
a
high
stand
,
and
did
not
touch
her
dress
.
What
she
desired
to
see
with
undisturbed
clearness
were
things
not
present
:
the
rest
she
needed
was
the
rest
of
a
final
choice
.
It
was
difficult
.
On
each
side
there
was
renunciation
.
She
drew
up
her
blinds
,
liking
to
see
the
grey
sky
,
where
there
were
some
veiled
glimmerings
of
moonlight
,
and
the
lines
of
the
for-ever
running
river
,
and
the
bending
movement
of
the
black
trees
.
She
wanted
the
largeness
of
the
world
to
help
her
thought
.
This
young
creature
,
who
trod
lightly
backward
and
forward
,
and
leaned
against
the
window-frame
,
and
shook
back
her
brown
curls
as
she
looked
at
something
not
visible
,
had
lived
hardly
more
than
six
months
since
she
saw
Felix
Holt
for
the
first
time
.
But
life
is
measured
by
the
rapidity
of
change
,
the
succession
of
influences
that
modify
the
being
;
and
Esther
had
undergone
something
little
short
of
an
inward
revolution
.
The
revolutionary
struggle
,
however
,
was
not
quite
at
an
end
.
There
was
something
which
she
now
felt
profoundly
to
be
the
best
thing
that
life
could
give
her
.
But
—
if
it
was
to
be
had
at
all
—
it
was
not
to
be
had
without
paying
a
heavy
price
for
it
,
such
as
we
must
pay
for
all
that
is
greatly
good
.
A
supreme
love
,
a
motive
that
gives
a
sublime
rhythm
to
a
woman
's
life
,
and
exalts
habit
into
partnership
with
the
soul
's
highest
needs
,
is
not
to
be
had
where
and
how
she
wills
:
to
know
that
high
initiation
,
she
must
often
tread
where
it
is
hard
to
tread
,
and
feel
the
chill
air
,
and
watch
through
darkness
.
It
is
not
true
that
love
makes
all
things
easy
:
it
makes
us
choose
what
is
difficult
.
Esther
's
previous
life
had
brought
her
into
close
acquaintance
with
many
negations
,
and
with
many
positive
ills
too
,
not
of
the
acutely
painful
,
but
of
the
distasteful
sort
.
What
if
she
chose
the
hardship
,
and
had
to
bear
it
alone
,
with
no
strength
to
lean
upon
—
no
other
better
self
to
make
a
place
for
trust
and
joy
?
Her
past
experience
saved
her
from
illusions
.
She
knew
the
dim
life
of
the
back
street
,
the
contact
with
sordid
vulgarity
,
the
lack
of
refinement
for
the
senses
,
the
summons
to
a
daily
task
;
and
the
gain
that
was
to
make
that
life
of
privation
something
on
which
she
dreaded
to
turn
her
back
,
as
if
it
were
heaven
—
the
presence
and
the
love
of
Felix
Holt
—
was
only
a
quivering
hope
,
not
a
certainty
.
It
was
not
in
her
woman
's
nature
that
the
hope
should
not
spring
within
her
and
make
a
strong
impulse
.
She
knew
that
he
loved
her
:
had
he
not
said
how
a
woman
might
help
a
man
if
she
were
worthy
?
and
if
she
proved
herself
worthy
?
But
still
there
was
the
dread
that
after
all
she
might
find
herself
on
the
stony
road
alone
,
and
faint
and
be
weary
.
Even
with
the
fulfilment
of
her
hope
,
she
knew
that
she
pledged
herself
to
meet
high
demands
.
And
on
the
other
side
there
was
a
lot
where
everything
seemed
easy
—
but
for
the
fatal
absence
of
those
feelings
which
,
now
she
had
once
known
them
,
it
seemed
nothing
less
than
a
fall
and
a
degradation
to
do
without
.
With
a
terrible
prescience
which
a
multitude
of
impressions
during
her
stay
at
Transome
Court
had
contributed
to
form
,
she
saw
herself
in
a
silken
bondage
that
arrested
all
motive
,
and
was
nothing
better
than
a
well
cushioned
despair
.
To
be
restless
amidst
ease
,
to
be
languid
among
all
appliances
for
pleasure
,
was
a
possibility
that
seemed
to
haunt
the
rooms
of
this
house
,
and
wander
with
her
under
the
oaks
and
elms
of
the
park
.
And
Harold
Transome
's
love
,
no
longer
a
hovering
fancy
with
which
she
played
,
but
become
a
serious
fact
,
seemed
to
threaten
her
with
a
stifling
oppression
.
The
homage
of
a
man
may
be
delightful
until
he
asks
straight
for
love
,
by
which
a
woman
renders
homage
.
Since
she
and
Felix
had
kissed
each
other
in
the
prison
,
she
felt
as
if
she
had
vowed
herself
away
,
as
if
memory
lay
on
her
lips
like
a
seal
of
possession
.
Yet
what
had
happened
that
very
evening
had
strengthened
her
liking
for
Harold
,
and
her
care
for
all
that
regarded
him
:
it
had
increased
her
repugnance
to
turning
him
out
of
anything
he
had
expected
to
be
his
,
or
to
snatching
anything
from
him
on
the
ground
of
an
arbitrary
claim
.
It
had
even
made
her
dread
,
as
a
coming
pain
,
the
task
of
saying
anything
to
him
that
was
not
a
promise
of
the
utmost
comfort
under
this
newly-disclosed
trouble
of
his
.
It
was
already
near
midnight
,
but
with
these
thoughts
succeeding
and
returning
in
her
mind
like
scenes
through
which
she
was
living
,
Esther
had
a
more
intense
wakefulness
than
any
she
had
known
by
day
.
All
had
been
stillness
hitherto
,
except
the
fitful
wind
outside
.
But
her
ears
now
caught
a
sound
within
—
slight
,
but
sudden
.
She
moved
near
her
door
,
and
heard
the
sweep
of
something
on
the
matting
outside
.
It
came
closer
,
and
paused
.
Then
it
began
again
,
and
seemed
to
sweep
away
from
her
.
Then
it
approached
,
and
paused
as
it
had
done
before
.
Esther
listened
,
wondering
.
The
same
thing
happened
again
and
again
,
till
she
could
bear
it
no
longer
.
She
opened
her
door
,
and
in
the
dim
light
of
the
corridor
,
where
the
glass
above
seemed
to
make
a
glimmering
sky
,
she
saw
Mrs
Transome
's
tall
figure
pacing
slowly
,
with
her
cheek
upon
her
hand
.
CHAPTER
L
.
The
great
question
in
life
is
the
suffering
we
cause
;
and
the
utmost
ingenuity
of
metaphysics
cannot
justify
the
man
who
has
pierced
the
heart
that
loved
him
.
—
Benjamin
Constant
.
When
Denner
had
gone
up
to
her
mistress
's
room
to
dress
her
for
dinner
,
she
had
found
her
seated
just
as
Harold
had
found
her
,
only
with
eyelids
dropping
and
trembling
over
slowly-rolling
tears
—
nay
,
with
a
face
in
which
every
sensitive
feature
,
every
muscle
,
seemed
to
be
quivering
with
a
silent
endurance
of
some
agony
.
Denner
went
and
stood
by
the
chair
a
minute
without
speaking
,
only
laying
her
hand
gently
on
Mrs
Transome
's
.
At
last
she
said
,
beseechingly
,
"
Pray
speak
,
madam
.
What
has
happened
?
"
"
The
worst
,
Denner
—
the
worst
.
"
"
You
are
ill.
Let
me
undress
you
,
and
put
you
to
bed
.
"
"
No
,
I
am
not
ill.
I
am
not
going
to
die
!
I
shall
live
—
I
shall
live
!
"
"
What
may
I
do
?
"
"
Go
and
say
I
shall
not
dine
