inHubert
,
though
she
admired
his
character
.
She
had
every
wish
to
make
herself
agreeable
to
him
,
but
her
efforts
in
that
direction
were
somewhat
what
neutralized
by
an
incurable
absence
of
mind
.
If
she
was
not
interested
,
as
Hadria
said
,
she
was
seldom
affable
.
Possibly
Hubert
's
request
to
her
,
years
ago
at
Dunaghee
,
to
“
think
for
a
moment
”
had
not
been
forgiven
.
“
Where
is
she
?
Oh
!
—
”
The
exclamation
was
in
consequence
of
Miss
Du
Prel
's
appearing
at
the
door
of
the
library
,
whence
she
surveyed
the
group
with
absent-minded
intentness
.
Valeria
woke
up
with
a
start
,
and
responded
to
Hubert
's
greeting
in
an
erratic
fashion
,
replying
tragically
,
to
a
casual
enquiry
as
to
her
health
,
that
she
had
been
frightfully
ill.
“
I
thought
I
was
dying
.
But
one
never
dies
,
”
she
added
in
a
disgusted
tone
,
whereat
Hadria
heartlessly
laughed
,
and
hurried
the
visitor
upstairs
to
help
her
to
unpack
.
“
Valeria
,
”
said
Mrs.
Temperley
,
while
that
lady
was
confusedly
trying
to
disentangle
hat
and
hair
,
hat-pin
and
head
,
without
involving
the
entire
system
in
a
common
ruin
—
“
Valeria
,
we
are
not
a
remarkable
people
at
Craddock
Dene
.
We
may
be
worthy
,
we
may
have
our
good
points
,
but
we
are
not
brilliant
(
except
the
cook
)
.
Should
Mr.
Fleming
fail
to
impress
you
as
a
person
of
striking
personality
,
I
ask
you
,
as
a
favour
,
not
to
emblazon
that
impression
on
every
feature
:
should
he
address
to
you
a
remark
that
you
do
not
find
interesting
,
and
it
is
quite
conceivable
that
he
may
—
do
not
glare
at
him
scornfully
for
a
moment
,
and
—
”
Hadria
was
not
allowed
to
finish
the
sentence
.
“
As
if
I
ever
did
any
such
thing
—
and
people
are
so
dull
,
”
said
Miss
Du
Prel
.
A
few
“
curried
details
,
”
as
the
hostess
dejectedly
described
the
fare
,
had
been
supplemented
with
vegetables
,
fruit
,
and
impromptu
preparations
of
eggs
,
and
the
luncheon
was
pronounced
excellent
and
ample
.
Miss
Du
Prel
said
that
she
hoped
the
butcher
would
always
forget
to
send
the
meat
.
She
liked
these
imaginative
meals
.
Temperley
purposely
misunderstood
her
to
say
“
imaginary
meals
,
”
and
hoped
that
next
time
she
came
,
Hadria
would
not
have
an
oratorio
in
course
of
composition
.
Miss
Du
Prel
expressed
a
fiery
interest
in
the
oratorio
.
“
I
judge
the
presence
of
oratorio
by
the
absence
of
food
,
”
Temperley
explained
suavely
.
Hadria
watched
the
encounter
with
a
mingled
sense
of
amusement
and
discomfort
.
Valeria
was
in
no
danger
.
To
be
morally
crushed
by
an
adversary
,
it
is
necessary
that
one
should
be
at
least
aware
that
the
adversary
is
engaged
in
crushing
one
:
a
consciousness
that
was
plainly
denied
to
Miss
Du
Prel
.
Many
a
man
far
less
able
than
Hubert
had
power
to
interest
her
,
while
he
could
not
even
hold
her
attention
.
She
used
to
complain
to
Professor
Fortescue
that
Temperley
's
ideas
never
seemed
to
have
originated
in
his
own
brain
:
they
had
been
imported
ready-made
.
Hubert
was
among
the
many
who
shrink
and
harden
into
mental
furrows
as
time
passes
.
What
he
had
thought
at
twenty
,
at
thirty-five
had
acquired
sanctity
and
certainty
,
from
having
been
the
opinion
of
Hubert
Temperley
for
all
those
favoured
years
.
He
had
no
suspicion
that
the
views
which
he
cherished
in
so
dainty
and
scholarly
a
fashion
were
simply
an
edition
de
luxe
of
the
views
of
everybody
else
.
But
his
wife
had
made
that
discovery
long
ago
.
He
smiled
at
the
views
of
everybody
else
:
his
own
were
put
forth
as
something
choice
and
superior
.
He
had
the
happy
knack
of
being
bourgeois
with
the
air
of
an
artist
.
If
one
could
picture
one
's
grocer
weighing
out
sugar
in
a
Spanish
cloak
and
brigand
's
hat
,
it
would
afford
an
excellent
symbol
of
his
spiritual
estate
.
To
be
perfectly
commonplace
in
a
brilliantly
original
way
,
is
to
be
notable
after
all
.
Mr.
Fleming
seemed
puzzled
by
Miss
Du
Prel
,
at
whom
he
glanced
uneasily
from
time
to
time
,
wondering
what
she
would
say
next
.
At
Craddock
Dene
,
ladies
usually
listened
with
a
more
or
less
breathless
deference
when
Temperley
spoke
.
This
new-comer
seemed
recklessly
independent
.
Mrs.
Temperley
endeavoured
to
lead
the
conversation
in
ways
of
peace
,
but
Valeria
was
evidently
on
the
war-path
.
Temperley
was
polite
and
ironical
,
with
undermeanings
for
Hadria
's
benefit
.
“
If
one
asks
impossible
things
of
life
,
one
is
apt
to
be
disappointed
,
I
fear
,
”
he
said
serenely
.
“
Ask
for
the
possible
and
natural
harvest
of
a
woman
's
career
,
and
see
if
you
do
n't
get
it
.
”
“
Let
a
canary
plead
for
its
cage
,
in
short
,
and
its
commendable
prayer
will
be
answered
!
”
“
If
you
like
to
put
it
thus
ungraciously
.
I
should
say
that
one
who
makes
the
most
of
his
opportunities
,
as
they
stand
,
fares
better
than
he
who
sighs
for
other
worlds
to
conquer
.
”
“
I
suppose
that
is
what
his
relatives
said
to
Columbus
,
”
observed
Miss
Du
Prel
.
“
And
how
do
you
know
they
were
not
right
?
”
he
retorted
.
Mrs.
Temperley
gave
the
signal
to
rise
.
“
Let
's
go
for
a
walk
,
”
she
suggested
,
“
the
afternoon
invites
us
.
Look
at
it
.
”
The
brilliant
sunshine
and
the
exercise
brought
about
a
more
genial
mood
.
Only
once
was
there
anything
approaching
friction
,
and
then
it
was
Hadria
herself
who
caused
it
.
“
Yes
,
we
all
flatter
ourselves
that
we
are
observing
life
,
when
we
are
merely
noting
the
occasions
when
some
musty
old
notion
of
ours
happens
,
by
chance
,
to
get
fulfilled
.
”
Hubert
Temperley
at
once
roused
Miss
Du
Prel
's
interest
by
the
large
stores
of
information
that
he
had
to
pour
forth
on
the
history
of
the
district
,
from
its
earliest
times
to
the
present
.
He
recalled
the
days
when
these
lands
that
looked
so
smooth
and
tended
had
been
mere
wastes
of
marsh
and
forest
.
How
quickly
these
great
changes
were
accomplished
!
Valeria
stood
on
the
brow
of
a
wide
corn-field
,
looking
out
over
the
sleeping
country
.
A
century
,
after
all
,
was
not
much
more
than
one
person
's
lifetime
,
yet
in
scarcely
nine
of
these
—
nine
little
troubled
lifetimes
—
what
incredible
things
had
occurred
in
this
island
of
ours
!
How
did
it
all
come
about
?
“
Not
assuredly
,
”
Valeria
remarked
with
sudden
malice
,
“
by
taking
things
as
they
stood
,
and
making
the
best
of
them
with
imbecile
impatience
.
If
everyone
had
done
that
,
what
sort
of
an
England
should
I
have
had
stretching
before
my
eyes
at
this
moment
?
”
“
You
would
not
have
been
here
to
see
,
”
said
Hadria
,
lazily
rolling
stones
down
the
hill
with
her
foot
.
“
We
should
all
of
us
have
been
dancing
round
some
huge
log-fire
on
the
borders
of
a
primeval
forest
,
and
instead
of
browsing
on
salads
,
as
we
did
to-day
,
we
should
be
sustaining
ourselves
on
the
unholy
nourishment
of
boiled
parent
or
grilled
aunt
.
”
Mr.
Temperley
's
refined
appearance
and
manner
seemed
to
raise
an
incarnate
protest
against
this
revolting
picture
.
For
some
occult
reason
,
the
imagination
of
all
was
at
work
especially
and
exclusively
on
the
figure
of
that
polished
gentleman
in
war-paint
and
feathers
,
sporting
round
the
cauldron
that
contained
the
boiled
earthly
remains
of
his
relations
.
Mr.
Fleming
betrayed
the
common
thought
by
remarking
that
it
would
be
very
becoming
to
him
.
“
Ah
!
I
wish
we
were
all
savages
in
feathers
and
war-paint
,
dancing
on
the
edge
of
some
wild
forest
,
with
nothing
but
the
sea
and
the
sky
for
limits
!
”
Miss
Du
Prel
surprised
her
audience
by
this
earnest
aspiration
.
“
Do
you
feel
inclined
to
revert
?
”
Hadria
enquired
.
“
Because
if
so
,
I
shall
be
glad
to
join
you
.
”
“
I
think
there
is
a
slight
touch
of
the
savage
about
Mrs.
Temperley
,
”
observed
Fleming
pensively
.
“
I
mean
,
do
n't
you
know
—
of
course
—
.
”
“
You
are
quite
right
!
”
cried
Valeria
.
“
I
have
often
noticed
a
sort
of
wildness
that
crops
up
now
and
then
through
a
very
smooth
surface
.
Hadria
may
sigh
for
the
woodlands
,
yet
—
!
”
CHAPTER
XVIII
.
THE
first
break
in
the
unity
of
the
Fullerton
family
had
occurred
on
the
occasion
of
Hadria
's
marriage
.
The
short
period
that
elapsed
between
that
memorable
New-Year's-Eve
and
the
wedding
had
been
a
painful
experience
for
Dunaghee
.
Hadria
's
conduct
had
shaken
her
brothers
'
faith
in
her
and
in
all
womankind
.
Ernest
especially
had
suffered
disillusion
.
He
had
supposed
her
above
the
ordinary
,
pettier
weaknesses
of
humanity
.
Other
fellows
'
sisters
had
seemed
to
him
miserable
travesties
of
their
sex
compared
with
her
.
(
There
was
one
exception
only
,
to
this
rule
.
)
But
now
,
what
was
he
to
think
?
She
had
shattered
his
faith
.
If
she
had
n't
been
“
so
cocksure
of
herself
,
”
he
would
n't
have
minded
so
much
;
but
after
all
she
had
professed
,
to
go
and
marry
,
and
marry
a
starched
specimen
like
that
!
Fred
was
equally
emphatic
.
For
a
long
time
he
had
regarded
it
all
as
a
joke
.
He
shook
his
head
knowingly
,
and
said
that
sort
of
thing
would
n't
go
down
.
When
he
was
at
length
convinced
,
he
danced
with
rage
.
He
became
cynical
.
He
had
no
patience
with
girls
.
They
talked
for
talking
's
sake
.
It
meant
nothing
.
Algitha
understood
,
better
than
her
brothers
could
understand
,
how
Hadria
's
emotional
nature
had
been
caught
in
some
strange
mood
,
how
the
eloquent
assurances
of
her
lover
might
have
half
convinced
her
.
Algitha
's
own
experience
of
proposals
set
her
on
the
track
of
the
mystery
.
“
It
is
most
misleading
,
”
she
pointed
out
,
to
her
scoffing
brothers
.
“
One
would
suppose
that
marrying
was
the
simplest
thing
in
the
world
—
nothing
perilous
,
nothing
to
object
to
about
it
.
A
man
proposes
to
you
as
if
he
were
asking
you
for
the
sixth
waltz
,
only
his
manner
is
perfervid
.
And
my
belief
is
that
half
the
girls
who
accept
do
n't
realize
that
they
are
agreeing
to
anything
much
more
serious
.
”
“
The
more
fools
they
!
”
“
True
;
but
it
really
is
most
bewildering
.
Claims
,
obligations
,
all
the
ugly
sides
of
the
affair
are
hidden
away
;
the
man
is
at
his
best
,
full
of
refinement
and
courtesy
and
unselfishness
.
And
if
he
persuades
the
girl
that
he
really
does
care
for
her
,
how
can
she
suppose
that
she
cannot
trust
her
future
to
him
—
if
he
loves
her
?
And
yet
she
ca
n't
!
”
“
How
can
a
man
suppose
that
one
girl
is
going
to
be
different
from
every
other
girl
?
”
asked
Fred
.
“
Different
,
you
mean
,
from
what
he
supposes
every
other
girl
to
be
,
”
Algitha
corrected
.
“
It
's
his
own
look-out
if
he
's
such
a
fool
.
”
“
I
believe
Hadria
married
because
she
was
sick
of
being
the
family
consolation
,
”
said
Ernest
.
“
Well
,
of
course
,
the
hope
of
escape
was
very
tempting
.
You
boys
do
n't
know
what
she
went
through
.
We
all
regret
her
marriage
to
Hubert
Temperley
—
though
between
ourselves
,
not
more
than
he
regrets
it
,
if
I
am
not
much
mistaken
—
but
it
is
very
certain
that
she
could
not
have
gone
on
living
at
home
much
longer
,
as
things
were
.
”
Fred
said
that
she
ought
to
have
broken
out
after
Algitha
's
fashion
,
if
it
was
so
bad
as
all
that
.
“
I
think
mother
would
have
died
if
she
had
,
”
said
the
sister
.
“
Hadria
was
awkwardly
placed
,
”
Fred
admitted
.
“
Do
you
remember
that
evening
in
the
garret
when
we
all
told
her
what
we
thought
?
”
asked
Ernest
.
Nobody
had
forgotten
that
painful
occasion
.
“
She
said
then
that
if
the
worst
came
to
the
worst
,
she
would
simply
run
away
.
What
could
prevent
her
?
”
“
That
wretched
sister
of
his
!
”
cried
Algitha
.
“
If
it
had
n't
been
for
her
,
the
marriage
would
never
have
taken
place
.
She
got
the
ear
of
mother
after
the
engagement
,
and
I
am
certain
it
was
through
her
influence
that
mother
hurried
the
wedding
on
so
.
If
only
there
had
been
a
little
more
time
,
it
could
have
been
prevented
.
And
Henriette
knew
that
.
She
is
as
knowing
—
”
“
I
wish
we
had
strangled
her
.
”
“
I
shall
never
forget
,
”
Algitha
went
on
,
“
that
night
when
Hadria
was
taken
with
a
fit
of
terror
—
it
was
nothing
less
—
and
wrote
to
break
off
the
engagement
,
and
that
woman
undertook
to
deliver
the
letter
and
lost
it
,
on
purpose
I
am
always
convinced
,
and
then
the
favourable
moment
was
over
.
”
“
What
made
her
so
anxious
for
the
marriage
beats
me
,
”
cried
Ernest
.
“
It
was
not
a
particularly
good
match
from
a
mercenary
point
of
view
.
”
“
She
thought
us
an
interesting
family
to
marry
into
,
”
suggested
Fred
,
“
which
is
undeniable
.
”
“
Then
she
must
be
greatly
disappointed
at
seeing
so
little
of
us
!
”
cried
Ernest
.
In
the
early
days
,
Miss
Temperley
had
stayed
frequently
at
the
Red
House
,
and
Hadria
had
been
cut
off
from
her
own
family
,
who
detested
Henriette
.
For
a
year
or
more
,
there
had
been
a
fair
promise
of
a
successful
adjustment
of
the
two
incongruous
natures
in
the
new
conditions
.
They
both
tried
to
keep
off
dangerous
ground
and
to
avoid
collisions
of
will
.
They
made
the
most
of
their
one
common
interest
,
although
even
here
they
soon
found
themselves
out
of
sympathy
.
Hubert
's
instincts
were
scholastic
and
lawful
,
Hadria
was
disposed
to
daring
innovation
.
Her
bizarre
compositions
shocked
him
painfully
.
The
two
jarred
on
one
another
,
in
great
things
and
in
small
.
The
halcyon
period
was
short-lived
.
The
dream
,
such
as
it
was
,
came
to
an
end
.
Hubert
turned
to
his
sister
,
in
his
bewilderment
and
disappointment
.
They
had
both
counted
so
securely
on
the
effect
of
experience
and
the
pressure
of
events
to
teach
Hadria
the
desirable
lesson
,
and
they
were
dismayed
to
find
that
,
unlike
other
women
,
she
had
failed
to
learn
it
.
Henriette
was
in
despair
.
It
was
she
who
had
brought
about
the
ill-starred
union
.
How
could
she
ever
forgive
herself
?
How
repair
the
error
she
had
made
?
Only
by
devoting
herself
to
her
brother
,
and
trying
patiently
to
bring
his
wife
to
a
wiser
frame
of
mind
.
A
considerable
time
had
elapsed
,
during
which
Hadria
saw
her
brothers
and
sister
only
at
long
intervals
.
Ernest
had
become
estranged
from
her
,
to
her
great
grief
.
He
was
as
courteous
and
tender
in
his
manner
to
her
as
of
yore
,
but
there
was
a
change
,
not
to
be
mistaken
.
She
had
lost
the
brother
of
her
girlhood
for
ever
.
While
it
bitterly
grieved
,
it
did
not
surprise
her
.
She
acknowledged
in
dismay
the
inconsistency
of
her
conduct
.
She
must
have
been
mad
!
The
universal
similarity
in
the
behaviour
of
girls
,
herself
included
,
alarmed
her
.
Was
there
some
external
will
that
drove
them
all
,
in
hordes
,
to
their
fate
?
Were
all
the
intricacies
of
event
and
circumstance
,
of
their
very
emotion
,
merely
the
workings
of
that
ruthless
cosmic
will
by
which
the
individual
was
hypnotised
and
ruled
?
As
usual
at
critical
moments
,
Hadria
had
been
solitary
in
her
encounter
with
the
elements
of
Fate
.
There
were
conflicts
that
even
her
sister
knew
nothing
about
,
the
bewilderments
and
temptations
of
a
nature
hampered
in
its
action
by
its
own
voluminous
qualities
and
its
caprice
.
Her
brothers
supposed
that
in
a
short
time
Hadria
would
be
“
wearing
bonnets
and
a
card-case
,
and
going
the
rounds
with
an
elegant
expression
like
the
rest
of
them
.
”
How
different
were
the
little
local
facts
of
life
—
the
little
chopped-up
life
that
accumulates
in
odds
and
ends
from
moment
to
moment
—
from
the
sun-and-smoke
vision
of
early
irresponsible
days
!
Mrs.
Fullerton
was
pleased
with
the
marriage
,
not
merely
because
Hubert
's
father
,
Judge
Temperley
,
could
secure
for
his
son
a
prosperous
career
,
but
because
she
was
so
thankful
to
see
a
strange
,
unaccountable
girl
like
Hadria
settling
quietly
down
,
with
a
couple
of
children
to
keep
her
out
of
mischief
.
That
was
what
it
had
come
to
!
Perhaps
they
calculated
a
little
too
surely
.
Possibly
even
two
children
might
not
keep
her
entirely
out
of
mischief
.
Out
of
what
impulse
of
malice
had
Fate
pitched
upon
the
most
essentially
mutinous
and
erratic
of
the
whole
brood
,
for
the
sedatest
rôle
?
But
perhaps
Fate
,
too
,
had
calculated
unscientifically
.
Mischief
was
always
possible
,
if
one
gave
one
's
mind
to
it
.
Or
was
she
growing
too
old
to
have
the
spirit
for
thorough-going
devilry
?
Youth
seemed
rather
an
affair
of
mental
outlook
than
of
years
.
She
felt
twenty
years
older
since
her
marriage
.
She
wondered
why
it
was
that
marriage
did
not
make
all
women
wicked
,
—
openly
and
actively
so
.
If
ever
there
was
an
arrangement
by
which
every
evil
instinct
and
every
spark
of
the
devil
was
likely
to
be
aroused
and
infuriated
,
surely
the
customs
and
traditions
that
clustered
round
this
estate
constituted
that
dangerous
combination
!
Hardship
,
difficulty
,
tragedy
could
be
faced
,
but
not
the
humiliating
,
the
degrading
,
the
contemptible
.
Hadria
had
her
own
particular
ideas
as
to
what
ought
to
be
set
down
under
these
headings
.
Most
women
,
she
found
,
ranked
certain
elements
very
differently
,
with
lavish
use
of
halos
and
gilding
in
their
honour
,
feeling
perhaps
,
she
hinted
,
the
dire
need
of
such
external
decoration
.
Good
heavens
!
Did
no
other
woman
realize
the
insult
of
it
all
?
Hadria
knew
so
few
women
intimately
;
none
intimately
enough
to
be
convinced
that
no
such
revolt
lay
smouldering
beneath
their
smiles
.
She
had
a
lonely
assurance
that
she
had
never
met
the
sister-soul
(
for
such
there
must
be
by
the
score
,
as
silent
as
she
)
,
who
shared
her
rage
and
her
detestations
.
Valeria
,
with
all
her
native
pride
,
regarded
these
as
proof
of
a
big
flaw
in
an
otherwise
sound
nature
.
Yet
how
deep
,
how
passionately
strong
,
these
feelings
were
,
how
gigantic
the
flaw
!
What
possessed
people
that
they
did
not
see
what
was
so
brutally
clear
?
As
young
girls
led
forth
unconscious
into
the
battle
,
with
a
bandage
over
their
eyes
,
and
cotton-wool
in
their
ears
—
yes
,
then
it
was
inevitable
that
the
!
should
see
and
hear
nothing
.
Had
they
been
newly
imported
from
the
moon
they
could
scarcely
have
less
acquaintance
with
terrestrial
conditions
;
but
afterwards
,
when
ruthlessly
,
with
the
grinning
assistance
of
the
onlookers
,
the
facts
of
the
social
scheme
were
cynically
revealed
,
and
the
rôle
imperiously
allotted
—
with
much
admonition
and
moving
appeals
to
conscience
and
religion
,
and
all
the
other
aides-de-camp
at
command
—
after
all
that
,
how
in
the
name
of
heaven
could
they
continue
to
“
babble
of
green
fields
”
?
Was
it
conceivable
that
among
the
thousands
of
women
to
whom
year
after
year
the
facts
were
disclosed
,
not
one
understood
and
not
one
—
hated
?
A
flame
sprang
up
in
Hadria
's
eyes
.
There
must
be
other
women
somewhere
at
this
very
moment
,
whose
whole
being
was
burning
up
with
this
bitter
,
this
sickening
and
futile
hatred
!
But
how
few
,
how
few
!
How
vast
was
the
meek
majority
,
fattening
on
indignity
,
proud
of
their
humiliation
!
Yet
how
wise
they
were
after
all
.
It
hurt
so
to
hate
—
to
hate
like
this
.
Submission
was
an
affair
of
temperament
,
a
gift
of
birth
.
Nature
endowed
with
a
serviceable
meekness
those
whom
she
designed
for
insult
.
Yet
it
might
not
be
meekness
so
much
as
mere
brutal
necessity
that
held
them
all
in
thrall
—
the
inexorable
logic
of
conditions
.
Fate
knew
better
than
to
assail
the
victim
point
blank
,
and
so
put
her
on
her
guard
.
No
;
she
lured
her
on
gently
,
cunningly
,
closing
behind
her
,
one
by
one
,
the
doors
of
escape
,
persuading
her
,
forcing
her
to
fasten
on
her
own
tethers
,
appealing
to
a
thousand
qualities
,
good
and
bad
;
now
to
a
moment
's
weakness
or
pity
,
now
to
her
eternal
fear
of
grieving
others
(
that
was
a
well-worked
vein
!
)
,
now
to
her
instinct
of
self-sacrifice
,
now
to
grim
necessity
itself
,
profiting
too
by
the
increasing
discouragements
,
the
vain
efforts
,
the
physical
pain
and
horrible
weariness
,
the
crowding
of
little
difficulties
,
harassments
,
the
troubles
of
others
—
ah
!
how
infinite
were
these
!
so
that
there
was
no
interval
for
breathing
,
and
scarcely
time
or
space
to
cope
with
the
legions
of
the
moment
;
the
horizon
was
black
with
their
advancing
hosts
!
And
this
assuredly
was
no
unique
experience
.
Hadria
remembered
how
she
had
once
said
that
if
the
worst
came
to
the
worst
,
it
would
be
easy
to
run
away
.
To
her
inexperience
desperate
remedies
had
seemed
so
simple
,
so
feasible
—
the
factors
of
life
so
few
and
unentwined
.
She
had
not
understood
how
prolific
are
our
deeds
,
how
an
act
brings
with
it
a
large
and
unexpected
progeny
,
which
surround
us
with
new
influences
and
force
upon
us
unforeseen
conditions
.
Yet
frequent
had
been
the
impulse
to
adopt
that
girlish
solution
of
the
difficulty
.
She
had
no
picturesque
grievances
of
the
kind
that
would
excite
sympathy
.
On
the
contrary
,
popular
feeling
would
set
dead
against
her
;
she
would
be
acting
on
an
idea
that
nobody
shared
,
not
even
her
most
intimate
friend
.
Miss
Du
Prel
had
arrived
at
the
conclusion
that
she
did
not
understand
Hadria
.
She
had
attributed
many
of
her
peculiarities
to
her
unique
education
and
her
inexperience
.
Hadria
had
indeed
changed
greatly
since
her
marriage
,
but
not
in
the
manner
that
might
have
been
expected
.
On
the
contrary
,
a
closer
intimacy
with
popular
social
ideals
had
fired
her
with
a
more
angry
spirit
of
rebellion
.
Miss
Du
Prel
had
met
examples
of
every
kind
of
eccentricity
,
but
she
had
never
before
come
upon
so
marked
an
instance
of
this
particular
type
.
Hadria
's
attitude
towards
life
had
suggested
to
Miss
Du
Prel
the
idea
of
her
heroine
,
Caterina
.
She
remonstrated
with
Hadria
,
assuring
her
that
no
insult
towards
women
was
intended
in
the
general
scheme
of
society
,
and
that
it
was
a
mistake
to
regard
it
in
so
resentful
a
spirit
.
“
But
that
is
just
the
most
insulting
thing
about
it
,
”
Hadria
exclaimed
.
“
Insult
is
so
much
a
matter
of
course
that
people
are
surprised
if
one
takes
umbrage
at
it
.
Read
this
passage
from
Aristotle
that
I
came
upon
the
other
day
.
He
is
perfectly
calm
and
amiable
,
entirely
unconscious
of
offence
,
when
he
says
that
‘a
wife
ought
to
shew
herself
even
more
obedient
to
the
rein
than
if
she
entered
the
house
as
a
purchased
slave
.
For
she
has
been
bought
at
a
high
price
,
for
the
sake
of
sharing
life
and
bearing
children
,
than
which
no
higher
or
holier
tie
can
possibly
exist.’
(
Henriette
to
the
very
life
!
)
”
Miss
Du
Prel
laughed
,
and
re-read
the
passage
from
the
Politics
,
in
some
surprise
.
“
Do
you
suppose
insult
is
deliberately
intended
in
that
graceful
sentiment
?
”
asked
Hadria
.
“
Obviously
not
.
If
any
woman
of
that
time
had
blazed
up
in
anger
at
the
well-meant
speech
,
she
would
have
astonished
and
grieved
her
contemporaries
.
Aristotle
doubtless
professed
a
high
respect
for
women
who
followed
his
precepts
—
as
men
do
now
when
we
are
obedient
.
”
“
Of
course
,
our
society
in
this
particular
has
not
wandered
far
from
the
Greek
idea
,
”
Miss
Du
Prel
observed
pensively
.
Hadria
pronounced
the
paradox
,
“
The
sharpness
of
the
insult
lies
in
its
not
being
intended
.
”
Miss
Du
Prel
could
not
prevail
upon
her
to
modify
the
assertion
.
Hadria
pointed
out
that
the
Greeks
also
meant
no
offence
in
regarding
their
respectable
women
as
simple
reproductive
agents
of
inferior
human
quality
.
“
And
though
our
well-brought-up
girls
shrink
from
the
frank
speech
,
they
do
not
appear
to
shrink
from
the
ideas
of
the
old
Greeks
.
They
do
n't
mind
playing
the
part
of
cows
so
long
as
one
does
n't
mention
it
.
”
About
eighteen
months
ago
,
the
village
had
been
full
of
talk
and
excitement
in
consequence
of
the
birth
of
an
heir
to
the
house
of
Engleton
,
Lady
Engleton
's
mission
in
life
being
frankly
regarded
as
unfulfilled
during
the
previous
three
or
four
years
,
when
she
had
disappointed
the
hopes
of
the
family
.
Hadria
listened
scornfully
.
In
her
eyes
,
the
crowning
indignity
of
the
whole
affair
was
Lady
Engleton
's
own
smiling
acceptance
of
the
position
,
and
her
complacent
eagerness
to
produce
the
tardy
inheritor
of
the
property
and
honours
.
This
expression
of
sentiment
had
,
by
some
means
,
reached
the
Vicarage
and
created
much
consternation
.
Mrs.
Walker
asserted
that
it
was
right
and
Christian
of
the
lady
to
desire
that
which
gave
every
one
so
much
pleasure
.
“
A
climax
of
feminine
abjectness
!
”
Hadria
had
exclaimed
in
Henriette
's
presence
.
Miss
Temperley
,
after
endeavouring
to
goad
her
sister-in-law
into
the
expression
of
jubilant
congratulations
,
was
met
by
the
passionate
declaration
that
she
felt
more
disposed
to
weep
than
to
rejoice
,
and
more
disposed
to
curse
than
to
weep
.
Obviously
,
Miss
Temperley
had
reason
to
be
uneasy
about
her
part
in
bringing
about
her
brother
's
marriage
.
These
sudden
overflows
of
exasperated
feeling
had
become
less
frequent
as
time
went
on
,
but
the
neighbours
looked
askance
at
Mrs.
Temperley
.
Though
a
powder-magazine
may
not
always
blow
up
,
one
passes
it
with
a
grave
consciousness
of
vast
stores
of
inflammable
material
lying
somewhere
within
,
and
who
knows
what
spark
might
set
the
thing
spouting
to
the
skies
?
When
the
occasional
visitors
had
left
,
life
in
the
village
settled
down
to
its
normal
level
,
or
more
accurately
,
to
its
normal
flatness
as
regarded
general
contours
,
and
its
petty
inequalities
in
respect
to
local
detail
.
It
reminded
Hadria
of
the
landscape
which
stretched
in
quiet
long
lines
to
the
low
horizon
,
while
close
at
hand
,
the
ground
fussed
and
fretted
itself
into
minor
ups
and
downs
of
no
character
,
but
with
all
the
trouble
of
a
mountain
district
in
its
complexities
of
slope
and
hollow
.
Hadria
suffered
from
a
gnawing
home-sickness
;
a
longing
for
the
rougher
,
bleaker
scenery
of
the
North
.
The
tired
spirit
translated
the
homely
English
country
,
so
deeply
reposeful
in
its
spirit
,
into
an
image
of
dull
unrest
.
If
only
those
broken
,
stupid
lines
could
have
been
smoothed
out
into
the
grandeur
of
a
plain
,
Hadria
thought
that
it
would
have
comforted
her
,
as
if
a
song
had
moved
across
it
with
the
long-stretching
winds
.
As
it
was
,
to
look
from
her
window
only
meant
to
find
repeated
the
trivialities
of
life
,
more
picturesque
indeed
,
but
still
trivialities
.
It
was
the
estimable
and
domestic
qualities
of
Nature
that
presented
themselves
:
Nature
in
her
most
maternal
and
uninspired
mood
—
Mother
earth
submissive
to
the
dictatorship
of
man
,
permitting
herself
to
be
torn
,
and
wounded
,
and
furrowed
,
and
harrowed
at
his
pleasure
,
yielding
her
substance
and
her
life
to
sustain
the
produce
of
his
choosing
,
her
body
and
her
soul
abandoned
supine
to
his
caprice
.
The
sight
had
an
exasperating
effect
upon
Hadria
.
Its
symbolism
haunted
her
.
The
calm
,
sweet
English
landscape
affected
her
at
times
with
a
sort
of
disgust
.
It
was
,
perhaps
,
the
same
in
kind
as
the
far
stronger
sensation
of
disgust
that
she
felt
when
she
first
saw
Lady
Engleton
with
her
new-born
child
,
full
of
pride
and
exultation
.
It
was
as
much
as
she
could
do
to
shake
hands
with
the
happy
mother
.
When
Valeria
expressed
dismay
at
so
strange
a
feeling
Hadria
had
refused
to
be
treated
as
a
solitary
sinner
.
There
were
plenty
of
fellow-culprits
,
she
said
,
only
they
did
not
dare
to
speak
out
.
Let
Valeria
study
girls
and
judge
for
herself
.
Hadria
was
challenged
to
name
a
girl
.
Well
,
Algitha
for
one
.
Hadria
also
suspected
Marion
Jordan
,
well-drilled
though
she
was
by
her
dragoon
of
a
mother
.
Valeria
would
not
hear
of
it
.
Marion
Jordan
!
the
gentlest
,
timidest
,
most
typical
of
young
English
girls
!
Impossible
!
“
I
am
almost
sure
of
it
,
nevertheless
,
”
said
Hadria
.
“
Oh
,
believe
me
,
it
is
common
enough
!
Few
grasp
it
intellectually
perhaps
,
but
thousands
feel
the
insult
;
of
that
I
am
morally
certain
.
”
“
What
leads
you
to
think
so
in
Marion
's
case
?
”
“
Some
look
,
or
tone
,
or
word
;
something
slight
,
but
to
my
mind
conclusive
.
Fellow-sinners
detect
one
another
,
you
know
.
”
“
Well
,
I
do
n't
understand
what
the
world
is
coming
to
!
”
exclaimed
Miss
Du
Prel
.
“
Where
are
the
natural
instincts
?
”
“
Sprouting
up
for
the
first
time
perhaps
,
”
Hadria
suggested
.
“
They
seem
to
be
disappearing
,
if
what
you
say
has
the
slightest
foundation
.
”
“
Oh
,
you
are
speaking
of
only
one
kind
of
instinct
.
The
others
have
all
been
suppressed
.
Perhaps
women
are
not
altogether
animals
after
all
.
The
thought
is
startling
,
I
know
.
Try
to
face
it
.
”
“
I
never
supposed
they
were
,
”
cried
Valeria
,
a
little
annoyed
.
“
But
you
never
made
allowance
for
the
suppressed
instincts
,
”
said
Hadria
.
“
I
do
n't
believe
they
can
be
suppressed
.
”
“
I
believe
they
can
be
not
merely
suppressed
,
but
killed
past
hope
of
recovery
.
And
I
also
believe
that
there
may
be
,
that
there
must
be
,
ideas
and
emotions
fermenting
in
people
's
brains
,
quite
different
from
those
that
they
are
supposed
and
ordered
to
cherish
,
and
that
these
heresies
go
on
working
in
secret
for
years
before
they
become
even
suspected
,
and
then
suddenly
the
population
exchange
confessions
.
”
“
After
that
the
Deluge
!
”
exclaimed
Miss
Du
Prel
.
“
You
describe
the
features
of
a
great
revolution
.
”
“
So
much
the
better
,
”
said
Hadria
;
“
and
when
the
waters
sink
again
,
a
nice
fresh
clean
world
!
”
CHAPTER
XIX
.
ON
the
lawn
of
the
Red
House
,
a
little
group
was
collected
under
the
big
walnut
tree
.
The
sunlight
fell
through
the
leaves
on
the
singing
tea-kettle
and
the
cups
and
saucers
,
and
made
bright
patches
on
the
figures
and
the
faces
assembled
round
the
tea-table
.
Hubert
Temperley
had
again
brought
his
friend
Joseph
Fleming
,
in
the
forlorn
hope
,
he
said
,
of
being
able
to
give
him
something
to
eat
and
drink
.
Ernest
and
Algitha
and
Fred
were
of
the
party
.
They
had
come
down
from
Saturday
till
Monday
.
Ernest
was
studying
for
the
Bar
.
Fred
had
entered
a
merchant
's
office
in
the
city
,
and
hated
his
work
cordially
.
Miss
Du
Prel
was
still
at
the
Red
House
.
Lady
Engleton
had
called
by
chance
this
afternoon
,
and
Mrs.
Walker
,
the
vicar
's
wife
,
with
two
of
her
countless
daughters
,
had
come
by
invitation
.
Mrs.
Walker
was
a
middle-aged
,
careworn
,
rather
prim-looking
woman
.
Lady
Engleton
was
handsome
.
Bright
auburn
hair
waved
back
in
picturesque
fashion
from
a
piquant
face
,
and
constituted
more
than
half
her
claim
to
beauty
.
The
brown
eyes
were
bright
and
vivacious
.
The
mouth
was
seldom
quite
shut
.
It
scarcely
seemed
worth
while
,
the
loquacious
lady
had
confessed
.
She
showed
a
delicate
taste
in
dress
.
Shades
of
brown
and
russet
made
a
fine
harmony
with
her
auburn
hair
,
and
the
ivory
white
and
fresh
red
of
her
skin
.
She
and
Temperley
always
enjoyed
a
sprightly
interchange
of
epigrams
.
Lady
Engleton
had
the
qualities
that
Hubert
had
admired
in
Hadria
before
their
marriage
,
and
she
was
entirely
free
from
the
other
characteristics
that
had
exasperated
him
so
desperately
since
that
hideous
mistake
that
he
had
made
.
Lady
Engleton
had
originality
and
brilliancy
,
but
she
knew
how
to
combine
these
qualities
with
perfect
obedience
to
the
necessary
conventions
of
life
.
She
had
the
sparkle
of
champagne
,
without
the
troublesome
tendency
of
that
delicate
beverage
to
break
bounds
,
and
brim
over
in
iridescent
,
swelling
,
joyous
foam
,
the
discreet
edges
of
such
goblets
as
custom
might
decree
for
the
sunny
vintage
.
Lady
Engleton
sparkled
,
glowed
,
nipped
even
at
times
,
was
of
excellent
dry
quality
,
but
she
never
frothed
over
.
She
always
knew
where
to
stop
;
she
had
the
genius
of
moderation
.
She
stood
to
Hadria
as
a
correct
rendering
of
a
cherished
idea
stands
to
a
faulty
one
.
She
made
Hubert
acutely
feel
his
misfortune
,
and
shewed
him
his
lost
hope
,
his
shattered
ideal
.
“
Is
the
picture
finished
?
”
he
enquired
,
as
he
handed
Lady
Engleton
her
tea
.
“
What
,
the
view
from
your
field
?
Not
quite
.
I
was
working
at
it
when
Claude
Moreton
and
Mrs.
Jordan
and
Marion
arrived
,
and
I
have
been
rather
interrupted
.
That
's
the
worst
of
visitors
.
One
's
little
immortal
works
do
get
put
aside
,
poor
things
.
”
Lady
Engleton
broke
into
the
light
laugh
that
had
become
almost
mechanical
with
her
.
“
Your
friends
grudge
the
hours
you
spend
in
your
studio
,
”
said
Temperley
.
“
Oh
,
they
do
n't
mind
,
so
long
as
I
give
them
as
much
time
as
they
want
,
”
she
said
.
“
I
have
to
apologise
and
compromise
,
do
n't
you
know
,
but
,
with
a
little
management
,
one
can
get
on
.
Of
course
,
society
does
ask
a
good
deal
of
attention
,
does
n't
it
?
and
one
has
to
be
so
careful
.
”
“
Just
a
little
tact
and
thought
,
”
said
Temperley
with
a
sigh
.
Lady
Engleton
admired
Algitha
,
who
was
standing
with
Ernest
a
little
apart
from
the
group
.
“
She
is
like
your
wife
,
and
yet
there
is
a
singular
difference
in
the
expression
.
”
Lady
Engleton
was
too
discreet
to
say
that
Mrs.
Temperley
lacked
the
look
of
contentment
and
serenity
that
was
so
marked
in
her
sister
's
face
.
“
Algitha
is
a
thoroughly
sensible
girl
,
”
said
the
brother-in-law
.
“
I
hear
you
have
not
long
returned
from
a
visit
to
Mr.
Fullerton
's
place
in
Scotland
,
Mr.
Temperley
,
”
observed
the
vicar
's
wife
when
her
host
turned
to
address
her
.
“
Yes
,
”
he
said
,
“
we
have
been
there
half
the
summer
.
The
boys
thoroughly
enjoyed
the
freedom
and
the
novelty
.
The
river
,
of
course
,
was
a
source
of
great
joy
to
them
,
and
of
hideous
anxiety
to
the
rest
of
us
.
”
“
Of
course
,
of
course
,
”
assented
Mrs.
Walker
.
“
Ah
,
there
are
the
dear
little
boys
.
Wo
n't
you
come
and
give
me
a
kiss
,
darling
?
”
“
Darling
”
did
what
was
required
in
a
business-like
manner
,
and
stood
by
,
while
the
lady
discovered
in
him
a
speaking
likeness
to
his
parents
,
to
his
Aunt
Algitha
and
his
Uncle
Fred
,
not
to
mention
the
portrait
of
his
great-grandfather
,
the
Solicitor-General
,
that
hung
in
the
dining-room
.
The
child
seemed
thoroughly
accustomed
to
be
thought
the
living
image
of
various
relations
,
and
he
waited
indifferently
till
the
list
was
ended
.
“
Do
you
know
,
we
are
half
hoping
that
Professor
Fortescue
may
be
able
to
come
to
us
for
a
week
or
ten
days
?
”
said
Lady
Engleton
.
“
We
are
so
looking
forward
to
it
.
”
“
Professor
Fortescue
is
always
a
favourite
,
”
remarked
Mrs.
Walker
.
“
It
is
such
a
pity
he
does
not
return
to
the
Priory
,
is
it
not
?
—
a
great
house
like
that
standing
empty
.
Of
course
it
is
very
natural
after
the
dreadful
event
that
happened
there
”
—
Mrs
.
Walker
lowered
her
voice
discreetly
—
“
but
it
seems
a
sin
to
leave
the
place
untenanted
.
”
Lady
Engleton
explained
that
there
was
some
prospect
of
the
house
being
let
at
last
to
a
friend
and
colleague
of
the
Professor
.
Mrs.
Walker
doubtless
would
remember
Professor
Theobald
,
who
used
to
come
and
stay
at
Craddock
Place
rather
frequently
some
years
ago
,
a
big
man
with
beard
and
moustache
,
very
learned
and
very
amusing
.
Mrs.
Walker
remembered
him
perfectly
.
Her
husband
had
been
so
much
interested
in
his
descriptions
of
a
tour
in
Palestine
,
all
through
the
scenes
of
the
New
Testament
.
He
was
a
great
archæologist
.
Was
he
really
coming
to
the
Priory
?
How
very
delightful
.
John
would
be
so
glad
to
hear
it
.
“
Oh
,
it
is
not
settled
yet
,
but
the
two
Professors
are
coming
to
us
some
time
soon
,
I
believe
,
and
Professor
Theobald
will
look
over
the
house
and
see
if
he
thinks
it
would
be
too
unmanageably
big
for
himself
and
his
old
mother
and
sister
.
I
hope
he
will
take
the
place
.
He
would
bring
a
new
and
interesting
element
into
the
village
.
What
do
you
think
of
it
,
Mrs.
Temperley
?
”
“
Oh
,
I
hope
the
learned
and
amusing
Professor
will
come
,
”
she
said
.
“
The
worst
of
it
is
,
from
my
point
of
view
,
that
I
shall
have
to
give
up
my
practices
there
.
Professor
Fortescue
allows
me
to
wake
the
old
piano
from
its
long
slumbers
in
the
drawing-room
.
”
“
Oh
,
of
course
.
Marion
Jordan
was
telling
me
that
she
was
quite
startled
the
other
day
,
in
crossing
the
Priory
garden
,
to
hear
music
stealing
out
of
the
apparently
deserted
house
.
She
had
heard
the
country
people
say
that
the
ghost
of
poor
Mrs.
Fortescue
walks
along
the
terrace
in
the
twilight
,
and
Marion
looked
quite
scared
when
she
came
in
,
for
the
music
seemed
to
come
from
the
drawing-room
,
where
its
mistress
used
to
play
so
much
after
she
was
first
married
.
I
almost
wonder
you
can
sit
alone
there
in
the
dusk
,
considering
the
dreadful
associations
of
the
place
.
”
“
I
am
used
to
it
now
,
”
Mrs.
Temperley
replied
,
“
and
it
is
so
nice
and
quiet
in
the
empty
house
.
One
knows
one
ca
n't
be
interrupted
—
unless
by
ghosts
.
”
“
Well
,
that
is
certainly
a
blessing
,
”
cried
Lady
Engleton
.
“
I
think
I
shall
ask
Professor
Fortescue
to
allow
me
also
to
go
to
the
Priory
to
pursue
my
art
in
peace
and
quietness
;
a
truly
hyperborean
state
,
beyond
the
region
of
visitors
!
”
“
There
would
be
plenty
of
room
for
a
dozen
unsociable
monomaniacs
like
ourselves
,
”
said
Mrs.
Temperley
.
“
I
imagine
you
are
a
God-send
to
poor
Mrs.
Williams
,
the
caretaker
,
”
said
Joseph
Fleming
.
“
She
is
my
gamekeeper
's
sister
,
and
I
hear
that
she
finds
the
solitude
in
that
vast
house
almost
more
than
she
can
stand
.
”
“
Poor
woman
!
”
said
Lady
Engleton
.
“
Well
,
Mr.
Fleming
,
what
are
the
sporting
prospects
this
autumn
?
”
He
pulled
himself
together
,
and
his
face
lighted
up
.
On
that
subject
he
could
speak
for
hours
.
Of
Joseph
Fleming
his
friends
all
said
:
The
best
fellow
in
the
world
.
A
kinder
heart
had
no
man
.
He
lived
on
his
little
property
from
year
's
end
to
year
's
end
,
for
the
sole
and
single
end
of
depriving
the
pheasants
and
partridges
which
he
bred
upon
the
estate
,
of
their
existence
.
He
was
a
confirmed
bachelor
,
living
quietly
,
and
taking
the
world
as
he
found
it
(
seeing
that
there
was
a
sufficiency
of
partridges
in
good
seasons
)
;
trusting
that
there
was
a
God
above
who
would
not
let
the
supply
run
short
,
if
one
honestly
tried
to
do
one
's
duty
and
lived
an
upright
life
,
harming
no
man
,
and
women
only
so
much
as
was
strictly
honourable
and
necessary
.
He
spoke
ill
of
no
one
.
He
was
diffident
of
his
own
powers
,
except
about
sport
,
wherein
he
knew
himself
princely
,
and
cherished
that
sort
of
respect
for
woman
,
thoroughly
sincere
,
which
assigns
to
her
a
pedestal
in
a
sheltered
niche
,
and
offers
her
homage
on
condition
of
her
staying
where
she
is
put
,
even
though
she
starve
there
,
solitary
and
esteemed
.
“
Do
tell
me
,
Mr.
Fleming
,
if
you
know
,
who
is
that
very
handsome
woman
with
the
white
hair
?
”
said
Lady
Engleton
.
“
She
is
talking
to
Mrs.
Walker
.
I
seem
to
know
the
face
.
”
“
Oh
,
that
is
Miss
Valeria
Du
Prel
,
the
authoress
of
those
books
that
Mrs.
Walker
is
so
shocked
at
.
”
“
Oh
,
of
course
;
how
stupid
of
me
.
I
should
like
to
have
some
conversation
with
her
.
”
“
That
's
easily
managed
.
I
do
n't
think
she
and
Mrs.
Walker
quite
appreciate
each
other
.
”
Lady
Engleton
laughed
.
Mrs.
Walker
was
anxiously
watching
her
daughters
,
and
endeavouring
to
keep
them
at
a
distance
from
Miss
Du
Prel
,
who
looked
tragically
bored
.
Joseph
Fleming
found
means
to
release
her
,
and
Lady
Engleton
's
desire
was
gratified
.
“
I
admire
your
books
so
much
,
Miss
Du
Prel
,
and
I
have
so
often
wished
to
see
more
of
you
;
but
you
have
been
abroad
for
the
last
two
years
,
I
hear
.
”
Lady
Engleton
,
after
asking
the
authoress
to
explain
exactly
what
she
meant
by
her
last
book
,
enquired
if
she
had
the
latest
news
of
Professor
Fortescue
.
Lady
Engleton
had
heard
,
with
regret
,
that
he
had
been
greatly
worried
about
that
troublesome
nephew
whom
he
had
educated
and
sent
to
Oxford
.
“
The
young
fellow
had
been
behaving
very
badly
,
”
Miss
Du
Prel
said
.
“
Ungrateful
creature
,
”
cried
Lady
Engleton
.
“
Running
into
debt
I
suppose
.
”
Miss
Du
Prel
feared
that
the
Professor
was
suffering
in
health
.
He
had
been
working
very
hard
.
“
Oh
,
yes
;
what
was
that
about
some
method
of
killing
animals
instantaneously
to
avoid
the
horrors
of
the
slaughter-house
?
Professor
Theobald
has
been
saying
what
a
pity
it
is
that
a
man
so
able
should
waste
his
time
over
these
fads
.
It
would
never
bring
him
fame
or
profit
,
only
ridicule
.
Every
man
had
his
little
weakness
,
but
this
idea
of
saving
pain
to
animals
,
Professor
Theobald
said
,
was
becoming
a
sort
of
mania
with
poor
Fortescue
,
and
one
feared
that
it
might
injure
his
career
.
He
was
greatly
looked
up
to
in
the
scientific
world
,
but
this
sort
of
thing
of
course
—
”
“
Though
it
is
nice
of
him
in
a
way
,
”
added
Lady
Engleton
.
“
His
weaknesses
are
nobler
than
most
people
's
virtues
,
”
said
Miss
Du
Prel
.
“
Then
you
number
this
among
his
weaknesses
?
”
Algitha
,
who
had
joined
the
group
,
put
this
question
.
“
I
would
rather
see
him
working
in
the
cause
of
humanity
,
”
Miss
Du
Prel
answered
.
Ernest
surprised
everyone
by
suggesting
that
possibly
humanity
was
well
served
,
in
the
long
run
,
by
reminding
it
of
the
responsibility
that
goes
with
power
,
and
by
giving
it
an
object
lesson
in
the
decent
treatment
of
those
who
ca
n't
defend
themselves
.
“
You
must
have
sat
at
the
Professor
's
feet
,
”
cried
Miss
Du
Prel
,
raising
her
eyebrows
.
“
I
have
,
”
said
Ernest
,
with
a
little
gesture
of
pride
.
Lady
Engleton
shook
her
head
.
“
I
fear
he
flies
too
high
for
ordinary
mortals
,
”
she
said
;
“
and
I
doubt
if
even
he
can
be
quite
consistent
at
that
altitude
.
”
“
Better
perhaps
fly
fairly
high
,
and
come
down
now
and
again
to
rest
,
if
one
must
,
than
grovel
consistently
and
always
,
”
observed
Ernest
.
Lady
Engleton
gave
a
little
scream
.
“
Mrs.
Temperley
,
come
to
the
rescue
.
Your
brother
is
calling
us
names
.
He
says
we
grovel
consistently
and
always
.
”
Ernest
laughed
,
and
protested
.
Lady
Engleton
pretended
to
be
mortally
offended
.
Mrs.
Temperley
was
sorry
she
could
give
no
redress
.
She
had
suffered
from
Ernest
's
painful
frankness
from
her
youth
upwards
.
The
conversation
grew
discursive
.
Lady
Engleton
enjoyed
the
pastime
of
lightly
touching
the
edges
of
what
she
called
“
advanced
”
thought
.
She
sought
the
society
of
people
like
the
two
Professors
and
Miss
Du
Prel
,
in
order
to
hear
what
dreadful
and
delightful
things
they
really
would
say
.
She
read
all
the
new
books
,
and
went
to
the
courageous
plays
that
Mrs.
Walker
would
n't
mention
.
“
Your
last
book
,
Caterina
,
is
a
mine
of
suggestion
,
Miss
Du
Prel
,
”
she
said
.
“
It
raises
one
most
interesting
point
that
has
puzzled
me
greatly
.
I
do
n't
know
if
you
have
all
read
the
book
?
The
heroine
finds
herself
differing
in
her
view
of
life
from
everyone
round
her
.
She
is
married
,
but
she
has
made
no
secret
of
her
scorn
for
the
old
ideals
,
and
has
announced
that
she
has
no
intention
of
being
bound
by
them
.
”
Mrs.
Temperley
glanced
uneasily
at
Miss
Du
Prel
.
“
Accordingly
she
does
even
as
she
had
said
,
”
continued
Lady
Engleton
.
“
She
will
not
brook
that
interference
with
her
liberty
which
marriage
among
us
old-fashioned
people
generally
implies
.
She
refuses
to
submit
to
the
attempt
that
is
of
course
made
(
in
spite
of
a
pre-nuptial
understanding
)
to
bring
her
under
the
yoke
,
and
so
off
she
goes
and
lives
independently
,
leaving
husband
and
relatives
lamenting
.
”
The
vicar
's
wife
said
she
thought
she
must
be
going
home
.
Her
husband
would
be
expecting
her
.
“
Oh
,
wo
n't
you
wait
a
little
,
Mrs.
Walker
?
Your
daughters
would
perhaps
like
a
game
of
tennis
with
my
brothers
presently
.
”
Mrs.
Walker
yielded
uneasily
.
“
But
before
Caterina
takes
the
law
into
her
own
hands
,
in
this
way
,
”
Lady
Engleton
continued
,
“
she
is
troubled
with
doubts
.
She
sometimes
wonders
whether
she
ought
not
,
after
all
,
to
respect
the
popular
standards
(
notwithstanding
the
compact
)
,
instead
of
disturbing
everybody
by
clinging
to
her
own
.
Now
was
it
strength
of
character
or
obstinate
egotism
that
induced
her
to
stick
to
her
original
colours
,
come
what
might
?
That
is
the
question
which
the
book
has
stated
but
left
unanswered
.
”
Miss
Du
Prel
said
that
the
book
showed
,
if
it
showed
anything
,
that
one
must
be
true
to
one
's
own
standard
,
and
not
attempt
to
respect
an
ideal
in
practice
that
one
despises
in
theory
.
We
are
bound
,
she
asserted
,
to
produce
that
which
is
most
individual
within
us
;
to
be
ourselves
,
and
not
a
poor
imitation
of
someone
else
;
to
dare
even
apparent
wrong-doing
,
rather
than
submit
to
live
a
life
of
devotion
to
that
which
we
cannot
believe
.
Mrs.
Walker
suggested
to
her
daughters
that
they
might
go
and
have
a
look
at
the
rose-garden
,
but
the
daughters
preferred
to
listen
to
the
conversation
.
“
In
real
life
,
”
said
the
practical
Algitha
,
“
Caterina
would
not
have
been
able
to
follow
her
idea
so
simply
.
Supposing
she
had
had
children
and
complicated
circumstances
,
what
could
she
have
done
?
”
Miss
Du
Prel
thought
that
a
compromise
might
have
been
made
.
“
A
compromise
by
which
she
could
act
according
to
two
opposite
standards
?
”
Valeria
was
impatient
of
difficulties
.
It
was
not
necessary
that
a
woman
should
leave
her
home
in
order
to
be
true
to
her
conscience
.
It
was
the
best
method
in
Caterina
's
case
,
but
not
in
all
.
Miss
Du
Prel
did
not
explain
very
clearly
what
she
meant
.
Women
made
too
much
of
difficulties
,
she
thought
.
Somehow
people
had
managed
to
overcome
obstacles
.
Look
at
—
and
then
followed
a
list
of
shining
examples
.
“
I
believe
you
would
blame
a
modern
woman
who
imitated
them
,
”
said
Mrs.
Temperley
.
“
These
women
have
the
inestimable
advantage
of
being
dead
.
”
“
Ah
,
yes
,
”
Lady
Engleton
agreed
,
with
a
laugh
,
“
we
women
may
be
anything
we
like
—
in
the
last
century
.
”
“
The
tides
of
a
hundred
years
or
so
sweeping
over
one
's
audacious
deed
,
soften
the
raw
edges
.
Then
it
is
tolerated
in
the
landscape
;
indeed
,
it
grows
mossy
and
picturesque
.
”
Mrs.
Temperley
made
this
comparison
.
“
And
then
think
how
useful
it
becomes
to
prove
that
a
daring
deed
can
be
done
,
given
only
the
necessary
stuff
in
brain
and
heart
.
”
Mrs.
Walker
looked
at
Algitha
in
dismay
.
“
One
can
throw
it
in
the
teeth
of
one
's
contemporaries
,
”
added
Algitha
,
“
if
they
fail
to
produce
a
dramatic
climax
of
the
same
kind
.
”
Only
,
”
said
Mrs.
Temperley
,
“
if
they
do
venture
upon
their
own
dreadful
deed
—
the
deed
demanded
by
their
particular
modern
predicament
—
then
we
all
shriek
vigorously
.
”
“
Oh
,
we
shriek
less
than
we
used
to
,
”
said
Lady
Engleton
.
“
It
is
quite
a
relief
to
be
able
to
retain
one
's
respectability
on
easier
terms
.
”
“
In
such
a
case
as
Miss
Du
Prel
depicts
?
I
doubt
it
.
Caterina
,
in
real
life
,
would
have
a
lively
story
to
tell
.
How
selfish
we
should
think
her
!
How
we
should
point
to
the
festoons
of
bleeding
hearts
that
she
had
wounded
—
a
dripping
cordon
round
the
deserted
home
!
No
;
I
believe
Miss
Du
Prel
herself
would
be
horrified
at
her
own
Caterina
if
she
came
upon
her
unexpectedly
in
somebody
's
drawing-room
.
”
There
was
a
laugh
.
“
Of
course
,
a
great
deal
is
to
be
said
for
the
popular
way
of
looking
at
the
matter
,
”
Lady
Engleton
observed
.
“
This
fascinating
heroine
must
have
caused
a
great
deal
of
real
sorrow
,
or
at
least
she
would
have
caused
it
,
were
it
not
that
her
creator
had
considerably
removed
all
relatives
,
except
a
devoted
couple
of
unorthodox
parents
,
who
are
charmed
at
her
decision
to
scandalize
society
,
and
wonder
why
she
does
n't
do
it
sooner
.
Parents
like
that
do
n't
grow
on
every
bush
.
”
Mrs.
Walker
glanced
nervously
at
her
astonished
girls
.
Lady
Engleton
pointed
out
that
had
Caterina
been
situated
in
a
more
ordinary
manner
,
she
would
have
certainly
broken
her
parents
'
hearts
and
embittered
their
last
years
,
to
say
nothing
of
the
husband
and
perhaps
the
children
,
who
would
have
suffered
for
want
of
a
mother
's
care
.
“
But
why
should
the
husband
suffer
?
”
asked
Algitha
.
“
Caterina
's
husband
cordially
detested
her
.
”
“
It
is
customary
to
regard
the
occasion
as
one
proper
for
suffering
,
”
said
Mrs.
Temperley
,
“
and
every
well-regulated
husband
would
suffer
accordingly
.
”
“
Clearly
,
”
assented
Lady
Engleton
.
“
When
the
world
congratulates
us
we
rejoice
,
when
it
condoles
with
us
we
weep
.
”
“
That
at
least
,
would
not
affect
the
children
,
”
said
Algitha
.
“
I
do
n't
see
why
of
necessity
they
should
suffer
.
”
“
Their
share
of
the
woe
would
be
least
of
all
,
I
think
,
”
Mrs.
Temperley
observed
.
“
What
ogre
is
going
to
ill-treat
them
?
And
since
few
of
us
know
how
to
bring
up
so
much
as
an
earth-worm
reasonably
,
I
ca
n't
see
that
it
matters
so
very
much
which
particular
woman
looks
after
the
children
.
Any
average
fool
would
do
.
”
Mrs.
Walker
was
stiffening
in
every
limb
.
“
The
children
would
have
the
usual
chances
of
their
class
;
neither
more
nor
less
,
as
it
seems
to
me
,
for
lack
of
a
maternal
burnt-offering
.
”
Mrs.
Walker
rose
,
gathered
her
daughters
about
her
,
and
came
forward
to
say
good-bye
.
She
was
sure
her
husband
would
be
annoyed
if
she
did
not
return
.
She
retired
with
nervous
precipitation
.
“
Really
you
will
depopulate
this
village
,
Mrs.
Temperley
,
”
cried
Lady
Engleton
with
a
laugh
;
“
it
is
quite
dangerous
to
bring
up
a
family
within
your
reach
.
There
will
be
a
general
exodus
.
I
must
be
going
myself
,
or
I
sha
n't
have
an
orthodox
sentiment
left
.
”
CHAPTER
XX
.
HENRIETTE
had
secured
Mrs.
Fullerton
for
an
ally
,
from
the
beginning
.
When
Hadria
's
parents
visited
the
Red
House
,
Miss
Temperley
was
asked
to
meet
them
,
by
special
request
.
Henriette
employed
tact
on
a
grand
scale
,
and
achieved
results
in
proportion
.
She
was
sorry
that
dear
Hadria
did
not
more
quickly
recover
her
strength
.
Her
health
was
not
what
it
ought
to
be
.
Mrs.
Fullerton
sighed
.
She
vas
ready
to
play
into
Miss
Temperley
's
hands
on
every
occasion
.
The
latter
had
less
success
in
her
dealings
with
Miss
Du
Prel
.
She
tried
to
discover
Hadria
's
more
intimate
feelings
by
talking
her
over
with
Valeria
,
ignoring
the
snubs
that
were
copiously
administered
by
that
indignant
lady
.
Valeria
spoke
with
sublime
scorn
of
this
attempt
.
“
To
try
and
pump
information
out
of
a
friend
!
Why
not
listen
at
the
key-hole
,
and
be
done
with
it
!
”
Henriette
's
neat
hair
would
have
stood
on
end
,
had
she
heard
Miss
Du
Prel
fit
adjectives
to
her
conduct
.
“
I
have
learnt
not
to
expect
a
nice
sense
of
honour
from
superior
persons
with
unimpeachable
sentiments
,
”
said
Hadria
.
“
You
are
certainly
a
good
hater
!
”
cried
Valeria
,
with
a
laugh
.
“
Oh
,
I
do
n't
hate
Henriette
;
I
only
hate
unimpeachable
sentiments
.
”
The
sentiments
that
Henriette
represented
had
become
,
to
Hadria
,
as
the
walls
of
a
prison
from
which
she
could
see
no
means
of
escape
.
She
had
found
that
life
took
no
heed
either
of
her
ambitions
or
of
her
revolts
.
“
And
so
I
growl
,
”
she
said
.
She
might
hate
and
chafe
in
secret
to
her
heart
's
content
;
external
conformity
was
the
one
thing
needful
.
“
Hadria
will
be
so
different
when
she
has
children
