herfevered
questions
,
philosophically
assured
her
that
there
has
been
neither
note
nor
message
left
for
her
in
her
absence
?
"
Do
not
,
"
she
says
hoarsely
;
"
do
not
laugh
.
I
cannot
bear
it
.
He
was
not
there
;
he
never
came
.
"
"
Never
came
!
"
echoes
Sarah
in
a
tone
of
bottomless
wonder
,
her
pretty
eyes
and
mouth
opening
with
a
stare
and
a
gape
.
"
Then
,
"
gradually
recovering
the
power
of
speech
,
"
then
where
have
you
been
,
may
I
ask
—
what
have
you
been
doing
all
this
time
?
"
"
I
have
been
waiting
for
him
,
"
answers
Belinda
,
trying
to
speak
steadily
,
though
at
that
humiliating
confession
such
a
tide
of
crimson
rushes
over
her
poor
proud
face
as
one
would
think
must
leave
all
the
rest
of
her
body
bloodless
.
"
But
it
is
monstrous
!
"
cries
the
other
in
a
tone
of
the
wildest
excitement
;
"
ca
n'a
pas
de
nom
;
there
is
some
mistake
.
He
is
a
man
,
he
is
a
gentleman
;
of
course
he
has
written
—
he
has
sent
?
"
Belinda
shakes
her
head
.
"
No
;
I
asked
Tommy
.
"
"
Tommy
!
"
repeats
Sarah
in
a
tone
of
the
most
contemptuous
indignation
.
"
Tommy
,
indeed
!
That
boy
is
ripening
for
the
tread-mill
or
the
gallows
,
or
both
,
as
fast
as
he
can
.
You
will
hardly
believe
that
after
what
I
said
to
him
—
you
heard
me
—
he
showed
them
all
up
at
once
.
"
Then
,
ringing
the
bell
violently
,
"
Tommy
,
"
she
says
very
sharply
,
"
how
dare
you
say
that
there
is
not
a
note
for
Miss
Churchill
?
Of
course
there
is
a
note
.
Go
this
moment
to
look
for
it
,
and
do
not
come
back
without
it
!
"
Paying
no
attention
whatever
to
his
asseverations
,
she
waves
him
from
the
room
;
and
then
follow
a
few
moments
of
painful
waiting
.
At
the
end
of
them
Tommy
returns
with
,
sure
enough
,
a
missive
of
some
kind
on
a
salver
.
"
I
told
you
how
it
would
be
!
"
exclaims
Sarah
,
triumphantly
pouncing
upon
it
and
the
unlucky
child
at
once
.
"
How
dare
you
tell
such
a
story
,
you
naughty
boy
?
Do
you
know
where
liars
go
to
?
"
And
he
may
pour
into
her
unheeding
ear
his
faltering
attempt
to
lay
the
blame
on
Gustel
,
who
answers
the
bell
when
he
is
out
;
she
does
not
hear
a
word
he
says
.
In
a
fury
of
impatient
anxiety
,
she
is
stooping
over
Belinda
's
shoulder
:
Belinda
,
whose
shaking
fingers
can
scarcely
tear
the
envelope
asunder
.
A
thin
blue
paper
falls
out
.
It
is
the
bill
from
a
Porzellan
Handlung
for
a
couple
of
Meissen
figures
purchased
there
a
week
ago
.
In
an
uncontrollable
spasm
of
misery
,
she
throws
it
on
the
floor
and
bursts
into
tears
.
CHAPTER
XII
.
"
Still
at
dinner
,
are
they
?
I
shall
not
detain
them
a
moment
;
I
am
sure
they
will
admit
me
;
they
always
admit
me
.
No
,
I
will
not
wait
in
the
salon
;
I
will
join
them
in
the
dining-room
.
"
Such
are
the
sentences
uttered
by
Miss
Watson
's
voice
,
and
plainly
audible
through
the
door
on
that
same
evening
,
as
addressed
to
Tommy
,
who
is
opposing
his
puny
infant
strength
to
the
forcible
breaking
in
upon
his
mistresses
at
their
dessert
by
the
before-mentioned
lady
.
With
what
result
may
readily
be
guessed
.
"
Have
you
heard
about
young
Rivers
?
"
cries
she
,
thrusting
the
boy
aside
and
bursting
in
upon
them
.
They
are
sitting
,
as
they
have
sat
upon
so
many
happier
evenings
,
the
one
old
woman
and
the
two
young
ones
,
in
their
pretty
soigné
evening
dresses
.
For
the
last
three
quarters
of
an
hour
Belinda
has
been
struggling
to
solve
the
problem
how
to
swallow
.
It
is
dreadful
to
eat
,
but
it
is
still
more
dreadful
to
have
your
lack
of
appetite
noticed
and
wondered
at
.
Grapes
are
perhaps
less
difficult
than
most
other
things
for
an
unwilling
palate
to
deal
with
;
and
she
has
taken
a
few
Muscats
,
and
is
holding
a
small
bunch
between
her
hot
and
listless
fingers
at
the
time
of
Miss
Watson
's
bouncing
entrance
.
Instantly
they
fall
with
a
slight
patter
upon
her
plate
.
"
What
about
him
?
"
asks
Sarah
eagerly
,
jumping
up
and
running
towards
the
intruder
,
while
Mrs.
Churchill
drops
the
little
red
Alpine
strawberry
she
is
in
the
act
of
lifting
to
her
lips
,
and
says
in
an
amazed
voice
:
"
Dear
me
,
Miss
Watson
!
how
you
startle
one
!
"
"
You
have
not
heard
,
then
?
"
says
the
other
loudly
,
in
a
voice
of
relief
.
"
I
am
the
first
to
tell
you
?
"
"
Yes
,
yes
;
of
course
.
What
is
there
to
tell
?
"
As
she
speaks
,
Sarah
places
herself
adroitly
between
their
visitor
and
her
view
of
Belinda
,
and
mentally
thanks
her
gods
for
the
failing
light
and
the
unkindled
gas
.
"
I
was
at
the
station
this
evening
,
"
begins
the
other
,
only
too
happy
to
embark
upon
her
tale
;
"
indeed
,
I
have
come
almost
straight
thence
.
"
She
is
in
rather
dishevelled
morning
dress
.
"
I
went
to
see
the
Rays
off
.
You
know
how
much
we
have
been
together
;
they
would
never
have
forgiven
me
if
I
had
not
!
"
Despite
her
anxious
suspense
,
Sarah
cannot
avoid
a
sardonic
smile
.
It
is
the
open
secret
of
the
whole
English
colony
that
the
Ray
family
has
been
compelled
,
by
Watson
assiduities
,
regretfully
and
at
great
personal
inconvenience
,
to
curtail
their
stay
in
the
Saxon
capital
.
"
I
took
their
tickets
for
them
,
"
pursues
the
unconscious
narrator
—
"
I
never
mind
trouble
—
indeed
,
I
insisted
upon
it
.
To
tell
truth
,
I
was
a
little
glad
of
the
opportunity
to
find
out
where
they
were
going
to
book
to
,
about
which
they
had
made
rather
a
foolish
mystery
,
when
,
just
as
I
was
counting
my
change
,
whom
should
I
see
coming
up
to
the
ticket-office
but
young
Rivers
!
"
"
Well
?
"
Even
Sarah
is
a
little
breathless
.
"
'
And
what
brings
you
here
,
pray
?
'
I
said
.
'
Are
you
come
,
too
,
to
see
the
Rays
off
?
'
He
did
not
hear
me
.
I
was
prepared
for
that
;
you
know
you
explained
to
me
that
he
was
a
little
deaf
.
By-the-way
,
that
deafness
should
be
seen
to
at
once
,
and
so
I
shall
tell
him
,
if
I
ever
meet
him
again
.
"
If
she
ever
meets
him
again
!
Belinda
is
leaning
forward
in
an
attitude
of
the
acutest
strained
listening
;
her
heart
is
beating
against
the
edge
of
the
table
with
loud
,
hard
blows
.
"
He
evidently
could
not
have
heard
me
,
"
pursues
Miss
Watson
fluently
;
"
nor
seen
me
either
,
for
the
matter
of
that
,
as
he
turned
sharp
round
and
walked
off
in
the
other
direction
.
Of
course
,
as
soon
as
the
Rays
could
spare
me
,
I
went
after
him
and
overtook
him
.
"
"
Of
course
!
"
murmurs
Sarah
,
under
her
breath
.
"
I
put
my
hand
on
his
arm
.
'
Come
,
now
,
where
are
you
off
to
?
'
just
like
that
.
He
shook
my
hand
off-you
know
he
never
had
any
manners
—
that
is
why
I
think
he
must
be
related
to
the
Stukeley
Rivers
;
they
are
proverbially
rude
,
as
a
family
.
'
What
do
you
want
?
'
he
said
,
just
as
if
he
had
not
heard
my
question
.
'
I
want
to
know
where
you
are
off
to
?
'
I
said
.
'
Where
are
you
off
to
?
'
He
hesitated
for
a
moment
,
and
then
seeing
,
I
suppose
,
that
I
was
not
to
be
trifled
with
,
that
I
was
determined
to
have
an
answer
of
some
kind
,
he
turned
his
head
quite
away
,
and
said
so
low
that
I
could
hardly
hear
him
,
'
I
am
going
back
to
England
to-night
.
'
Then
he
was
away
like
a
shot
,
and
what
with
the
confusion
of
the
train
coming
in
,
and
seeing
that
the
Rays
had
all
their
parcels
right
in
the
carriage
—
of
course
at
the
last
moment
one
was
missing
—
I
never
caught
another
glimpse
of
him
.
"
She
stops
,
out
of
breath
,
her
narrative
ended
;
nor
,
for
a
moment
,
does
any
one
of
her
three
auditors
comment
upon
it
.
Belinda
has
sunk
back
in
her
chair
,
and
round
her
the
room
is
spinning
.
Sarah
,
Miss
Watson
,
granny
,
the
dogs
,
all
are
whirling
.
Mrs.
Churchill
is
the
first
to
speak
.
"
I
suppose
,
"
she
says
,
in
a
voice
still
somewhat
ruffled
by
Miss
Watson
's
inroad
,
and
picking
up
the
sugar-sifter
in
her
delicate
old
fingers
,
"
that
he
was
tired
of
Dresden
.
There
is
nothing
very
wonderful
in
that
.
Punch
,
take
your
hands
off
the
table
this
instant
.
"
"
But
it
is
so
sudden
!
"
cries
Miss
Watson
,
in
a
loud
aggrieved
tone
,
as
if
Rivers
'
departure
were
a
personal
injury
.
"
Why
did
not
he
tell
us
?
He
never
told
me
;
did
he
ever
tell
you
he
was
going
?
"
Nobody
takes
the
trouble
to
answer
.
"
I
am
sure
that
yesterday
,
at
Wesenstein
,
nobody
would
have
said
that
he
had
such
an
idea
in
his
head
,
would
they
now
?
"
turning
directly
to
Belinda
.
By
a
great
exertion
of
the
powers
of
the
mind
over
their
weaker
brothers
of
the
body
,
Belinda
has
forced
the
room
and
the
people
to
stand
steady
and
still
again
.
By
a
like
exertion
she
frames
a
sentence
,
which
,
though
short
,
is
not
conspicuously
tremulous
.
"
No
;
I
think
not
.
"
"
Probably
he
was
telegraphed
for
home
,
"
says
Sarah
,
coming
hastily
to
her
sister
's
rescue
,
and
trying
to
divert
from
her
the
brunt
of
Miss
Watson
's
eyes
and
speech
.
"
Probably
he
had
bad
news
!
"
"
I
should
not
wonder
,
"
answers
Miss
Watson
,
looking
down
on
the
floor
for
a
moment
in
inquisitive
reflection
.
"
I
should
not
at
all
wonder
.
He
looked
like
a
man
who
had
had
bad
news
.
In
point
of
fact
,
he
looked
shockingly
ill.
I
never
saw
a
man
so
changed
in
so
short
a
time
.
I
am
so
annoyed
with
myself
,
"
in
a
tone
of
the
sincerest
vexation
,
"
for
not
having
asked
him
point-blank
!
"
"
I
should
have
thought
that
you
might
have
spared
yourself
that
reproach
,
"
says
Sarah
;
adding
,
as
she
casts
an
oblique
glance
in
the
friendly
dusk
towards
Belinda
,
to
see
how
she
is
holding
up
,
"
Most
likely
one
of
his
relations
is
dead
.
"
"
I
hope
it
is
not
even
worse
than
that
,
"
answers
the
other
,
in
a
voice
of
mysterious
curiosity
.
"
I
hope
that
none
of
his
sisters
have
got
into
a
disagreeable
scrape
.
You
know
that
,
in
the
world
,
the
Rivers
women
have
the
character
of
being
un
peu
leste
.
"
It
is
not
till
every
possible
conjecture
has
been
exhausted
,
till
the
few
facts
known
have
been
worn
bare
and
shiny
by
turning
and
handling
,
that
Miss
Watson
at
length
withdraws
.
She
would
not
have
gone
then
,
had
not
the
idea
suddenly
presented
itself
,
that
,
if
she
make
haste
,
she
will
be
able
before
bedtime
to
force
herself
and
her
news
upon
three
or
four
more
households
.
No
sooner
is
the
outer
door
safely
shut
upon
her
,
than
—
"
Tommy
is
incorrigible
!
"
says
Mrs.
Churchill
,
in
a
tone
of
irritation
.
"
The
number
of
times
that
I
have
impressed
upon
him
not
to
admit
that
woman
on
any
pretext
whatever
,
while
we
are
at
dinner
!
"
"
Pooh
,
granny
!
what
nonsense
you
talk
!
"
replies
Sarah
,
disrespectfully
.
"
When
that
great
galleon
bears
down
upon
him
,
what
can
a
poor
little
skiff
like
Tommy
do
?
Of
course
she
will
come
to
breakfast
and
luncheon
and
dinner
,
and
we
may
think
ourselves
very
lucky
if
she
does
not
insist
on
thrusting
herself
upon
us
in
our
baths
.
"
As
she
speaks
,
she
puts
her
hand
under
her
sister
's
heavy
hanging
,
limp
arm
,
and
draws
her
away
towards
the
salon
.
"
If
you
will
be
so
slow
,
granny
,
"
she
says
,
with
a
parting
laugh
,
"
we
must
leave
you
to
carouse
alone
.
I
believe
you
enjoy
yourself
more
when
you
have
no
witnesses
of
your
gourmandise
.
"
But
arrived
in
the
salon
,
she
no
longer
laughs
.
Belinda
has
thrown
herself
flaccidly
into
a
chair
.
The
curtains
are
undrawn
,
and
through
them
her
eyes
stare
out
upon
the
street
—
the
street
where
,
through
the
deepening
gloom
,
the
lit
lamps
,
but
now
such
insignificant
yellow
specks
,
are
beginning
to
gain
importance
and
use
—
the
street
so
continually
worn
by
his
eager
footsteps
,
where
she
has
so
often
heard
them
,
up
and
down
,
up
and
down
,
waiting
,
watching
,
for
hours
,
if
it
be
past
all
seemliness
and
moderation
for
him
to
venture
a
visit
,
on
the
bare
chance
of
her
throwing
him
out
one
parting
smile
.
All
through
dinner
she
has
been
dreading
the
evening
—
dreading
its
suspense
,
the
bell
that
will
ring
now
and
again
,
the
intervals
that
will
elapse
,
and
then
the
blank
silence
,
nothing
resulting
,
showing
that
it
was
not
he
who
rang
.
Well
,
suspense
is
over
and
gone
now
;
but
she
would
be
glad
to
have
it
back
again
,
seeing
that
it
has
taken
hope
with
it
.
"
Well
,
"
she
says
after
a
pause
,
looking
up
wearily
at
her
sister
,
who
stands
beside
her
with
her
fair
arms
folded
and
her
white
brows
bent
in
an
attitude
of
serious
reflection
very
unnatural
to
her
;
"
well
,
what
do
you
say
now
?
Who
was
right
now
?
"
"
I
,
"
replies
Sarah
.
"
I
am
more
convinced
than
ever
that
he
left
a
note
or
message
for
you
,
and
that
it
has
miscarried
.
"
Belinda
's
shoulders
lift
themselves
slightly
in
an
unbelieving
shrug
.
"
Notes
do
not
miscarry
.
"
"
He
left
it
with
the
servants
to
send
,
"
pursues
Sarah
decidedly
,
"
and
they
—
you
know
what
German
servants
are
—
put
it
into
the
post
or
into
the
fire
,
to
save
themselves
trouble
.
"
Belinda
offers
no
contradiction
,
but
neither
does
any
ray
of
hope
brighten
her
dull
face
at
this
hypothesis
.
"
Are
you
quite
sure
,
"
asks
Sarah
,
looking
penetratingly
in
her
elder
's
face
,
so
as
to
glean
her
answer
from
it
rather
than
from
her
words
,
"
are
you
quite
sure
that
you
did
not
snub
him
yesterday
at
Wesenstein
?
I
know
that
you
very
often
do
it
without
intending
it
;
that
you
can
no
more
help
it
than
you
can
help
drawing
breath
;
but
are
you
sure
that
you
did
not
?
"
"
Snubbed
him
!
good
heavens
,
no
!
"
She
has
writhed
herself
half
over
,
and
is
thrusting
her
poor
face
into
the
cushioned
back
of
the
chair
,
as
if
she
wished
that
she
could
for
ever
bury
it
there
,
while
the
blood
seems
to
be
rushing
in
hot
shamed
tinglings
all
over
her
body
,
as
her
sister
's
words
call
up
before
her
in
all
the
vividness
of
new
life
that
scene
in
the
wood
,
in
which
snubbing
bore
so
small
a
part
.
"
Then
it
is
perfectly
obvious
,
"
replies
Sarah
collectedly
,
and
with
cool
common
sense
,
"
as
I
told
that
hornet
just
now
,
that
he
has
had
bad
news
and
been
telegraphed
for
home
.
I
hope
,
"
with
an
accent
of
wakened
anxiety
,
"
that
it
is
not
the
iron
that
has
gone
wrong
.
"
"
I
hope
it
is
not
anything
about
his
father
,
"
says
Belinda
,
startled
by
this
suggestion
out
of
her
own
hot
and
miserable
retrospect
;
"
he
would
never
get
over
it
.
"
"
Pooh
!
"
says
Sarah
;
"
sons
do
not
die
of
their
fathers
'
deaths
;
and
in
fact
,
as
far
as
we
are
concerned
,
it
would
simplify
matters
a
good
deal
;
he
would
be
his
own
father
then
.
"
For
a
few
moments
there
is
a
silence
,
cut
into
only
by
the
sound
of
Punch
's
snores
,
regular
and
long
drawn
out
,
through
the
door
.
It
is
Belinda
who
,
contrary
to
what
one
would
have
expected
,
breaks
it
.
"
You
were
always
telling
me
,
"
she
says
with
a
hard
smile
,
that
yet
looks
as
if
it
needed
only
one
touch
to
make
it
dissolve
into
bitter
tears
—
"
you
were
always
telling
me
that
I
was
so
cold
to
him
;
you
were
always
advising
and
urging
me
to
be
less
cold
;
perhaps
,
"
with
a
sort
of
gasp
,
"
perhaps
I
have
obeyed
you
too
well
;
perhaps-perhaps
he
thinks
so
.
"
"
Do
you
mean
,
"
cries
Sarah
,
with
a
derisive
laugh
whose
offensive
quality
is
,
however
,
lessened
by
the
soothing
gesture
of
a
kind
arm
thrown
at
the
same
moment
round
her
afflicted
elder
's
neck
,
"
do
you
mean
to
say
that
you
suspect
him
of
having
taken
to
his
heels
because
you
gave
him
two
civil
words
and
one
look
that
was
not
a
scowl
?
If
such
is
the
case
,
he
is
a
valuable
admirer
,
and
the
more
express
trains
he
gets
into
the
better
.
"
But
Belinda
is
too
much
cast
down
to
make
any
rejoinder
.
"
You
will
pardon
my
saying
so
,
"
continues
Sarah
in
a
counterfeit
apology
that
is
contradicted
by
the
lurking
mirth
in
her
eye
,
"
but
he
would
not
have
been
nearly
so
tiresome
as
he
was
if
he
had
not
been
genuinely
in
love
.
If
a
man
is
only
playing
at
love
he
can
be
civil
and
amusing
to
other
people
;
but
,
"
breaking
into
an
unavoidable
laugh
,
"
was
poor
David
amusing
?
he
had
his
one
solitary
ever-
lasting
idée
fixe
.
My
dear
soul
,
"
passing
her
light
hand
with
a
stroking
motion
down
Belinda
's
heaving
shoulder
,
"
what
a
trial
he
was
to
granny
and
me
!
And
—
cheer
up
!
—
what
a
trial
he
will
be
again
!
"
This
is
all
the
consolation
,
if
consolation
it
can
be
called
,
that
Belinda
has
to
take
to
bed
with
her
.
CHAPTER
XIII
.
"
Lenore
fuhr
am
Morgenroth
Empor
aus
schweren
Träumen
.
"
This
is
all
the
consolation
with
which
she
wakes
next
morning
and
exchanges
the
shadowy
muddle
of
her
discomfortable
visions
for
the
not
less
discomfortable
reality
.
She
had
slept
—
to
her
own
surprise
—
through
the
earlier
part
of
the
night
;
but
in
May-time
day
and
night
faint
into
each
other
;
and
though
the
light
is
broad
and
universal
,
yet
the
hour
is
a
small
one
when
she
awakes
,
with
that
hopeless
decidedness
,
that
irrevocable
bursting
of
the
chains
of
slumber
,
which
tells
its
unhappy
victim
that
all
juggling
efforts
to
overtake
the
flown
blessing
will
be
of
no
avail
.
She
lies
on
her
uneasy
bed
for
as
long
as
she
can
bear
it
;
then
,
since
the
hour
is
still
far
too
early
to
ring
for
her
hot
water
,
and
so
make
public
an
abnormal
condition
of
mind
and
body
,
she
rises
,
and
throwing
on
her
dressing-
gown
,
sits
down
by
the
open
window
and
watches
the
strides
of
the
morning
,
stepping
,
clean
and
young
and
lucent
,
across
the
old
and
dirty
earth
.
Even
the
ugly
Bohemian
Railway
Station
and
the
stucco
houses
come
in
for
a
portion
of
his
kindness
.
How
much
more
the
little
hoary
garden
plat
and
the
dew-pearled
tulips
!
It
has
been
an
open
question
since
the
world
began
,
whether
the
loveliness
of
nature
assuages
or
aggravates
the
misery
of
humanity
in
its
more
miserable
moods
.
Belinda
would
subscribe
to
the
latter
opinion
.
It
seems
to
her
that
she
could
better
bear
the
look
of
the
day
—
that
it
would
not
make
her
so
angry
—
if
slant
rain
were
slashing
the
earth
,
or
if
it
were
locked
in
a
prison
of
frost
,
or
wound
in
a
shroud
of
snow
.
The
splendour
of
the
transparent
air
;
the
trees
,
just
lightly
wagging
their
heads
in
the
early
wind
;
even
the
short-tailed
starlings
,
cheerfully
walking
about
while
the
sun
touches
up
their
apparently
sombre
feathers
,
and
brings
out
little
rainbow
colours
in
them
;
each
—
each
has
a
separate
stab
for
her
.
There
were
starlings
at
Moritzburg
;
there
were
tulips
in
the
inn
garden
at
Lohmen
:
can
she
set
her
eyes
upon
any
one
common
object
that
does
not
bring
a
memory
with
it
?
She
has
never
been
of
a
very
bright
or
hopeful
temperament
with
regard
to
her
own
future
;
not
one
of
those
happy
young
ones
to
whom
the
long
life
ahead
seems
swathed
in
a
golden
mist
.
The
deep
conviction
of
her
own
paucity
of
powers
of
attraction
,
a
conviction
which
has
been
with
her
as
long
as
she
can
remember
anything
—
as
long
as
the
far-away
days
of
short
frocks
and
coming
down
to
dessert
,
when
strangers
used
to
pull
Sarah
's
long
curls
and
laugh
at
her
smart
answers
—
a
conviction
that
for
a
bright
interval
has
been
shaken
,
now
settles
down
in
its
cold
and
humbling
certainty
again
in
her
heart
.
"
He
was
not
telegraphed
for
,
"
she
says
to
herself
,
in
a
tone
of
surpassing
bitterness
;
"
he
had
no
ill
news
;
but
he
was
right
to
go
.
I
am
not
of
the
stuff
of
which
the
women
that
men
love
are
made
!
Let
me
try
not
to
forget
it
again
.
"
The
clocks
one
after
another
,
in
their
different
voices
,
have
just
struck
eight
.
Cramped
with
long
sitting
in
one
position
,
which
she
has
forgotten
to
change
,
she
rises
,
and
is
beginning
to
walk
up
and
down
the
little
room
when
a
knock
comes
,
a
quick
,
loud
,
rattling
knock
,
which
,
in
its
lively
energy
,
partakes
of
the
nature
of
the
person
who
has
executed
it
,
and
who
adds
to
it
an
urgent
calling
:
"
Belinda
!
Belinda
!
are
you
awake
?
"
Awake
!
—
is
she
awake
?
She
smiles
grimly
to
herself
.
"
Yes
,
I
am
awake
,
"
she
answers
in
an
unwilling
voice
,
that
she
in
vain
tries
to
make
sound
sleepy
.
"
Then
why
do
not
you
open
the
door
?
"
cries
the
voice
impatiently
,
accompanying
the
question
by
a
long
and
noisier
rattling
of
the
handle
.
But
Belinda
takes
no
step
towards
complying
.
She
wishes
for
no
one
's
company
,
not
even
Sarah
's
—
perhaps
Sarah
's
least
of
all
;
for
is
not
she
the
one
person
from
whom
she
has
been
unable
to
hide
her
humiliation
?
"
What
do
you
want
?
"
she
asks
morosely
.
"
If
you
do
not
open
the
door
at
once
,
"
replies
Sarah
,
desisting
for
a
moment
from
her
rattling
,
so
that
her
voice
may
be
the
more
penetratingly
heard
,
"
I
warn
you
that
I
shall
open
your
note
and
read
it
myself
!
"
Her
note
!
In
one
bound
Belinda
is
across
the
room
,
has
turned
the
key
,
and
is
palely
facing
her
sister
.
"
Who
was
right
?
"
cries
Sarah
,
strutting
in
,
dishevelled
,
dressing-gowned
,
triumphant
,
and
holding
in
her
hand
a
letter
,
which
the
other
silently
snatches
.
"
I
was
so
certain
that
he
must
have
written
,
that
I
sent
Tommy
round
to
his
lodgings
the
first
thing
this
morning
;
and
sure
enough
they
unearthed
this
,
which
they
had
entirely
forgotten
,
and
which
we
ought
to
have
received
yesterday
afternoon
.
Come
it
is
not
a
bill
this
time
!
"
Belinda
has
opened
the
envelope
,
and
is
staring
strainingly
at
the
paper
.
"
How
stupid
!
"
she
says
,
passing
her
hand
across
her
eyes
.
"
Somehow
I
cannot
see
it
.
"
"
Is
it
possible
that
this
is
his
handwriting
?
"
cries
Sarah
,
coming
to
her
aid
,
and
examining
with
surprise
the
superscription
.
"
What
a
shocking
hand
he
writes
!
"
"
Yes
;
it
is
his
,
"
says
Belinda
,
again
passing
her
hand
across
her
eyes
;
"
but
it
is
very
shaky
.
Something
has
happened
to
alter
it
very
much
.
I
think
you
must
read
it
,
please
.
"
"
There
does
not
appear
to
be
any
beginning
,
"
replies
Sarah
,
complying
with
some
alacrity
.
"
'
I
cannot
come
to
meet
you
this
afternoon
.
Oh
,
forgive
me
!
'
(
Then
comes
a
prodigious
blot
—
mixed
tears
and
ink
,
I
expect
.
)
'
I
have
been
telegraphed
for
home
.
'
(
I
told
you
so
;
then
there
is
something
scratched
out
;
what
is
it
?
"
looking
at
the
paper
aslant
and
half
shutting
one
eye
.
)
"
'
A
f-r-ight-ful
cat
'
—
(
what
,
cat
?
what
is
it
likely
to
be
?
—
catastrophe
—
that
is
it
,
of
course
;
he
has
put
long
legs
and
loops
to
all
the
short
letters
,
but
I
can
quite
make
it
out
,
in
spite
of
that
)
—
'
a
frightful
catastrophe
'
—
(
scored
through
,
you
know
)
.
'
I
do
not
know
what
I
am
saying
.
God
bless
you
!
'
(
Then
more
blots
.
)
—
'
D
.
R
.
'
That
is
all
!
"
"
All
!
"
cries
Belinda
,
stretching
out
her
trembling
hand
for
the
note
.
"
Are
you
sure
that
there
is
nothing
over
the
page
?
"
"
Not
a
syllable
!
"
There
is
a
silence
.
Belinda
's
eyes
are
riveted
on
the
few
scrawled
words
—
so
few
—
on
which
all
her
future
is
to
be
built
.
Among
them
is
there
one
which
will
support
the
weight
of
a
legitimate
hope
?
"
It
would
have
been
more
to
the
purpose
,
"
says
Sarah
,
in
a
tone
of
wounded
common
sense
,
"
if
he
had
given
us
a
hint
as
to
what
the
catastrophe
was
,
instead
of
wasting
so
much
ingenuity
in
making
all
those
unnatural
legs
and
arms
to
his
'
a
'
s
'
and
'
c
'
s
'
and
'
s
'
s
.
'
"
"
You
think
that
there
is
one
really
?
that
something
has
happened
?
that
he
was
telegraphed
for
?
"
asks
Belinda
,
appealing
in
wistful
fever
to
her
cool
,
shrewd
junior
.
"
Of
course
he
was
;
of
course
there
has
!
"
replies
Sarah
decidedly
.
"
I
must
say
,
"
with
a
rather
satirical
look
,
"
that
you
have
a
high
opinion
of
your
admirer
;
he
ought
to
be
flattered
by
your
confidence
.
No
!
reassure
yourself
,
"
striking
the
untidy
blurred
page
with
her
forefinger
;
"
anyone
with
pretension
to
be
even
an
indifferent
liar
would
have
been
ashamed
of
this
.
"
"
A
catastrophe
!
"
repeats
Belinda
,
as
though
speaking
to
herself
,
and
still
looking
at
the
note
;
"
what
sort
of
a
catastrophe
?
I
think
—
I
fear
—
that
it
must
in
some
way
concern
his
father
.
"
"
Well
,
anyhow
,
the
poor
boy
's
character
is
cleared
up
,
"
says
Sarah
gaily
,
sweeping
in
her
long
peignoir
to
the
window
,
and
standing
blithely
looking
out
at
the
tulips
and
the
starlings
—
as
brightly
pretty
as
the
former
,
as
robustly
cheerful
as
the
latter
.
"
After
all
,
he
has
not
been
driven
away
by
your
unladylike
warmth
,
as
you
had
quite
made
up
your
mind
last
night
;
and
as
to
his
father
,
if
it
is
he
,
our
grief
must
be
chastened
by
the
thought
that
we
have
never
set
eyes
upon
him
.
Well
,
I
suppose
I
must
not
spend
the
day
in
my
dressing-
gown
,
"
walking
to
the
door
.
Neither
must
Belinda
;
and
yet
,
for
long
after
her
sister
has
left
her
,
she
sits
,
still
poring
over
the
meagre
sheet
that
is
her
first
love-letter
.
She
laughs
derisively
.
Will
it
be
her
last
,
too
?
At
that
thought
she
sets
herself
to
weary
calculations
.
It
is
,
without
stopping
—
he
will
,
of
course
,
stop
nowhere
between
Dresden
and
London
—
a
thirty-six
hours
'
journey
.
Probably
five
or
six
hours
more
will
be
occupied
in
getting
on
to
Yorkshire
.
It
is
a
four
days
'
post
from
England
to
Dresden
.
Even
if
he
write
to
her
immediately
on
arriving
—
a
most
unlikely
hypothesis
—
it
cannot
be
much
less
than
a
week
before
she
hears
.
There
must
be
five
or
six
absolutely
void
black
days
,
that
yet
will
have
the
same
complement
of
hours
in
them
as
the
day
at
Moritzburg
or
the
day
at
Wesenstein
.
She
lays
her
hot
forehead
on
the
cool
wooden
chair-back
.
Oh
,
if
they
could
but
be
slept
through
!
But
at
this
moment
the
entrance
of
her
maid
,
with
the
usual
paraphernalia
of
her
toilet
,
sufficiently
reminds
her
that
they
cannot
.
They
cannot
be
slept
through
!
They
must
be
dressed
through
,
talked
through
,
eaten
through
,
made
expeditions
through
,
joked
through
.
Worst
of
all
,
his
departure
,
its
cause
,
his
probable
or
improbable
return
,
he
himself
,
must
be
continually
discussed
and
worn
threadbare
in
her
hearing
.
This
,
indeed
,
is
an
evil
from
which
she
suffers
for
only
two
days
.
After
that
,
he
being
gone
,
and
never
having
sought
to
make
himself
specially
acceptable
to
any
member
of
the
little
society
save
one
,
he
slips
from
their
talk
and
their
thoughts
.
She
is
deeply
thankful
when
their
chatter
about
him
ceases
,
and
yet
angry
with
them
for
so
soon
forgetting
him
.
And
meanwhile
the
days
in
summer
procession
pace
stately
by
,
full
of
sap
and
growth
and
laughter
.
The
date
of
the
Churchill
departure
is
now
fixed
for
the
5th
of
June
;
and
as
that
period
approaches
,
a
freezing
panic
fear
begins
to
clutch
Belinda
more
and
more
tightly
in
its
hold
—
the
fear
that
her
own
going
may
antedate
the
arrival
of
his
letter
;
that
he
may
write
to
her
here
,
and
the
letter
not
be
forwarded
.
The
many
tales
she
has
heard
of
lives
dismally
wrecked
upon
some
such
small
accident
throng
her
memory
.
The
house
is
full
of
signs
of
an
approaching
déménagement
;
full
of
packing
,
disarranging
,
bustling
.
It
is
mostly
full
also
of
German
officers
,
who
,
being
aware
that
their
time
for
enjoying
the
society
and
the
wit
of
their
love-worthy
Sarah
is
all
too
quickly
passing
,
are
resolved
to
have
nothing
to
reproach
themselves
with
in
the
way
of
not
having
availed
themselves
of
it
while
they
were
able
.
Some
of
them
are
not
unwilling
to
extend
their
endearments
to
the
elder
sister
,
seeing
her
no
longer
monopolized
by
her
surly
fellow-country-
man
;
but
she
has
received
their
compliments
so
blankly
,
that
,
ashamed
of
their
brief
infidelity
,
they
have
clanked
hastily
back
to
their
first
love
,
who
sees
them
go
and
return
with
the
same
joyous
indifference
.
Belinda
has
been
innocent
of
the
least
intention
to
snub
them
,
but
how
can
one
receive
pretty
speeches
—
any
speeches
intelligently
,
when
one
is
continually
doing
a
sum
in
one
's
head
—
36
and
5
,
4I
;
I
day
from
4
days
;
1
day
from
3
days
,
etc.
?
The
packing
is
not
of
so
wholly
occupying
a
nature
as
to
exclude
incidental
amusements
.
It
does
not
even
forbid
a
farewell
excursion
to
Tharandt
;
an
excursion
planned
by
Sarah
and
her
rout
of
Uhlans
;
with
some
necessary
padding
of
a
lenient
chaperon
,
and
compliant
girls
.
Belinda
has
believed
herself
equal
to
sharing
it
.
Tharandt
is
rendered
agonizing
by
no
associations
.
She
has
never
visited
Tharandt
in
his
company
,
but
,
at
the
last
moment
,
a
trifle
robs
her
of
her
fortitude
—
the
sight
of
her
cobwebby
Wesenstein
gown
,
extended
with
unconscious
tactless
cruelty
by
her
maid
on
the
bed
.
She
throws
herself
down
,
ungovernably
sobbing
,
beside
it
.
It
seems
like
the
husk
of
her
lost
happiness
.
By-and-by
they
are
all
gone
,
and
the
house
is
left
to
her
and
to
silence
.
It
is
deserted
even
by
the
dogs
,
who
have
been
taken
out
driving
by
Mrs.
Churchill
;
Slutty
,
supinely
indifferent
to
view
and
air
,
curled
at
the
carriage-bottom
,
and
Punch
standing
up
on
his
hind-legs
,
with
his
forepaws
on
the
carriage-side
,
like
an
unsteady
heraldic
lion
.
Belinda
laughs
a
little
at
the
thought
of
him
as
she
returns
to
the
salon
,
which
is
beginning
to
wear
a
desolate
look
,
reduced
to
its
own
lodging-house
furniture
and
shorn
of
the
graces
bestowed
upon
it
by
the
Churchills
'
Indian
rugs
and
Turkish
chair-backs
.
Its
new
ugliness
,
meeting
her
eye
,
seems
'
to
add
to
the
vexation
of
her
spirit
.
The
sunlight
on
the
street
vexes
her
too
.
She
wanders
for
a
while
aimlessly
about
the
room
,
and
then
drops
as
aimlessly
into
a
chair
.
To
an
observer
it
would
seem
that
she
were
quite
without
occupation
.
But
it
is
not
so
.
She
is
still
at
work
upon
that
sum
.
She
has
just
finished
it
,
or
rather
she
has
just
begun
it
afresh
,
when
an
unexpected
interruption
drives
it
,
not
away
—
nothing
,
alas
!
could
do
that
—
but
into
the
background
of
her
mind
.
The
summer
afternoon
is
at
its
drowsiest
,
even
the
flies
buzz
inertly
along
the
pane
,
when
the
room-door
opens
and
Professor
Forth
looks
in
.
"
I
beg
your
pardon
,
"
he
says
formally
,
"
but
I
think
your
page
must
have
been
misinformed
;
he
tells
me
that
Sarah
is
not
at
home
.
"
At
the
sound
of
his
voice
,
separated
by
how
many
seas
and
continents
from
her
thoughts
,
Belinda
starts
to
her
feet
;
then
,
conjuring
suddenly
up
a
civil
smile
,
says
gently
:
"
But
I
am
afraid
he
is
not
misinformed
.
I
am
afraid
she
is
out
.
Did
you
expect
to
find
her
?
"
He
has
entered
the
room
now
in
his
hard
and
graceless
academic
black
,
which
somehow
looks
out
of
character
with
the
light-coloured
room
and
the
blazing
day
.
"
Naturally
I
expected
to
find
her
,
"
he
replies
sharply
,
"
since
it
is
by
her
own
appointment
that
I
am
here
.
After
evading
on
various
trivial
pretexts
every
meeting
proposed
by
me
for
the
past
week
,
she
herself
gave
me
a
distinct
and
definitive
rendezvous
for
this
hour
and
day
.
I
am
punctual
to
the
moment
!
"
glancing
angrily
at
the
Dresden
clock
.
"
I
am
sadly
afraid
that
she
has
forgotten
all
about
it
,
"
replies
Belinda
,
bursting
into
a
helpless
laugh
;
but
indeed
there
is
no
greater
fallacy
than
that
one
may
not
laugh
heartily
,
violently
,
and
not
hysterically
,
when
one
's
heart
is
breaking
;
"
she
has
gone
out
upon
an
expedition
.
"
"
She
is
always
going
out
upon
expeditions
,
"
retorts
he
snappishly
.
Belinda
sighs
;
her
mirth
vanished
as
quickly
as
it
came
.
She
has
no
energy
to
take
up
the
cudgels
for
Sarah
,
of
whose
conduct
no
one
can
think
worse
than
she
does
,
and
of
whose
meditated
villainy
she
is
guiltily
aware
.
"
She
is
young
,
"
she
says
lamely
.
"
I
cannot
see
that
that
is
any
valid
apology
for
a
systematic
neglect
of
all
the
more
serious
duties
of
life
,
"
he
replies
fretfully
.
He
has
walked
to
the
window
,
where
he
now
stands
drowned
in
a
bath
of
golden
radiance
.
Never
has
he
looked
less
lovable
;
ill-humour
rendering
yet
more
pinched
and
captious
his
pinched
pedant
face
;
and
never
has
Belinda
felt
so
charitably
towards
him
.
"
He
is
not
amiable
;
Heaven
knows
that
he
is
not
attractive
,
"
she
says
to
herself
;
"
so
much
the
worse
for
him
.
But
he
is
unhappy
;
what
better
claim
could
he
have
upon
my
sympathy
?
"
"
Do
you
want
her
for
anything
special
?
"
she
asks
not
unkindly
,
going
up
and
standing
beside
him
in
the
rain
of
sunbeams
in
her
large
young
beauty
;
"
anything
in
which
I
can
help
you
?
"
It
is
obvious
that
the
idea
had
never
occurred
to
him
that
in
her
he
should
find
either
the
ability
or
the
willingness
to
aid
him
.
"
You
are
very
good
,
"
he
answers
stiffly
;
"
the
fact
is
,
I
wanted
to
throw
together
a
few
thoughts
upon
the
Idea
of
Colour
among
the
Athenians
,
"
glancing
at
a
bundle
of
notes
and
papers
in
his
hands
,
"
and
I
entirely
depended
upon
Sarah
to
be
my
secretary
.
She
is
perfectly
aware
,
"
with
a
revived
and
extreme
exasperation
of
tone
,
"
of
the
affection
in
my
eyes
which
precludes
the
possibility
of
my
writing
more
than
a
certain
number
of
hours
a
day
,
and
which
keeps
me
here
in
the
middle
of
term
,
unavoidably
absent
from
my
post
and
Oxbridge
.
"
"
She
is
very
provoking
!
"
assents
Belinda
soothingly
.
"
But
as
far
as
the
writing
goes
,
I
write
a
much
better
hand
than
Sarah
.
She
never
would
learn
,
when
we
were
children
.
She
was
always
playing
monkey-tricks
upon
the
master
all
through
the
lesson
.
Cannot
I
be
your
secretary
?
"
As
she
speaks
,
she
lifts
to
his
her
large
serious
eyes
,
full
of
a
compassion
that
is
none
the
less
sincere
for
being
slightly
tinged
with
contempt
.
"
You
are
very
good
!
"
he
repeats
ceremoniously
.
"
I
am
aware
that
I
have
no
right
to
trespass
upon
your
valuable
time
.
"
"
There
is
no
one
else
to
trespass
upon
it
,
"
she
answers
,
stifling
a
sigh
.
"
On
the
contrary
,
I
am
obliged
to
anyone
who
will
help
me
to
get
through
it
.
"
As
she
speaks
she
walks
towards
the
writing-table
,
and
quickly
and
methodically
arranging
the
writing
materials
,
seats
herself
,
and
in
a
few
moments
is
penning
her
first
sentence
from
his
dictation
.
She
has
undertaken
the
office
out
of
pure
good-nature
,
and
at
first
fulfils
it
quite
mechanically
.
Gradually
,
however
,
as
the
meaning
of
the
words
she
is
writing
penetrates
through
her
ears
into
her
understanding
,
a
slight
interest
in
the
subject
in
hand
awakens
in
her
.
She
asks
a
question
or
two
.
By-and-by
there
comes
a
Greek
word
.
"
May
it
be
written
in
English
letters
?
"
she
asks
,
glancing
up
.
"
No
?
Well
,
then
I
am
afraid
I
must
leave
it
for
you
to
insert
.
"
"
You
do
not
know
the
Greek
character
?
"
he
asks
,
with
a
slight
touch
of
regret
in
his
tone
.
She
shakes
her
head
.
"
I
am
afraid
I
must
ask
you
,
"
smiling
a
little
,
"
not
to
question
me
too
closely
as
to
what
I
know
.
"
"
I
offered
to
teach
it
to
Sarah
,
"
he
says
aggrievedly
.
"
And
she
refused
,
of
course
.
"
"
It
is
not
the
want
of
knowledge
,
"
he
says
,
beginning
to
pace
gloomily
up
and
down
the
room
,
"
that
is
the
irremediable
evil
.
It
is
the
total
lack
of
all
desire
for
knowledge
—
that
is
what
I
deplore
in
Sarah
.
"
Belinda
has
paused
in
her
writing
,
her
elbow
leant
on
the
table
,
and
idly
brushing
with
the
feather
of
the
pen
the
red
curve
of
her
lips
.
"
I
have
never
known
an
instance
,
"
continues
he
,
still
pursuing
his
irritated
walk
,
"
of
a
young
person
whose
character
had
undergone
so
radical
a
change
in
so
comparatively
short
a
period
of
time
.
"
"
Do
you
think
so
?
"
cries
Belinda
,
surprised
.
"
She
has
always
been
exactly
the
same
as
long
as
I
can
remember
her
!
"
"
When
first
I
made
her
acquaintance
,
"
he
goes
on
,
not
heeding
the
interruption
,
"
I
of
course
became
at
once
aware
of
her
ignorance
—
that
is
patent
;
but
she
appeared
to
me
to
be
not
lacking
in
intellectual
force
,
nor
in
a
rather
remarkable
desire
for
self-improvement
.
On
the
very
first
evening
I
met
her
,
she
deplored
to
me
the
deficiency
of
her
education
,
and
asked
me
in
so
many
words
to
aid
her
in
the
formation
of
her
mind
.
"
Belinda
drops
the
pen
.
It
is
not
a
nearly
large
enough
shield
to
hide
the
convulsive
mirth
that
this
revelation
of
her
sister
's
hideous
hypocrisy
has
called
forth
.
"
I
still
cherish
the
hope
,
"
continues
he
,
fortunately
unaware
of
the
character
of
his
auditor
's
emotion
,
"
that
this
may
be
only
a
phase
;
that
on
her
return
to
her
home
and
her
more
regular
occupations
,
freer
from
these
senseless
distractions
,
"
with
an
exaggerated
emphasis
,
"
her
mind
may
resume
that
soberer
bias
which
,
from
my
first
impression
of
her
,
I
cannot
but
believe
to
be
its
natural
one
.
"
Belinda
,
still
unable
to
speak
,
contents
herself
with
a
gentle
head-shake
,
as
commentary
and
gloss
upon
which
there
comes
,
at
the
same
moment
,
the
sound
of
a
scampering
step
on
the
stone
stairs
,
of
a
loudly
singing
voice
,
waking
to
life
again
the
dead
dumb
house
.
In
a
moment
the
door
flies
open
,
and
the
person
whose
mind
is
expected
so
soon
to
resume
its
soberer
bias
stands
before
them
,
her
hat
a
good
deal
on
one
side
,
from
the
weight
of
the
flowering
may-bough
stuck
rakishly
in
it
—
the
may-bough
whose
strong
and
almost
pungent
perfume
comes
rushing
into
the
room
with
her
.
"
Are
not
you
delighted
to
welcome
me
back
so
unexpectedly
early
?
"
cries
she
joyously
.
"
But
it
was
so
hot
,
and
my
soldiers
were
all
so
cross
and
low
at
the
prospect
of
losing
me
,
and
Von
Breiden-bach
had
a
toothache
,
and
so
—
Mr.
Forth
!
"
suddenly
catching
sight
of
him
.
"
Ah
!
"
with
an
abrupt
change
and
refrigeration
of
tone
,
"
of
course
you
came
about
that
essay
of
yours
;
and
,
equally
of
course
,
I
forgot
all
about
it
.
Well
,
I
dare
say
there
is
no
great
hurry
!
Happily
,
the
Greeks
will
keep
;
they
will
not
run
away
.
"
There
is
an
ominous
silence
.
Then
—
"
It
is
unfortunate
,
"
begins
the
Professor
,
in
a
voice
trembling
with
indignation
,
while
the
puckers
of
anger
that
Belinda
's
mild
hand
has
been
smoothing
away
,
again
form
their
network
over
his
face
,
"
that
,
considering
the
position
in
which
we
stand
relatively
to
each
other
,
our
views
of
life
and
its
significance
should
be
so
diametrically
—
"
Belinda
leaves
the
room
.
CHAPTER
XIV
.
"
How
can
I
ever
thank
you
enough
for
having
paved
the
way
for
me
?
"
says
Sarah
next
morning
,
as
the
two
sisters
sit
awaiting
breakfast
.
"
I
awoke
to-day
in
such
a
humble
,
grateful
frame
of
mind
.
I
said
to
myself
,
'
Thanks
to
God
and
my
good
sister
,
I
am
out
of
my
difficulty
!
'
"
"
Did
you
happen
to
mention
that
it
was
your
seventeenth
?
"
asks
Belinda
grimly
.
"
I
said
to
myself
,
"
continues
Sarah
,
feigning
deafness
,
"
I
will
put
on
a
clean
calico
gown
,
and
ask
granny
to
let
us
have
some
champagne
for
dinner
,
to
celebrate
my
little
innocent
festival
.
Really
,
joking
apart
,
it
was
almost
worth
while
to
be
engaged
to
him
,
for
the
pleasure
of
having
it
broken
off
.
Cannot
you
understand
that
?
"
"
I
have
already
explained
to
you
several
times
that
I
would
rather
have
been
burnt
alive
than
be
engaged
to
him
at
all
,
"
replies
Belinda
trenchantly
.
But
the
snub
,
like
many
kindred
predecessors
,
passes
airily
over
Sarah
's
yellow
head
,
and
leaves
no
mark
upon
her
satisfied
serenity
.
"
Punch
,
"
she
says
,
taking
the
two
dogs
'
forepaws
in
her
hands
,
and
looking
gravely
in
their
black
faces
,
"
Punch
,
I
am
free
!
Slutty
,
I
am
free
!
Go
and
tell
the
cats
and
the
parrot
!
"
Belinda
has
sunk
back
into
herself
.
She
is
wondering
feverishly
what
is
making
the
letters
so
late
.
"
I
have
not
even
made
an
enemy
of
him
,
"
pursues
Sarah
,
loosing
the
dogs
'
paws
,
and
sinking
back
with
a
sigh
of
complacency
in
her
chair
.
"
I
believe
that
in
his
heart
he
was
quite
as
glad
to
be
out
of
it
as
I
.
He
was
the
first
of
them
,
"
with
a
slight
regretful
pout
,
"
who
was
glad
to
be
off
!
"
"
I
think
he
was
very
glad
!
"
says
Belinda
spitefully
.
"
Say
one
word
more
,
and
I
will
have
him
back
again
,
"
cries
Sarah
,
roused
by
this
challenge
.
But
Belinda
makes
no
rejoinder
.
To
her
,
Sarah
and
her
light
loves
have
become
distant
and
insignificant
things
.
Her
strained
ears
have
caught
,
or
she
thinks
so
,
the
sound
of
a
footstep
.
Of
course
it
is
only
Tommy
bringing
in
the
breakfast
;
but
he
may
be
bringing
her
death-warrant
or
her
evangel
,
too
.
It
is
the
first
day
on
which
,
according
to
her
calculation
of
distances
,
it
would
be
possible
for
her
to
receive
a
letter
from
Rivers
.
"
If
you
had
heard
,
"
continues
Sarah
,
smiling
rosily
to
herself
,
"
the
masterly
way
in
which
I
indicated
to
him
that
it
was
only
my
consciousness
of
inadequacy
to
fill
that
high
post
,
which
made
me
regretfully
retire
from
it
,
I
think
that
even
you
would
have
admired
me
.
"
"
Should
I
?
"
quite
inattentively
.
"
He
swallowed
it
all
,
"
continues
Sarah
,
growing
grave
.
"
Good
heavens
!
"
throwing
up
her
eyes
,
"
what
will
not
they
swallow
?
"
The
sound
has
died
away
again
.
It
could
not
have
been
even
Tommy
.
"
I
cried
a
little
,
"
resumes
Sarah
,
with
that
glow
of
modest
retrospective
satisfaction
still
diffused
all
over
her
,
extending
even
to
her
pink
cambric
gown
.
"
Do
not
ask
me
how
I
did
it
;
I
could
not
even
engage
to
do
it
again
were
the
same
situation
to
return
;
these
strokes
of
genius
do
not
repeat
themselves
.
"
She
stops
,
her
attention
diverted
into
a
fresh
channel
,
for
at
this
moment
Gustel
throws
open
the
door
,
and
Tommy
enters
,
his
childish
arms
extended
to
their
widest
stretch
to
embrace
the
breakfast
tray
,
upon
which
,
beside
coffee-pot
and
rolls
,
lies
a
heap
of
letters
and
papers
.
Belinda
does
not
stir
now
that
the
moment
so
breathlessly
longed
for
has
come
;
she
would
fain
put
it
off
again
,
shove
it
away
a
little
further
.
A
paralysis
of
fear
nails
her
to
her
chair
.
She
feels
an
impulse
of
anger-against
Sarah
for
doing
what
she
herself
is
incapable
of
;
for
her
quick
movement
towards
the
tray
,
her
hasty
turning
over
of
the
family
's
correspondence
.
There
is
a
second
's
pause
—
a
pause
during
which
hope
still
lives
:
then
in
a
moment
it
is
dead
.
Sarah
's
voice
would
tell
her
that
,
even
if
her
words
did
not
.
"
I
am
afraid
there
is
nothing
very
interesting
for
you
,
"
she
says
reluctantly
,
tossing
her
three
or
four
letters
without
looking
at
her
.
Belinda
's
heart
dies
;
then
suddenly
there
flares
up
a
tiny
flame
of
hope
in
it
again
.
Possibly
Sarah
may
not
recognise
his
handwriting
.
Probably
it
is
so
disguised
and
disfigured
by
trouble
and
emotion
as
to
be
unrecognisable
.
Was
not
this
the
case
with
her
note
?
She
snatches
at
the
letters
and
looks
dizzily
from
one
to
the
other
of
the
superscriptions
.
Alas
,
no
!
they
are
all
in
the
handwriting
of
familiar
and
habitual
correspondents
.
She
has
told
herself
all
night
that
her
expectations
were
not
highly
raised
for
today
;
that
to-day
is
the
first
day
on
which
it
would
be
possible
to
hear
;
that
,
being
only
possible
,
it
is
not
also
probable
;
that
her
chances
are
better
for
to-morrow
or
the
day
after
.
And
yet
,
now
that
the
disappointment
has
come
,
it
seems
to
her
ruinous
and
final
.
Her
first
movement
is
to
dash
the
letters
down
on
her
lap
;
then
,
with
that
instinct
of
self-respect
which
parts
us
from
the
savage
and
the
beast
,
remembering
that
Tommy
's
round
gaze
is
upon
her
,
she
picks
up
one
,
and
shakily
unfolding
it
,
lets
her
misery-shaded
eyes
fall
on
the
page
.
Only
for
a
moment
,
however
;
a
fresh
thought
makes
her
drop
it
and
fly
to
the
papers
.
In
a
second
she
has
torn
open
one
of
the
English
journals
,
the
Standard
;
and
seizing
the
advertisement
sheet
,
greedily
turns
to
the
column
of
births
,
deaths
,
and
marriages
.
She
runs
her
eye
down
the
names
;
she
will
not
allow
this
horrible
swimming
to
blind
her
;
she
will
read
for
herself
.
"
Abbots
,
Ackers
,
Anson
,
Baker
,
Callcott
,
Frith
,
Forly
,
Harper
,
Key
—
when
do
the
R
's
come
?
what
a
long
,
long
list
!
Ah
!
here
they
are
!
Raby
,
Rashleigh
,
Retford
—
what
a
number
of
R
's
are
dead
!
Yes
,
here
it
is
!
Rivers
!
"
The
swimming
is
gone
.
She
can
see
it
clearly
;
there
is
no
mistake
.
"
On
the
24th
inst
.
,
at
Denver
Hall
,
Yorkshire
,
John
Appleby
Rivers
,
M.P.
,
aged
54.
"
At
the
same
moment
,
Tommy
,
his
functions
ended
,
shuts
the
door
behind
him
.
For
a
moment
or
two
Belinda
stares
dully
at
the
announcement
,
then
silently
holds
it
out
to
her
sister
.
But
Sarah
does
not
see
it
;
her
head
is
buried
between
the
other
sheets
of
the
paper
,
which
she
has
been
too
impatient
even
to
cut
.
"
I
knew
it
,
"
she
says
,
speaking
suddenly
in
a
voice
that
is
a
little
tremulous
,
a
little
awed
,
and
yet
triumphant
.
"
I
knew
it
was
his
father
;
he
is
dead
;
he
has
committed
suicide
.
Poor
David
!
no
wonder
he
looked
odd
.
There
is
a
paragraph
about
it
.
"
"
Committed
suicide
!
"
repeats
Belinda
with
a
gasp
,
turning
as
white
as
the
table-cloth
,
and
her
great
grey
eyes
dilating
,
while
the
image
of
her
poor
boy-lover
and
his
whole-hearted
devotion
to
,
his
innocent
enthusiasm
about
his
father
,
at
which
she
had
sometimes
smiled
,
superior
yet
envious
,
darts
painfully
back
upon
her
memory
.
Sarah
has
snatched
a
table-knife
and
is
rapidly
and
jaggedly
cutting
the
paper
.
"
'
We
regret
to
announce
the
death
,
under
peculiarly
painful
circumstances
,
of
Mr.
John
Appleby
Rivers
,
of
Denver
Hall
,
Yorkshire
,
who
for
the
last
ten
years
has
represented
the
Borough
of
Denver
in
the
Conservative
interest
in
Parliament
.
The
deceased
gentleman
had
retired
to
rest
on
the
night
of
the
25th
in
his
usual
health
,
but
on
the
following
morning
his
valet
,
on
going
to
call
him
at
the
accustomed
hour
,
found
his
door
locked
,
and
could
obtain
no
answer
to
his
repeated
knocks
.
The
family
becoming
alarmed
,
an
entrance
was
effected
through
the
window
,
when
the
unfortunate
gentleman
was
found
extended
lifeless
on
the
floor
,
with
his
throat
cut
from
ear
to
ear
.
Medical
assistance
was
at
once
procured
,
but
in
vain
,
as
life
had
evidently
been
extinct
for
some
hours
.
'
"
Sarah
pauses
with
a
shudder
of
disgust
,
even
her
blooming
cheek
a
little
paled
.
"
Why
will
people
cut
their
throats
,
"
she
says
complainingly
,
"
when
there
are
so
many
clean
ways
of
dying
?
"
"
Perhaps
he
did
not
do
it
himself
,
"
cries
Belinda
,
catching
breathlessly
at
this
hope
.
"
Who
knows
?
Perhaps
he
was
murdered
!
"
"
Wait
a
bit
!
"
replies
Sarah
,
putting
up
her
hand
in
prohibition
.
"
Where
was
I
?
Let
me
go
on
:
'
Been
extinct
for
several
hours
.
The
razor
with
which
the
deed
had
been
accomplished
lay
on
the
floor
beside
the
corpse
!
'
"
Again
she
shudders
.
"
Grisly
word
!
why
will
they
use
it
?
Why
do
all
newspaper-writers
love
it
?
'
It
is
surmised
that
distress
of
mind
,
arising
from
pecuniary
embarrassment
,
was
the
immediate
cause
of
the
rash
act
.
'
"
She
stops
for
a
few
moments
,
and
there
is
silence
.
Belinda
has
put
her
hands
over
her
eyes
,
before
which
the
ghastly
sight
is
conjured
up
in
its
red
horror
.
This
,
then
,
is
what
has
robbed
her
of
him
!
This
is
the
spectacle
for
which
he
has
exchanged
the
spring-dressed
,
sun-warmed
Grosse
Garten
.
This
is
the
errand
,
falsely
and
cruelly
supposed
by
her
to
be
a
feigned
one
,
which
has
torn
him
away
.
She
shivers
,
and
the
shiver
is
followed
by
a
warm
rush
of
passionate
pity
.
"
What
will
he
do
?
How
will
he
bear
it
?
Will
he
ever
get
over
it
?
"
We
ask
ourselves
and
each
other
this
senseless
question
,
as
often
as
an
affliction
a
little
severer
than
common
alights
upon
one
that
is
known
to
us
;
although
experience
,
a
thousand
times
repeated
,
has
taught
us
its
folly
.
But
below
the
horror
and
the
compassion
,
though
both
are
genuine
,
there
lies
in
Belinda
's
mind
a
thick
,
deep
stratum
of
inexpressible
relief
and
joy
.
It
is
explained
then
!
Suspense
is
ended
;
at
least
for
the
moment
it
seems
so
.
There
may
be
a
cessation
of
that
weary
sum-doing
.
She
may
think
again
of
the
wood
at
Wesenstein
without
writhing
.
Her
past
is
restored
to
her
.
Surely
she
can
live
upon
it
until
he
comes
back
to
give
her
a
present
and
a
future
.
"
Pecuniary
embarrassments
!
"
says
Sarah
thoughtfully
.
"
I
do
not
much
like
that
.
However
,
"
with
a
more
cheerful
air
,
"
it
is
better
than
having
insanity
in
the
family
.
"
Poor
man
!
it
was
a
cowardly
way
of
cutting
the
knot
!
"
"
The
25th
,
"
says
Belinda
,
dropping
her
hands
into
her
lap
,
and
