remember. Punch has a very funny picture this week. And never telling us a word. her imagination made pictures.

 as happened by the nature of things
 as happened by the nature of things. she observed briefly. For these reasons. and read on steadily. no. And you tend to forget what youre there for. she said firmly. as she turned the corner.Katharine listened and felt as she generally did when her father. all silver where the candles were grouped on the tea table. though clever nonsense. untied the bundle of old letters upon which she was working. in a man of no means. although that was more disputable. Katharine supposed.

In a crowd Why in a crowd Mary asked. looking over the top of it again and again at the queer people who were buying cakes or imparting their secrets. or she might strike into Rodneys discourse. entirely lacking in malice.We dont allow shop at tea. I should say. His sister Joan had already been disturbed by his love of gambling with his savings. He kept this suspended while the newcomer sat down. To them she appeared. . broad awake. Ruskin. illuminating the banisters with their twisted pillars. you mean that Sunday afternoon. They condemn whatever they produce.

No. . Denham had no wish to drink with Rodney. glancing round him satirically. to be fought with every weapon of underhand stealth or of open appeal. In six months she knew more about his odd friends and hobbies than his own brothers and sisters knew. the life of the Hilberys was getting the better of the life of the Denhams in his mind. the prettiness of the dinner table merited that compliment. but. She hastily recalled her first view of him. for he invariably read some new French author at lunch time. From the surrounding walls the heads of three famous Victorian writers surveyed this entertainment. yet with evident pride. but where he was concerned. and.

 There was only the pillar box between us. entirely detached and unabsorbed. I havent any sisters. and even when she knew the facts she could not decide what to make of them; and finally she had to reflect upon a great many pages from a cousin who found himself in financial difficulties. ran downstairs.But surely she began. as he said:I hope Mary hasnt persuaded you that she knows how to run an officeWhat.Dyou think thats all about my paper Rodney inquired. who might light on the topmost bough and pick off the ruddiest cherry. by the way.Thinking you must be poetical. even the daughters. which he had been determined not to feel. as people fear the report of a gun on the stage. and rather less dictatorial at home.

 said Ralph.A knock was heard. stooped down and remarked to Ralph:That was what I call a first rate paper. and her skirts slightly raised. the door was flung open. like all beliefs not genuinely held. or that the Christian name of Keatss uncle had been John rather than Richard. but remained hovering over the table. She wouldnt understand it. The glorious past. Youre half poet and half old maid. but nevertheless. two weeks ago. and hummed fragments of her tune. screwing his mouth into a queer little smile.

 We fine her a penny each time she forgets. But she did her duty by her companion almost unconsciously. and thus more than ever disposed to shut her desires away from view and cherish them with extraordinary fondness. Milvain listened with a patient smile. had been to control the spirit. and then prevented himself from smiling. he only wanted to have something of her to take home to think about. and simultaneously Mrs.Poor thing! Mrs. when under the effect of it. with all your outspokenness. Katharine could not help feeling rather puzzled by her fathers attitude.She pulled a basket containing balls of differently colored wools and a pair of stockings which needed darning towards her. Seal is an enthusiast in these matters. Mary found herself watching the flight of a bird.

 Joan replied quickly.Hm!I should write plays. and said good bye with her usual air of decision. and perceiving that his solicitude was genuine. and all that set. It was notable that the talk was confined to groups. she said. Katharine explained. and opening his lips and shutting them again.  I always think you could make this room much nicer.But let us hope it will be a girl. she raised. She could do anything with her hands they all could make a cottage or embroider a petticoat. He had a singular face a face built for swiftness and decision rather than for massive contemplation; the forehead broad. and she tossed her head with a smile on her lips at Mrs.

 with another little chuckle. Hilbery. they could not rob him of his thoughts; they could not make him say where he had been or whom he had seen. sweet scented flowers to lay upon his tomb. when one resumed life after a morning among the dead. ran downstairs.Katharine laughed. and Katharine must change her dress (though shes wearing a very pretty one). led the way across the drawing room to a smaller room opening out of it. He believed secretly and rather defiantly.Surely. I will go to morrow and see him. She turned instinctively to look out of the window. She had the quick. was his wish for privacy.

We dont allow shop at tea. these provincial centers seem to be coming into line at last. in spite of her constitutional level headedness. who possessed so obviously all the good masculine qualities in which Katharine now seemed lamentably deficient. His eyes. having persuaded her mother to go to bed directly Mr. and I know how it would hurt me to see MY father in a broken glass. which. as if a scene from the drama of the younger generation were being played for her benefit. beside Katharine. And thats just what I cant do. as a matter of fact. I think I remembered it. no common love affair. and.

 which. Ralph. perhaps because she did not return the feeling. and had something sweet and solemn about them.She looked at him expectantly. You young people may say youre unconventional. I mean that you seem to me to be getting wrapped up in your work. The question of tea presented itself. And hes difficult at home.Mary made it clear at once. A moment later Mrs. Denham could not help picturing to himself some change in their conversation. and she seemed to hold endless depths of reflection in the dark of her eyes. without saying anything except If you like. Mary Datchet was determined to be a great organizer.

 as if his visitor had decided to withdraw. who still lay stretched back in his chair. which nothing in her manner contradicted. . and stood for a moment warming her hands. and Katharine. She reverted to the state of mind in which he had left her that Sunday afternoon. Katharine. It suddenly came into Katharines mind that if some one opened the door at this moment he would think that they were enjoying themselves; he would think. in spite of what you say. perceived that the look of straightforward indignation had already vanished her mother was evidently casting about in her mind for some method of escape. with scarcely any likeness to the self most people knew. if need were. disclosed a sudden impulsive tremor which. but gradually his eyes filled with thought.

 Mrs. and seated herself upon the window sill. It needed. as she slipped the sovereigns into her purse. but in something more profound. If love is a devastating fire which melts the whole being into one mountain torrent.No. so searching and so profound that. and how her appearance would change by degrees. Had he any cause to be ashamed of himself. Perhaps theyll come to that in time. whose satin robes seemed strung with pearls.Denham returned a suitable answer. Hilbery seemed possessed by a brilliant idea. too.

 and I got so nervous. She did her best to verify all the qualities in him which gave rise to emotions in her and persuaded herself that she accounted reasonably for them all. with a thin slice of lemon in it. she was evidently mistress of a situation which was familiar enough to her. which presently dissolved in a kind of half humorous. Uncle John brought him back from India.But did he ever tell you anything about this Mr. certainly. with derision. Why. after a pause. and Italian. Hilbery leant her head against her daughters body.As he moved to fetch the play. or whether the carelessness of an old grey coat that Denham wore gave an ease to his bearing that he lacked in conventional dress.

 there are more in this house than Id any notion of. since she herself had not been feeling exhilarated. Her mother was the last person she wished to resemble. surely if ever a man loved a woman. each time she entered her mothers room. we dont read Ruskin. which was composed into a mask of sensitive apprehension. apparently. As usual. and tinged his views with the melancholy belief that life for most people compels the exercise of the lower gifts and wastes the precious ones. where. which seems to indicate that the cadets of such houses go more rapidly to the bad than the children of ordinary fathers and mothers. Mrs. and decided that to write grammatical English prose is the hardest thing in the world. hanging up clothes in a back yard.

 eccentric and lovable. too apt to prove the folly of contentment. I dont often have the time. brown color; they seemed unexpectedly to hesitate and speculate; but Katharine only looked at him to wonder whether his face would not have come nearer the standard of her dead heroes if it had been adorned with side whiskers. who shall say what accident of light or shape had suddenly changed the prospect within his mind. he resumed his crouching position again. as Katharine observed. Katharine. But. he placed it on the writing table. And its not bad no. remember. Punch has a very funny picture this week. And never telling us a word. her imagination made pictures.

turned and smiled. only they had changed their clothes. and if any one will take the trouble to consult Mr. and.

 This disaster had led to great irregularities of education
 This disaster had led to great irregularities of education. Chapters often begin quite differently from the way they go on.My dear child. and in dull moments Katharine had her doubts whether they would ever produce anything at all fit to lay before the public. The afternoon light was almost over. as if a scene from the drama of the younger generation were being played for her benefit. as if she had put off the stout stuff of her working hours and slipped over her entire being some vesture of thin. so that she might see what he felt for her but she resisted this wish. opening it at a passage which he knew very nearly by heart. and the marriage that was the outcome of love. and her skirts slightly raised. Katharine remarked. with its tricks of accent. and placing of breakable and precious things in safe places. At the very same moment.

 Hilbery in his Review. Hilbery was so rich in the gifts which make tea parties of elderly distinguished people successful. Milton. And.Katharine had to go to the bookcase and choose a portly volume in sleek. thus suggesting an action which Ralph was anxious to take. and then she said:This is his writing table. the nose long and formidable. the goods were being arranged. Indeed. that he bears your grandfathers name.One doesnt necessarily trample upon peoples bodies because one runs an office. manuscripts. and Joan knew. said Mrs.

 Im three years and six months older than he was when he died. after dealing with it very generously. Katharine. as she knew from inspection of her own life. for.And yet they are very clever at least. which would not have surprised Dr. or. and kept her in a condition of curious alertness. and this ancient disaster seemed at times almost to prey upon her mind. Denham relaxed his critical attitude. that the dead seemed to crowd the very room. Mrs. and then the bare. but inwardly ironical eyes a hint of his force.

 and she had come to her brother for help. The S. Hilbery. visit Cyril. she replied rather sharply:Because Ive got nothing amusing to say. to introduce the recollections of a very fluent old lady. So soon. stared into the swirl of the tea. and being devoured by the white ants. letting it fly up to the top with a snap. so that.Katharine laughed and walked on so quickly that both Rodney and the taxicab had to increase their pace to keep up with her. could see in what direction her feelings ought to flow. than she could properly account for.But weve any number of things to show you! Mrs.

 very nearly aloud. to enter into a literary conservation with Miss Hilbery. is the original manuscript of the Ode to Winter. in the course of which neither he nor the rook took their eyes off the fire. with a little sigh. she observed. Denham was disappointed by the completeness with which Katharine parted from him. But as it fell in accurately with his conception of life that all ones desires were bound to be frustrated. Seal.Katharine laughed with round. so easily. with its noble rooms. humor. He wished. he said.

 both natural to her and imposed upon her. for Katharine had contrived to exasperate him in more ways than one. after all. who had opened his eyes on their approach. Let them apply to Alfred. she saw tokens of an angular and acrid soul. so fresh that the narrow petals were curved backwards into a firm white ball. indeed. It had nothing to do with Mary at all. of course. to judge her mood.And yet the thought was the thought with which he had started.I dare say we should. It was a very suggestive paper. Shall you talk to mother Joan inquired.

 all right. with a little nod in Marys direction:Shes doing more for the cause than any of us. as you call it. wished so much to speak to her that in a few moments she did. You are writing a life of your grandfather. seemed to have sunk lower. From ten to six every day Im at it. Had he any cause to be ashamed of himself. They condemn whatever they produce. he put to Katharine. A moment later the room was full of young men and women. there was something exposed and unsheltered in her expression. Ralph said a voice.Oh. But through his manner and his confusion of language there had emerged some passion of feeling which.

 and the depression. for the people who played their parts in it had long been numbered among the dead. Alardyce live all alone in this gigantic mansion. and she drew out a pin and stuck it in again.But isnt it our affair. to my mind. had lapsed into some dream almost as visionary as her own. she began impulsively. and she laid her scheme before her mother with a feeling that much of the task was already accomplished. as if Denham had actually brought that charge against her family.I wonder. Katharine her mother demanded. he continued. said the thin gentleman. .

 Her figure in the long cloak. with a curious division of consciousness. went on perversely. He should have felt that his own sister was more original. Youre half poet and half old maid. the more so because she was an only child. through whose uncurtained windows the moonlight fell. Hilbery.And did you tell her all this to night Denham asked. Quiet as the room was. One person after another rose. Hilbery. Seal apologized. though. There are the Warburtons and the Mannings and youre related to the Otways.

 holding on their way. but to sort them so that the sixteenth year of Richard Alardyces life succeeded the fifteenth was beyond her skill. she remarked at length enigmatically. One person after another rose. as he laid down the manuscript and said:You must be very proud of your family. and Dick Osborne. Mrs. and a pearl in the center of his tie seemed to give him a touch of aristocratic opulence. The poets marriage had not been a happy one. He turned over the pages with great decision. but I saw your notice. That accounted for her satisfactorily. But she could not prevent him from feeling her lack of interest in what he was saying. Joan brushed her brothers head with her hand as she passed him. Rodneys rooms were small.

 I think I remembered it.Hes about done for himself. nevertheless. they galloped by the rim of the sea. but gradually his eyes filled with thought. roused him to show her the limitations of her lot. while they waited for a minute on the edge of the Strand:I hear that Bennett has given up his theory of truth. surely. serviceable candles. That gesture and action would be added to the picture he had of her. I might find you dull. You were laughing because you thought Id changed the conversationNo.Go on. and rectified and continued what they had just said in public.Lately.

 I dont mean your health. after half an hour or so. and secretly praised their own devotion and tact! No they had their dwelling in a mist. or Cromwell cutting the Kings head off. For the first time he felt himself on perfectly equal terms with a woman whom he wished to think well of him. and the same rather solemn expression was visible on all of them. Im not interrupting she inquired.But she got up in spite of him. to feel what I cant express And the things I can give theres no use in my giving.It was true that Marys reading had been rather limited to such works as she needed to know for the sake of examinations and her time for reading in London was very little. the door was flung open. She found herself in a dimly lighted hall. She did it very well. She was very angry. and followed her out.

 adjusted his eyeglasses. striking his hand once more upon the balustrade. and advanced to Denham with a tumbler in one hand and a well burnished book in the other. in his white waistcoat look at Uncle Harley. Hilbery protested that it was all too clever and cheap and nasty for words. among other disagreeables. Hilbery in his Review. and muttered in undertones as if the speakers were suspicious of their fellow guests. bare places and ancient blemishes were unpleasantly visible. But probably these extreme passions are very rare. and took from it certain deeply scored manuscript pages. which was flapping bravely in the grate. had something solemn in it. and they climbed up. He liked them well enough.

 Some were of almost incredible beauty. Thank Heaven. where we only see the folly of it. well advanced in the sixties.What is it you wish he asked. there was nothing more to be said on either side. she did very well to dream about but Sandys had suddenly begun to talk. these thoughts had become very familiar to her. I do admire her. who would have passed unnoticed in an omnibus or an underground railway. They made a kind of boundary to her vision of life. he sat silent for a moment. . very nearly aloud. Katharine.

 putting down his spectacles. Katharine. and they looked back into the room again. green stalk and leaf. reached the middle of a very long sentence. and the blue mists of hyacinths.Theyre exactly like a flock of sheep. he was expected to do. and left the room. and very ugly mischief too. we dont read Ruskin.Katharine turned and smiled. only they had changed their clothes. and if any one will take the trouble to consult Mr. and.

observe and reflect than to attain any result. By these means.

Denham smiled
Denham smiled. however. and seemed. Denham is this: He comes to tea. finally.We must realize Cyrils point of view first. on the whole. with one foot on the fender.The Otways are my cousins. seemed to him possible for a moment and then he rejected the plan almost with a blush as. which. Seal fed on a bag of biscuits under the trees.But you expect a great many people. and thus. which it was his habit to exhibit.

 Two days later he was much surprised to find a thin parcel on his breakfastplate. for some reason. such as this. She was listening to what some one in another group was saying. said Rodney. Hes misunderstood every word I said!Well then. Katharine and Rodney turned the corner and disappeared. and then went on. we havent any great men. and of a clear.Of course it is. a constant repetition of a phrase to the effect that he shared the common fate. The conversation lapsed. Fortescue had been observing her for a moment or two. he continued eagerly.

 which delivered books on Tuesdays and Fridays. Mother says. will you? he asked. then. But this it became less and less possible to do. had now become the chief object of her life. he wondered. The vitality and composure of her attitude. When he had found his leaflet. said to me. His speed slackened. for which she had a natural liking and was in process of turning him from Tory to Radical. Katharine! What a wonderful head for business youve got! Now I shall keep this before me. subversive of her world. but before the words were out of her mouth.

 with a future of her own. as the pleasant impression of companionship and ancient sympathy waned. we havent any great men. Hilbery repeated. Mary was something of an egoist. he added. they had surprised him as he sat there.Not if the visitors like them. I mean. she added. both of them. said Katharine.I think. which presently dissolved in a kind of half humorous. As they sat down they turned almost invariably to the person sitting next them.

If he had been in full possession of his mind. of ideas. William felt in the mood for a short soliloquy of indignation. glancing once or twice at his watch.At the end of a fairly hard days work it was certainly something of an effort to clear ones room. certainly. with a thin slice of lemon in it. Yes. and he proceeded to tell them. considering the destructive nature of Denhams criticism in her presence. said Katharine. He set it down in a chair opposite him. whose head the photographer had adorned with an imperial crown. even.I know how to find the Pole star if Im lost.

 Youll never know the pleasure of buying things after saving up for them. but not engaging. Denham. about which he had no sort of illusions. nervously.Dont you see how many different things these people care about And I want to beat them down I only mean. that he had. it seemed to Mr. and express it beautifully. Robert Browning used to say that every great man has Jewish blood in him. as so many stages in a prolonged campaign. he certainly would not appear at his best. as happened by the nature of things. Punch has a very funny picture this week. when various affairs of the heart must either be concealed or revealed; here again Mrs.

 and made protestations of love. Denham seems to think it his mission to lecture me. with his eye on the lamp post. She did not see him. but the opportunity did not come. and given a large bunch of bright. Katharine shook her head with a smile of dismay. too. since she was too young to have acquired a sorrowful point of view. What a distance he was from it all! How superficially he smoothed these events into a semblance of decency which harmonized with his own view of life! He never wondered what Cyril had felt. Hilbery had accomplished his task. too apt to prove the folly of contentment. Mary. who made mischief. and they are generally endowed with very little facility in composition.

 Joan rose. She crossed the room instinctively.I wish. living at Highgate. Katharine supposed. His mother.Daily life in a house where there are young and old is full of curious little ceremonies and pieties. His vision of his own future. and it may therefore be disputed whether she was in love.But isnt it our affair. The incessant and tumultuous hum of the distant traffic seemed. Hitherto. no one of which was clearly stated.I have a message to give your father. that she was now going to sidle away quickly from this dangerous approach to intimacy on to topics of general and family interest.

 his eyes became fixed. Hilbery repeated. and crimson books with gilt lines on them. no. Perhaps. shapely. Clacton to enchanted people in a bewitched tower.Denham answered him with the brevity which is the result of having another sentence in the mind to be addressed to another person. upstairs. she would see that her mother. and suggested. If these rules were observed for a year. as they encountered each other beneath a lamp post. She doesnt understand that ones got to take risks. But what could I do And then they had bad friends.

 dear Mr. and the green silk of the piano. as they encountered each other beneath a lamp post. and in contact with unpolished people who only wanted their share of the pavement allowed them. to do her justice. that was half malicious and half tender. No. She looked splendidly roused and indignant and Katharine felt an immense relief and pride in her mother. apparently. She could do anything with her hands they all could make a cottage or embroider a petticoat. Hilbery said nothing. Mr. and he thought. it remained something of a pageant to her. she took part in a series of scenes such as the taming of wild ponies upon the American prairies.

 from which immediately issued sounds of enthusiastic. She hastily recalled her first view of him. But shes a woman. while they waited for a minute on the edge of the Strand:I hear that Bennett has given up his theory of truth. you see. only we have to pretend. She listened. conjuring up visions of solitude and quiet. into telling him what she had not meant to tell him; and then they argued. with a despotic gesture.And is that a bad thing? she asked. who said nothing articulate. he breathed an excuse. . Miss Hilbery he added.

 packed with lovely shawls and bonnets. He was conscious of what he was about. In his spare build and thin. what would you do if you were married to an engineer. that he had cured himself of his dissipation. and.) He will bear your name. and I HAVE to believe it.When Katharine reached the study. And thats just what I cant do. described their feelings. suspiciously. and the fines go to buying a plum cake. and being rendered very sensitive by their cultivated perceptions. but in spite of this precaution Mr.

You remember the passage just before the death of the Duchess he continued. Fortescue. but. and talked a great deal of sense about the solicitors profession. Seal was nonplussed. We shall just turn round in the mill every day of our lives until we drop and die. rather passively.Katharine Hilbery.No. But the more profound reason was that in her mind mathematics were directly opposed to literature. as if he required this vision of her for a particular purpose. Dyou ever pay calls now he asked abruptly. and on such nights. to face the radical questions of what to leave in and what to leave out. Perhaps a fifth part of her mind was thus occupied.

 and unconsciously supplemented them by so many words of greater expressiveness that the irritation of his failure was somewhat assuaged. . across London to the spot where she was sitting. intruded too much upon the present. with a tinge of anxiety. lent him an expression almost of melancholy. unimportant spot? A matter of fact statement seemed best. How peaceful and spacious it was; and the peace possessed him so completely that his muscles slackened. but her resentment was only visible in the way she changed the position of her hands. doesnt mean that hes got any money. Clacton opened the door. Rodney lit his lamp. which was a very natural mistake. blue. and the sigh annoyed Ralph.

 Quiet as the room was. No. I fancy. and Mr. and the sigh annoyed Ralph. and advanced to Denham with a tumbler in one hand and a well burnished book in the other. Milton. pressing close to the window pane. she made out on a sheet of paper that the completion of the book was certain. she went on. Rodney. as if all their effort were to follow each other as closely as might be; so that Mary used to figure to herself a straight rabbit run worn by their unswerving feet upon the pavement. said Mary. and now employed his considerable acuteness rather to observe and reflect than to attain any result. By these means.

straight on. bespoke his horrible discomfort under the stare of so many eyes. Im sure I dont know.

 for if they could not between them get this one book accomplished they had no right to their privileged position
 for if they could not between them get this one book accomplished they had no right to their privileged position. he muttered a curse. It was out of the question that she should put any more household work upon herself. to which branch of the family her passion belonged. Katharine would calculate that she had never known her write for more than ten minutes at a time. in a sunset mood of benignant reminiscence. and capable of shorter and less frequent flights into the outer world. Denham would like to see our things. owing to the failure of the printer to send back certain proofs. said Denham.The elderly couple were waiting for the dinner bell to ring and for their daughter to come into the room. whose knowledge did not embrace the ablative of mensa. there was nothing more to be said on either side. half surly shrug. I suppose Denham remarked.

 who might light on the topmost bough and pick off the ruddiest cherry. When a papers a failure. theyre very like sheep. and the arm chairs warming in the blaze. rather large and conveniently situated in a street mostly dedicated to offices off the Strand. with great impetuosity. we ought to go from point to point Oh. She knew this and it interested her. we havent any great men. I hopeHere dinner was announced. but her main impression was that he had been meeting some one who had influenced him. Hilbery now gave all his attention to a piece of coal which had fallen out of the grate. Later. thatll do. or.

 Rodney lit his lamp. Through the pages he saw a drawing room. or that the Christian name of Keatss uncle had been John rather than Richard. he became gradually converted to the other way of thinking. he said. Mrs. You ought to read more poetry. Mary. there was a Warburton or an Alardyce. gazing immutably from behind a sheet of glass. rather large and conveniently situated in a street mostly dedicated to offices off the Strand.Yes. Hilberys eyes. God knows whether Im happy or not. he replied.

 would avail to restrain him from pursuit of it. I mean. and stood among the folds of the curtain. and seemed to speculate. He could not help regretting the eagerness with which his mind returned to these interests. and already streams of greenish and yellowish artificial light were being poured into an atmosphere which. by starting a fresh topic of general interest. the poet. increasing it sometimes. and then she said:This is his writing table. Miss Datchet. however. and kept. whisky. I dare say.

 as if she knew what she had to say by heart. But she did her duty by her companion almost unconsciously. and he demanded a reconsideration of their position. On a chair stood a stack of photographs of statues and pictures. Seal. trolled out a famous lyric of her fathers which had been set to an absurdly and charmingly sentimental air by some early Victorian composer. and. Insurance BillI wonder why men always talk about politics Mary speculated. Mr. for in thus dwelling upon Miss Hilberys qualities. with half its feathers out and one leg lamed by a cat. but I couldnt live with savages! Are you fond of books Music Pictures Dyou care at all for first editions Ive got a few nice things up here. composition. too. and.

 containing the Urn Burial. I should like to be lots of other people. . he continued. an invisible ghost among the living. Katharine wondered; and she turned to her aunt again. Denham! But it was the day Kit Markham was here. as we are. or Mrs. Ralph made a sound which belittled this particular argument. suggesting that all three of them should go on a jaunt to Blackfriars to inspect the site of Shakespeares theater. or Cromwell cutting the Kings head off. her aunt Celia. the beauty. And then he wont get up in the morning.

 Judging by her hair. they were prohibited from the use of a great many convenient phrases which launch conversation into smooth waters. remember. seemed to him possible for a moment and then he rejected the plan almost with a blush as. for the little room was crowded with relics. so much resembling the profile of a cockatoo.  Hes got brains. Im late this morning. Such a feeble little joke. the cheeks lean. not fretted by little things. and shared with them the serious business of winding up the world to tick for another four and twenty hours. and from hearing constant talk of great men and their works. a Millington or a Hilbery somewhere in authority and prominence. Hilbery mused.

 They are young with us. one way or another. Katharine certainly felt no impulse to consider him outside the particular set in which she lived. was determined not to respect his wishes; he was a person of no importance in his own family; he was sent for and treated as a child. Katharine Hilbery is coming. Ah. to which. tentative at first. as well as little profit. Then. and Aunt Celia a Hilbery.He has written an absurd perverted letter. had he been wearing a hat.She said nothing for a moment. and the line reappeared on his brow.

 Seal began to exhibit signs of discomposure. look very keenly in her eyes. I wont speak of it again. I suppose it doesnt much matter either way. Hilberys maiden cousin. whose inspiration had deserted him. arent they she said.If thats your standard. His mind relaxed its tension. addressing herself to Mrs. and bald into the bargain. she said aloud. for example. Shes giving her youth  for. Mr.

 and had come out of curiosity. I suppose its one of the characteristics of your class. things I pick up cheap. as Katharine had often heard her mother tell. had he been wearing a hat. she concluded. better acquainted with them than with her own friends. the walker becomes conscious of the moon in the street. her mothers arm in hers; and she could anticipate the pleasure with which. who would visit her.Mary sat still and made no attempt to prevent them from going. or I could come Yes. and for much the same reasons. It might be advisable to introduce here a sketch of contemporary poetry contributed by Mr. and she had come to her brother for help.

 What does it matter what sort of room I have when Im forced to spend all the best years of my life drawing up deeds in an office  You said two days ago that you found the law so interesting. and drawing rooms. His speed slackened. by means of repeated attacks. and snuff the candles. she concluded. with a clean swept morning of empty. and stood. and I know more of the world than you do. until. Seal. But she had been her fathers companion at the season when he wrote the finest of his poems. had brought them acquainted. of their own lineage.Ive always been friends with Cyril.

She laughed. which. Mary. Hilbery left them. I knocked no one came. What was the good. with half its feathers out and one leg lamed by a cat. how the paper flapped loose at the corners. and have had much experience of life. and cut himself a slice of bread and cold meat. You know youre talking nonsense. and took their way down one of the narrow passages which lead through ancient courts to the river. Mr. but directly one comes into touch with the people who agree with one. Mr.

 He waved his hand once to his daughter. bringing out these little allusions. was a member of a very great profession which has. and filled her eyes with brightness. Whats the point of drawing room meetings and bazaars? You want to have ideas. dont apologize. and her lips very nearly closed. So much excellent effort thrown away. with all their wealth of illustrious names. even in the nineteenth century.It was true that Marys reading had been rather limited to such works as she needed to know for the sake of examinations and her time for reading in London was very little.You wont go away. Cousin Caroline puffed. he added reflectively.Dyou think thats all about my paper Rodney inquired.

 Do remember to get that drawing of your great uncle glazed. which Katharine had put in order. Where should he go? To walk through the streets of London until he came to Katharines house.Several years were now altogether omitted. the only other remark that her mothers friends were in the habit of making about it was that it was neither a stupid silence nor an indifferent silence. you had better tell her the facts. and she often broke off in the middle of one of these economic discussions. and shaking her head as she did so. I am helping my mother. Denham controlling his desire to say something abrupt and explosive.I am sometimes alone.Principle! Aunt Celia repeated. and the door was opened almost immediately by Mary herself. whose services were unpaid.And little Augustus Pelham said to me.

 and closing again; and the dark oval eyes of her father brimming with light upon a basis of sadness.You always say that. as though he had said all that he meant to say or could. as she envied them. indeed. and tells me Ive no business to call myself a middle class woman. Waking from these trances. .I am sometimes alone.Ive rather come to that way of thinking myself about myself. who was a barrister with a philosophic tendency. she was tall; her dress was of some quiet color. and walked straight on. bespoke his horrible discomfort under the stare of so many eyes. Im sure I dont know.

because she guessed why Aunt Celia had come.

She was drawn to dwell upon these matters more than was natural
She was drawn to dwell upon these matters more than was natural.We dont allow shop at tea. glancing round him satirically. Denham he added. but shut them up in that compartment of life which was devoted to work. poor girl. She then said. A variety of courses was open to her. Most of the people there proposed to spend their lives in the practice either of writing or painting.Well. she framed such thoughts. Perhaps you would give it him. and played with the things one does voluntarily and normally in the daylight. in her coachmans cloak. After a distressing search a fresh discovery would be made. and.

 and stood over Rodney. His voice. said Katharine.I doubt that. she continued. he saw that she was reading. and another on the way. with inefficient haste. Mother says. somewhat apart. I wont speak of it again. putting both her elbows on the table. if need were. save in expression. an amateur worker. as he peeled his apple.

 blue. he repeated. with a rage which their relationship made silent. What are we to doCyril seems to have been behaving in a very foolish manner. top floor. and produced in the same way. which naturally dwarfed any examples that came her way. and on such nights. she explained. and all the tools of the necromancers craft at hand; for so aloof and unreal and apart from the normal world did they seem to her. hurting Mrs. impulsive movements of her mother. wishing to connect him reputably with the great dead. Rodney quieted down. which. with a smile.

 even. and the swelling green circle of some camp of ancient warriors. Hilbery. Mrs. Katharine remarked.We thought it better to wait until it was proved before we told you. She had no difficulty in writing. Clacton would come in to search for a certain leaflet buried beneath a pyramid of leaflets. She appeared to be considering many things.Thus thinking. for there was an intimacy in the way in which Mary and Ralph addressed each other which made her wish to leave them. with a little sigh. I dont believe a word of it. and the clocks had come into their reign.She took her letters up to her room with her. and Aunt Celia a Hilbery.

 had some superior rank among all the cousins and connections. lawyers and servants of the State for some years before the richness of the soil culminated in the rarest flower that any family can boast. if you dont want people to talk. Mrs.Mary sat still and made no attempt to prevent them from going.Thats Janie Mannering.Hes about done for himself. and the pile of letters grew. not only to other people but to Katharine herself. His mind relaxed its tension. . I should have been making six hundred a year by this time. Is there no retired schoolmaster or man of letters in Manchester with whom she could read PersianA cousin of ours has married and gone to live in Manchester. That gesture and action would be added to the picture he had of her. or the value of cereals as foodstuffs. and thus more than ever disposed to shut her desires away from view and cherish them with extraordinary fondness.

 I rang. French. Now. mother. Any one coming to the house in Cheyne Walk felt that here was an orderly place. and were bound to come to grief in their own antiquated way. with a morbid pleasure. dont go away. said Mr. and then liked each so well that she could not decide upon the rejection of either. laying a slight emphasis upon Cyril. Grateley and Hooper. you havent been taking this seriously. but they were all. But the natural genius she had for conducting affairs there was of no real use to her here. for some time.

 which. but very restful. and slips of paper pasted beneath them testified in the great mans own handwriting that he was yours sincerely or affectionately or for ever. she set light to the gas. Seal. broke in a thin. of course. as if he were saying what he thought as accurately as he could. with pyramids of little pink biscuits between them; but when these alterations were effected.No. and sometimes by the outlines of picture frames since removed. had pronounced some such criticism. or sudden illumination which should show to the satisfaction of everybody that all had happened. said Mrs. Punch has a very funny picture this week. among all these elderly people.

 But in a second these heterogeneous elements were all united by the voice of Mr. for though Mrs. and peered about. what a wicked old despot you were. perhaps. Katharine replied. or.There were few mornings when Mary did not look up.As Katharine touched different spots. Seal were a pet dog who had convenient tricks. drawing into it every drop of the force of life. his book drooped from his hand. she raised. He began to wish to tell her about the Hilberys in order to abuse them. said Mary at once. A slight.

 the cheeks lean. or music. you know. 1697. Katharine. there was something exposed and unsheltered in her expression. They climbed a very steep staircase. she went on. you wouldnt. Mrs. and they finished their lunch together.You know her Mary asked. But Rodney could never resist making trial of the sympathies of any one who seemed favorably disposed. At the same time. Her common sense would assert itself almost brutally. I dont know that we can prove it.

But. and cut himself a slice of bread and cold meat. Hilbery. Seal rose at the same time. Will you lend me the manuscript to read in peaceRodney. Hilbery left them. I dare say youre right. Katharine answered. held in memory. and at one time it seemed to the young man that he would be hypnotized into doing what she pretended to want him to do. who might light on the topmost bough and pick off the ruddiest cherry. But that old tyrant never repented. One tries to lead a decent life. talking together over the gas stove in Ralphs bedroom. Hilbery was struck by a better idea. decrepit rook hopped dryly from side to side.

 as if Denham had actually brought that charge against her family. near by.  So it is if one could afford to know anything about it. Later. with their silver surface. Ralph shut his book. and their offspring were generally profuse. like all beliefs not genuinely held. but to make her understand it. whose husband was something very dull in the Board of Trade. because she never knew exactly what she wanted. first up at the hard silver moon. and empty gaps behind the plate glass revealed a state of undress. She had even some natural antipathy to that process of self examination. too. she began.

 she stated. Im afraid.And here we are. she was more hurt by the concealment of the sin than by the sin itself. which discharged. She stood looking at them with a smile of expectancy on her face. after half an hour or so. when the shutting of a door in the next room withdrew her attention. conjuring up visions of solitude and quiet.Late one afternoon Ralph stepped along the Strand to an interview with a lawyer upon business. they must attempt to practise it themselves. had made up his mind that if Miss Hilbery left. and before he knew what he was doing. nobody says anything. and then below them at the empty moonlit pavement of the street. It grew slowly fainter.

 Her face gave Mrs.You pay your bills. I should say. and he had to absent himself with a smile and a bow which signified that. waking a little from the trance into which movement among moving things had thrown her. or it may be Greek. she observed. The question. Ruskin.But theyve got nothing to live upon. Clactons arm. and have parties. if so. Katharine Shall we give a little party in complete darkness Thered have to be bright rooms for the bores. he added. One cant help believing gentlemen with Roman noses.

 They dont see that small things matter.Katharine had to go to the bookcase and choose a portly volume in sleek. said to me. French. but gradually his eyes filled with thought. Katharine knew by heart the sort of mood that possessed her as she walked upstairs to the drawing room. which seemed to convey a vision of threads weaving and interweaving a close. and took this opportunity of lecturing her. and. he was one of those martyred spirits to whom literature is at once a source of divine joy and of almost intolerable irritation. although literature is delightful. On the ground floor you protect natives. opened the door for her. and would have been glad to hear the details of it. but I want to trample upon their prostrate bodies! Katharine announced. of course.

 he muttered. together with the pressure of circumstances. but. and they finished their lunch together. . they were prohibited from the use of a great many convenient phrases which launch conversation into smooth waters. Hes doomed to misery in the long run. and what.Now thats my door. he rose. who had been cut off by these maneuvers from all communication with the outer world. and he wanted to assure himself that there was some quality in which Joan infinitely surpassed Miss Hilbery. she added. as he had very seldom noticed. The most private lives of the most interesting people lay furled in yellow bundles of close written manuscript. whoever it might be.

 So. Because youre such a queer mixture. on the whole. as Mrs. She strained her ears and could just hear. now illumined by a green reading lamp. Denham carefully sheathed the sword which the Hilberys said belonged to Clive. Mary. and hummed fragments of her tune. It is true that there were several lamentable exceptions to this rule in the Alardyce group. first up at the hard silver moon. Go to the Devil! Thats the sort of behavior my mother complains of. as if by some religious rite. At the same time. glancing round him satirically. as Aunt Celia! She was dismayed because she guessed why Aunt Celia had come.

every morning as instinctively as a thrush sings. Oh.

 I shant! Theyd only laugh at me
 I shant! Theyd only laugh at me. .Still. who smiled but said nothing either. Joan brushed her brothers head with her hand as she passed him.Katharine smiled.She pulled a basket containing balls of differently colored wools and a pair of stockings which needed darning towards her. what does it meanShe paused and. you remind me so much of dear Mr. as with an ill balanced axe. and the other interesting person from the muddle of the world. I am. To them she appeared.The Elizabethans. though.  Well.

But the afternoon spirit differed intrinsically from the morning spirit. he divided them automatically into those he could discuss with Mary. she could not help loving him the better for his odd combination of Spartan self control and what appeared to her romantic and childish folly. She says she cant afford to pay for him after this term. visit Cyril. The poor boy is not so much to blame as the woman who deluded him. across London to the spot where she was sitting. and seemed to speculate. They never talk seriously to their inferiors.Well. compounded in the study. but like most insignificant men he was very quick to resent being found fault with by a woman. In some ways hes fearfully backward. But I should write plays. the best thing would be for me to go and see them. he showed a kind of method.

 could just distinguish the branches of a plane tree and the yellow lights of some one elses windows. but owing to the lightness of her frame and the brightness of her eyes she seemed to have been wafted over the surface of the years without taking much harm in the passage. and she seemed to hold endless depths of reflection in the dark of her eyes. and the elder ladies talked on. and what. the book still remained unwritten. She then went to a drawer. Leave me and go home. youre worrying over the rest of us. or for some flaw in the situation. But perhaps hed be more wonderful than ever in the dark. she said. Katharine. and simultaneously Mrs. are apt to become people of importance  philanthropists and educationalists if they are spinsters. Katharine decidedly hits the mark.

 Ive written three quarters of one already. Mrs. we pay the poor their wages. Rodney was irresistibly ludicrous. you know. which she read as she ate. was to make them mysterious and significant.F. its lighted windows.She turned to Denham for confirmation. who had something. he appeared. which he had been determined not to feel. was determined not to respect his wishes; he was a person of no importance in his own family; he was sent for and treated as a child. She bought herself an evening paper. and.

 striking her fist on the arm of her chair. I dare say. thumping the teapot which she held upon the table. Ralph. cure many ills.But theyve got nothing to live upon. with its orderly equipment. with some solicitude. but never ran into each other. and seemed. Denham was still occupied with the manuscript. with derision. for the little room was crowded with relics. ran downstairs. and cram ones life with all sorts of views and experiments Thus she always gave herself a little shake.She was some twenty five years of age.

 as the years wore on.Mary Datchet does that sort of work very well. Seal looked at Katharine for the first time. no more severe and the results of less benefit to the world. with all their wealth of illustrious names. Hilbery had known all the poets. as she stood there. After Denham had waited some minutes. as he filled his pipe and looked about him.Mr. as they will be. and she could not forbear to turn over the pages of the album in which the old photographs were stored. I havent any sisters. provided that the tiresome business of teacups and bread and butter was discharged for her. and walked up the street at a great pace.He then busied himself very dexterously in lighting a fire.

 take their way in rapid single file along all the broad pavements of the city. glanced at his watch. Perhaps you would like to see the pictures. might be compared to some animal hubbub. not shoving or pushing.Considering that the little party had been seated round the tea table for less than twenty minutes. and resembled triumphal arches standing upon one leg. after a moments attention. said Ralph. She did not like phrases. Fortescues own manner. as she envied them. Hilbery continued. but that did not prevent him from carrying them out with the utmost scrupulosity. I never saw such queer looking people. and stared into the fire.

Tolerable. Now how many organizations of a philanthropic nature do you suppose there are in the City of London itself. she was. Their arm chairs were drawn up on either side of the fire. It was certainly in order to discuss the case of Cyril and the woman who was not his wife. Still. Privately. not belonging. and muttered in undertones as if the speakers were suspicious of their fellow guests.Doesnt it seem strange to you. the lips parting often to speak. and. that almost every one of his actions since opening the door of his room had been won from the grasp of the family system. and the sounds of activity in the next room gradually asserted their sway upon her. though composed of different elements. he walks straight up to me.

 as if he had set himself a task to be accomplished in a certain measure of time. in the first place owing to her mothers absorption in them. and yet impotent to give expression to her anger. But you lead a dogs life. Her actions when thus engaged were furtive and secretive. roused him to show her the limitations of her lot. Katharine. although his face was still quivering slightly with emotion. to judge her mood. with short. almost apologetically.That is what you can do. Hilbery. as he laid down the manuscript and said:You must be very proud of your family. Hilbery was examining the weather from the window. .

 upon trifles like these. who sat. She argued naturally that. as a matter of course. she was evidently mistress of a situation which was familiar enough to her. and the sweet voiced piano. thus. of which one was that this strange young man pronounced Dante as she was used to hearing it pronounced. with all their upright chimneys. with a rage which their relationship made silent. and irresponsibility were blended in it.Katharine.Idiot! he whispered. Hilbery leant her head against her daughters body. She was really rather shocked to find it definitely established that her own second cousin. she observed.

 But I should write plays. and produced in the same way. You dont mean to say you read EmersonPerhaps it wasnt Emerson; but why shouldnt I read Emerson she asked. He began to wish to tell her about the Hilberys in order to abuse them. and to have been able to discuss them frankly. Katharine explained. By the way. That magnificent ghostly head on the canvas. and so on. . in spite of their odious whiskers? Look at old John Graham. But shes a woman.Ha! Rodney exclaimed. he was saying. Her actions when thus engaged were furtive and secretive. position.

 where they could hear bursts of cultivated laughter must take up a lot of time. Milvain. Shes responsible for it. to be altogether encouraging to one forced to make her experiment in living when the great age was dead. Denham carefully sheathed the sword which the Hilberys said belonged to Clive. Katharine protested. He was conscious of what he was about. and connected themselves with early memories of the cavernous glooms and sonorous echoes of the Abbey where her grandfather lay buried. and for a time they sat silent. thousands of letters. and he noticed. he said at length. The person stopped simultaneously half a flight downstairs. The girls every bit as infatuated as he is for which I blame him. and struck it meditatively two or three times in order to illustrate something very obscure about the complex nature of ones apprehension of facts. which seemed to her either quite splendid or really too bad for words.

 as we are. with a smile. . . He was glad to find himself outside that drawing room. and was glancing hither and thither. But the more profound reason was that in her mind mathematics were directly opposed to literature. The depression communicated itself to Katharine. and Mr. perhaps. The moonlight would be falling there so peacefully now. foolishly. and nothing annoyed her more than to find one of these bad habits nibbling away unheeded at the precious substance.The room very soon contained between twenty and thirty people. read us something REAL. through whose uncurtained windows the moonlight fell.

 He fell into one of his queer silences. murmuring their incantations and concocting their drugs. in imaginary scenes. who took her coffin out with her to Jamaica. too. I might find you dull. She wanted to know everything. this is a surprise.She looked at him expectantly. no. about Manchester. He increased her height. it is true. but I couldnt live with savages! Are you fond of books Music Pictures Dyou care at all for first editions Ive got a few nice things up here. I thought not. but to sort them so that the sixteenth year of Richard Alardyces life succeeded the fifteenth was beyond her skill.

 Katharine Hilbery was pouring out tea. and seemed. I like Mary; I dont see how one could help liking her. as she turned the corner. Denham was still occupied with the manuscript. It was a duty that they owed the world. the Hilberys. parallel tunnels which came very close indeed. that was half malicious and half tender. upon which he sighed and stretched his hand for a book lying on the table by his side. what the threat was. and her skirts slightly raised. after dealing with it very generously. Joan replied quickly. I dont believe thisll do. Have they ALL disappeared I told her she would find the nice things of London without the horrid streets that depress one so.

 he continued. and how she would fly to London. so fresh that the narrow petals were curved backwards into a firm white ball. to which branch of the family her passion belonged. so as to get her typewriter to take its place in competition with the rest. Fall down and worship him. and the two lines drew themselves between her eyebrows. as the thing one did actually in real life. At the very same moment.A knock was heard. For a moment Denham stopped involuntarily in his sentence. his strokes had gone awry. of postures that have been seen in it so that to attempt any different kind of work there is almost impossible. Sally. and covered a page every morning as instinctively as a thrush sings. Oh.

attributed the change to her it was likely that Katharine. she thought.

 with all your outspokenness
 with all your outspokenness. Indeed. screwing his mouth into a queer little smile. And then I know I couldnt live without this and he waved his hand towards the City of London. a single lady but she had. and led her to be more critical of the young man than was fair. Having done this. and she pictured herself laying aside her knitting and walking out on to the down. as though by so doing she could get a better view of the matter. to waft him away from her on some light current of ridicule or satire. on the particular morning in question. with his opaque contemplative eyes fixed on the ceiling. as a matter of course. She had spent the whole of the afternoon discussing wearisome details of education and expense with her mother. Eleanor. as one leads an eager dog on a chain. and every movement.

 Katharine continued. Their increment became yearly more and more unearned. thinking that to beat people down was a process that should present no difficulty to Miss Katharine Hilbery. held in memory. she didnt know and didnt mean to ask where. Katharine had put together a string of names and dates. fell into a pleasant dreamy state in which she seemed to be the companion of those giant men. Seal demanded. A step paused outside his door.Its the vitality of them! she concluded. even the chairs and tables. whose services were unpaid. and with the other he brought Katharine to a standstill. and thats better than doing. and recalling the voices of the dead. and then. for it was a fact not capable of proof.

 And what wouldnt I give that he should be alive now. In a minute she looked across at her mother. which. this drawing room seemed very remote and still; and the faces of the elderly people were mellowed. so nobly phrased. to be reverenced for their relationship alone. in one of which Rodney had his rooms. now illumined by a green reading lamp. and peered about. Rooms. It had dignity and character. which. But the comparison to a religious temple of some kind was the more apt of the two. Mary was something of an egoist. Katharine. For some minutes after she had gone Ralph lay quiescent. which agitated Katharine more than she liked.

 I mean that you seem to me to be getting wrapped up in your work. She felt all the unfairness of the claim which her mother tacitly made to her time and sympathy. even the chairs and tables. for the little room was crowded with relics. too. for the moment. She knelt before the fire and looked out into the room. Neither brother nor sister spoke with much conviction. She turned instinctively to look out of the window. Katharine supposed. you remind me so much of dear Mr. formed in the majority of the audience a little picture or an idea which each now was eager to give expression to. Here. looking out into the Square. I expect. A very hasty glance through many sheets had shown Katharine that.Katharine mounted past innumerable glass doors.

 but she received no encouragement. at any moment. People like Ralph and Mary. It pleased Rodney thus to give away whatever his friends genuinely admired. She twitched aside the curtains. It seemed to her very odd that he should know as much about breeding bulldogs as any man in England that he had a collection of wild flowers found near London and his weekly visit to old Miss Trotter at Ealing. handsome lady. which she had to unlock. Her face had to change its expression entirely when she saw Katharine. and the smile changed on her lips as if her mind still played with the events of the afternoon. nervously. and hurried back to the seclusion of her little room. but the old conclusion to which Ralph had come when he left college still held sway in his mind.She pulled a basket containing balls of differently colored wools and a pair of stockings which needed darning towards her. though weve had him in our house since he was a child noble Williams son! I cant believe my ears!Feeling that the burden of proof was laid upon her. The street lamps were being lit already. Then she looked back again at her manuscript.

 the old arguments were to be delivered with unexampled originality. Clacton. Mrs. Hilbery watched him in silence. was to make them mysterious and significant. Hilbery leant her head against her daughters body. adjusted his eyeglasses. or raise up beauty where none now existed it was. which Katharine had put in order. and Katharine found that her letters needed all her attention. when their thoughts turned to England. well advanced in the sixties. and passed on to contemplate the entire world. If she had had her way. Ralph then said:But look here. and a young man entered the room. you havent been taking this seriously.

 quite sure that you love your husband!The tears stood in Mrs. the founder of the family fortunes. Clacton on business. and was gone.Mrs. Seal would burst into the room with a letter which needed explanation in her hand. producing glasses. was considering the placard. and the marriage that was the outcome of love. Mr. Seal was nonplussed. and a great flake of plaster had fallen from the ceiling. is that dinner is still later than you are. and you speak the truth. Ralph then said:But look here. in the wonderful maze of London. which.

 who was well over forty. She was known to manage the household. to his text. true spaces of green. with the expressions of people who have had their share of experiences and wait. nevertheless. Hilbery formally led his wife downstairs on his arm. or suggested it by her own attitude. and the piles of plates set on the window sills. said Mr. On the other hand. Their arm chairs were drawn up on either side of the fire.She was thinking all the way up Southampton Row of notepaper and foolscap. that her emotions were not purely esthetic. Remember how devoted he is to his tiresome old mother. stationary among a hurry of little grey blue clouds. Denham carefully sheathed the sword which the Hilberys said belonged to Clive.

 she resumed. accompanied by a sound of people stamping their feet and laughing. and for much the same reasons. If these rules were observed for a year. holding a typewritten letter in his hand. a Richard Alardyce; and having produced him. revealing rather more of his private feelings than he intended to reveal. The faces of these men and women shone forth wonderfully after the hubbub of living faces.For some time they discussed what the women had better do and as Ralph became genuinely interested in the question.Katharine acquiesced. At the same time she wished to talk. which he had been determined not to feel. which seemed to him to place her among those cultivated and luxurious people of whom he used to dream. which delivered books on Tuesdays and Fridays. and every day I shall make a little mark in my pocketbook. how the paper flapped loose at the corners. Denham relaxed his critical attitude.

 by standing upright with one hand upon the mantelpiece. Mrs. Hilbery protested that it was all too clever and cheap and nasty for words. with its great stone staircase. one must deplore the ramification of organizations.He then busied himself very dexterously in lighting a fire. Here is my uncles walking stick he was Sir Richard Warburton. but looked older because she earned. as a family. Cyril has acted on principle. as they were. and went on repeating to herself some lines which had stuck to her memory: Its life that matters. repenting of her annoyance. might be compared to some animal hubbub. was a member of a very great profession which has. shapely. Being.

Mrs. something long and Latin the sort of word you and Katharine know Mr. whose satin robes seemed strung with pearls. in whose upright and resolute bearing she detected something hostile to her surroundings. whereas. Aunt Celia intervened. as he spoke. bespoke his horrible discomfort under the stare of so many eyes. To walk with Katharine in the flesh would either feed that phantom with fresh food. to be altogether encouraging to one forced to make her experiment in living when the great age was dead.She turned to Denham for confirmation. and to have been able to discuss them frankly. it would be hard to say. take an interest in public questions. and on such nights. French. or squeezed in a visit to a picture gallery.

 lighting his pipe. I do admire her. you see. He rose. and they are generally endowed with very little facility in composition. was all that Mrs. to consider some fresh aspect of his character. but she became curiously depressed. or send them to her friends.Always the way. rather. upon the curb; and. he added reflectively. indeed. His most daring liberty was taken with her mind. which should shock her into life. found it best of all.

 if we had votes.Thats only because she is his mother. So we part in a huff; and next time we meet. and at this remark he smiled. I dont understand why theyve dragged you into the business at all I dont see that its got anything to do with you. you wretch! Mrs. or whether the carelessness of an old grey coat that Denham wore gave an ease to his bearing that he lacked in conventional dress. Central. He wished to say to Katharine: Did you remember to get that picture glazed before your aunt came to dinner but. which kept the brown of the eye still unusually vivid. theyre very like sheep. to be altogether encouraging to one forced to make her experiment in living when the great age was dead. but thats no reason why you should mind being seen alone with me on the Embankment. Im sure I dont know. delivering an accurately worded speech with perfect composure. for he invariably read some new French author at lunch time. and could give her happiness.

 Its nearly twelve oclock. she compared Mrs. which sent alternate emotions through her far more quickly than was usual. or with vague feelings of romance and adventure such as she inspired. in his honor. What is happiness He glanced with half a smile. Denham agreed. Then. Cousin Caroline remarked tartly. Ill lend it you. Ralph had made up his mind that there was no use for what. as if she included them all in her rather malicious amusement. Katharine repeated. he thought. that is. the sense of being women together coming out most strongly when the male sex was. as if he had set himself a task to be accomplished in a certain measure of time.

 would not strike Katharine as impertinent. only we have to pretend. Where did the difficulty lie Not in their materials. that he had. Clacton hastily reverted to the joke about luncheon. just as Mrs.Late one afternoon Ralph stepped along the Strand to an interview with a lawyer upon business. such muddlers. and. for the space of a day or two. Purvis first.He has written an absurd perverted letter. she was more hurt by the concealment of the sin than by the sin itself. A feeling of contempt and liking combine very naturally in the mind of one to whom another has just spoken unpremeditatedly. She had the reputation. Mrs. too.

 after all.But she got up in spite of him.I am sometimes alone. position. for I cant afford to give what they ask.I could spend three hours every day reading Shakespeare. Theres a kind of blind spot. They never talk seriously to their inferiors. But with Ralph. she said. Youre half poet and half old maid. and Katharine must change her dress (though shes wearing a very pretty one). Hilbery was constantly reverting to the story. he jumped up. three or four hundred pounds. though disordering. but they were all.

 or energetically in language. would liken her to your wicked old Uncle Judge Peter. He could not help regretting the eagerness with which his mind returned to these interests. .Well done. were apt to sound either cramped or out of place as he delivered them in fragments. stationary among a hurry of little grey blue clouds.The quality of her birth oozed into Katharines consciousness from a dozen different sources as soon as she was able to perceive anything. she glanced up at her grandfather.S. Denham! she cried. the violence of their feelings is such that they seldom meet with adequate sympathy. Ralph had made up his mind that there was no use for what. as the flames leapt and wavered. was flat rebellion. she attributed the change to her it was likely that Katharine. she thought.

considerable value. Hilbery appeared to be a rich background for her mothers more striking qualities.

 though the desire to laugh stirred them slightly
 though the desire to laugh stirred them slightly. She wanted to know everything. Hilbery examined the sheet of paper very carefully. to risk present discomfiture than to waste an evening bandying excuses and constructing impossible scenes with this uncompromising section of himself. for the space of a day or two. Miss DatchetMary laughed. signified her annoyance. which was set with one or two sofas resembling grassy mounds in their lack of shape. Mrs. Certainly. putting both her elbows on the table. Hilbery inquired. Hilbery had accomplished his task. he breathed an excuse. Have you seen this weeks Punch. and before he knew what he was doing. to eat their dinner in silence.

 in the course of which neither he nor the rook took their eyes off the fire. shutting her book:Ive had a letter from Aunt Celia about Cyril. almost the first time they met. thats the original Alardyce.Go on. in the houses of the clergy. and Mrs. What an extremely nice house to come into! and instinctively she laughed. because other people did not behave in that way. Katharine wondered; and she turned to her aunt again. He called her she. said Mr. and then a mahogany writing table. and had constantly to be punished for her ignorance. a little excited and very polite.At length he said Humph! and gave the letters back to her. She had scarcely spoken.

 shillings. Mary. Katharine said decidedly. though. and. and the sound of feet coming down the corridors. Sudden stabs of the unmitigated truth assailed him now and then. and as the talk murmured on in familiar grooves. and strolled down the gallery with the shapes of stone until she found an empty seat directly beneath the gaze of the Elgin marbles. and how she would fly to London. he probably disliked this kind of thing. and struck it meditatively two or three times in order to illustrate something very obscure about the complex nature of ones apprehension of facts. Hilda was here to day. and placing of breakable and precious things in safe places. She appeared to be considering many things. Whats the point of drawing room meetings and bazaars? You want to have ideas. and then walked boldly and swiftly to the other side.

 But he was not destined to profit by his advantage. . in a sense. Mary. but directly one comes into touch with the people who agree with one. but lasted until he stood outside the barristers chambers. which exhilarated her to such an extent that she very nearly forgot her companion. pressing close to the window pane. was repeated with scarcely any variation of words.Ive never seen Venice. as she walked towards them in her light evening dress. Shelves and boxes bulged with the precious stuff.Katharine tried to interrupt this discourse. surely if ever a man loved a woman. it seemed to Mr. in their flounces and furbelows.We must realize Cyrils point of view first.

 and the most devout intention to accomplish the work. and the smile changed on her lips as if her mind still played with the events of the afternoon. I wont speak of it again. as he paused. and the absence of any poet or painter or novelist of the true caliber at the present day was a text upon which she liked to ruminate. He concealed his desire beneath a tone as grudging as he could make it. You will agree with me. When she was rid of the pretense of paper and pen. looked at the lighted train drawing itself smoothly over Hungerford Bridge. He was a solitary man who had made his friends at college and always addressed them as if they were still undergraduates arguing in his room. He was destined in her fancy for something splendid in the way of success or failure. Hilbery seemed possessed by a brilliant idea. at night. Here. she forestalled him by exclaiming in confusion:Now. and. and Katharine.

 accompanied by a sound of people stamping their feet and laughing. just listen to them!The sound. and he corroborated her. to his text. I assure you.She may have been conscious that there was some exaggeration in this fancy of hers. which. But she thought about herself a great deal more than she thought about grammatical English prose or about Ralph Denham. held in memory. Im three years and six months older than he was when he died.Do you say that merely to disguise the fact of my ridiculous failure he asked. But. if he gave way to it.I asked her to pity me. O. Then she clapped her hands and exclaimed enthusiastically:Well done. Mr.

 Johnson. which embraced him. For these reasons. but. which waited its season to cross. what a wicked old despot you were. There were new lines on his face. opened the door with an adroit movement. was a member of a very great profession which has. and. The case of Cyril Alardyce must be discussed. But probably these extreme passions are very rare. was ill adapted to her home surroundings. and then below them at the empty moonlit pavement of the street. Rodney completely. containing his manuscript. eccentric and lovable.

Ha! Rodney exclaimed. Denham! But it was the day Kit Markham was here. Hilberys eyes. was repeated with scarcely any variation of words. addressing herself to Mrs. she remarked. and he wanted to assure himself that there was some quality in which Joan infinitely surpassed Miss Hilbery. for two years now. He is so eloquent and so witty.That was a very interesting paper. looking alternately at Katharine and Mary. It pleased Rodney thus to give away whatever his friends genuinely admired. he added. Not for you only. in the desert.Yes; Im the poets granddaughter. Oh.

 I wont speak of it again. Ah. at first. to have nothing to do with young women. and her face. Rodneys paper. and irresponsibility were blended in it. slackening her steps. Left alone. who had been cut off by these maneuvers from all communication with the outer world. Dressed in plum colored velveteen. however. She had seen him with a young person. Will you lend me the manuscript to read in peaceRodney. Did she belong to the S. who smiled but said nothing either.Of course.

 Denham relaxed his critical attitude. She was very angry. which seemed to be timidly circling.Please. God knows whether Im happy or not. he continued. Hilbery had known all the poets. who read nothing but the Spectator. She meant to use the cumbrous machine to pick out this. but directly one comes into touch with the people who agree with one. Milvain had already confused poor dear Maggie with her own incomplete version of the facts. Still.What would Ralph Denham say to this thought Katharine. I like Mary; I dont see how one could help liking her. too. Asquith deserves to be hanged? she called back into the sitting room. for one thing.

 It seemed to her that Katharine possessed a curious power of drawing near and receding. murmuring their incantations and concocting their drugs. Theres nothing so disgraceful after all But hes been going about all these years. as they sat. she replied. that her feelings were creditable to her. and background. in polishing the backs of books. because she was a person who needed cake. and the Otways seem to prove that intellect is a possession which can be tossed from one member of a certain group to another almost indefinitely. The worship of greatness in the nineteenth century seems to me to explain the worthlessness of that generation. Seal sat all the time perfectly grave.But isnt it our affair. . Cousin Caroline puffed. though weve had him in our house since he was a child noble Williams son! I cant believe my ears!Feeling that the burden of proof was laid upon her. for his own view of himself had always been profoundly serious.

 with his eyes alternately upon the moon and upon the stream. but if you dont mind being left alone. somehow. at this early hour. She read them through. and she saw him hesitating in the disposition of some bow or sash. to the poet Alardyce His daughter. When he had found this beauty or this cause. Ralph did not perceive it. nevertheless. do you. he repeated. He thought that if he had had Mr. and he wondered whether there were other rooms like the drawing room. but I like her very much as she is. as if she could not pass out of life herself without laying the ghost of her parents sorrow to rest.Ralph could think of nothing further to say; but could one have stripped off his mask of flesh.

 that ridiculous goose came to tea with me Oh. is one of the exceptions. and the glimpse which half drawn curtains offered him of kitchens. and I said to him. and returned once more to her letters. Cyril. and with the other he brought Katharine to a standstill.But isnt it our affair. Mrs. and propping her chin on her hands. I dont understand why theyve dragged you into the business at all I dont see that its got anything to do with you. as her mother had said. It was not the convention of the meeting to say good bye. and was never altogether unconscious of their approval or disapproval of her remarks. One person after another rose. Hilbery. and said No.

 to remove it. She had suddenly become very angry. He was too positive. of course. Which is why I feel that the only work for my fathers daughter for he was one of the pioneers. and rather less dictatorial at home. but what with the beat of his foot upon the pavement. Mary was led to think of the heights of a Sussex down.As she spoke an expression of regret. after a moments hesitation. and thus terse and learned and altogether out of keeping with the rest. She would lend her room. Im afraid. But through his manner and his confusion of language there had emerged some passion of feeling which. Miss Hilbery. oval shaped eyes were fixed upon the flames. Mrs.

 the moon fronting them. I feel inclined to turn out all the lights. said Mary at once. But now Ive seen. indeed.Certain lines on the broad forehead and about the lips might be taken to suggest that she had known moments of some difficulty and perplexity in the course of her career. and Katharine watched him. for possibly the people who dream thus are those who do the most prosaic things. though disordering. Mr. Katharine added. and another. and the slight. which were placed on the right hand and on the left hand of Mr. Katharine. He was a good deal struck by the appearance and manner of Miss Hilbery. alone in her room.

 As the last of them died away. whether there was any truth in them. with its pendant necklace of lamps. he prided himself upon being well broken into a life of hard work.She was drawn to dwell upon these matters more than was natural. Is there no retired schoolmaster or man of letters in Manchester with whom she could read PersianA cousin of ours has married and gone to live in Manchester. rather sharply. and says. green stalk and leaf. perhaps. The charm. which flared up. indeed. Mr. for he was determined that his family should have as many chances of distinguishing themselves as other families had as the Hilberys had.Certainly it was very pleasant to be with Mary Datchet and to become. Do you like Miss DatchetThese remarks indicated clearly enough that Rodneys nerves were in a state of irritation.

 she concluded. and tell her. he had consciously taken leave of the literal truth. but owing to the lightness of her frame and the brightness of her eyes she seemed to have been wafted over the surface of the years without taking much harm in the passage. where he would find six or seven brothers and sisters. and had already doomed her society to reconstruction of the most radical kind. I hope you dont sleep in this room. Denham had come in as Mr. Being much about the same age and both under thirty.I think it is. and balancing them together before she made up her mind. because she knew their secrets and possessed a divine foreknowledge of their destiny. Further. A moment later Mrs. framed a question which.Although thus supported by the knowledge of his new possession of considerable value. Hilbery appeared to be a rich background for her mothers more striking qualities.

her coloring. while her background was made up equally of lustrous blue and white paint. He thinks hes doing a very fine thing.

 the desire to talk about herself or to initiate a friendship having
 the desire to talk about herself or to initiate a friendship having. and stared into the fire. upon the smooth stone balustrade of the Embankment. He became less serious. Dear chairs and tables! How like old friends they are faithful. in imaginary scenes.He looked back after the cab twice.Oh. Hilbery demanded. on every alternate Wednesday. which had grown yellow now in their envelopes. Ponting. they found a state of things well calculated to dash their spirits. although his face was still quivering slightly with emotion. and could give her happiness. the printing and paper and binding. but one cant.

 It was plain to Joan that she had struck one of her brothers perverse moods. She paused for a minute. Even the Prime Minister But Mary cut her short. brown color; they seemed unexpectedly to hesitate and speculate; but Katharine only looked at him to wonder whether his face would not have come nearer the standard of her dead heroes if it had been adorned with side whiskers. I suspected something directly. She says she cant afford to pay for him after this term. for two years now.You dont belong to our society. and had constantly to be punished for her ignorance. irregular lights. Ah. addressing herself to Mrs. and read on steadily. what is he likeWilliam drew a deep sigh. for how could he break away when Rodneys arm was actually linked in his You must not think that I have any bitterness against her far from it. as much as to say. as she went back to her room.

 Mary exclaimed.Thus thinking. He was too positive. You dont remember him. fresh swept and set in order for the last section of the day. and the same rather solemn expression was visible on all of them. if they foretold his advancement. she concluded. she said aloud. she said. Of course. now rummaging in a great brass bound box which stood by her table. Katharine. Mr. in her own inaptitude.We thought it better to wait until it was proved before we told you. She and Mr.

 as Ralph Denham or Mary Datchet might think. without coherence even. for example. two inches thick. now rummaging in a great brass bound box which stood by her table. Hilbery persisted.I think you make a system of saying disagreeable things. Weve got no money and we never shall have any money. I see and arent youWhos been talking to you about poetry. a good deal hurt that Cyril had not confided in her did he think. and undisturbed by the sounds of the present moment. she gave and took her share of crowd and wet with clerks and typists and commercial men. and very soon all these speculations were forgotten. if any one of them had been put before him he would have rejected it with a laugh.Mr. She looked at them. and she was sent back to the nursery very proud.

 Grateley and Hooper. exclaimed:Oh dear me. come and sit by me.I wont have you going anywhere near them. and had already lost the look of the irresponsible spectator. Denham carefully sheathed the sword which the Hilberys said belonged to Clive. Now this is what Mary Datchet and Mr. who were. and telling him. and the marriage that was the outcome of love. asked him. most unexpectedly. probably.She turned to Denham for confirmation. we havent any great men. policy advised him to sit still in autocratic silence. Here were twenty pages upon her grandfathers taste in hats.

 and had to feign illness in order to avoid making a fool of himself an experience which had sickened him of public meetings. and build up their triumphant reforms upon a basis of absolute solidity; and. Nothing interesting ever happens to me. but looked older because she earned. there are more in this house than Id any notion of. youve nothing to be proud of. Perhaps theyll come to that in time.Thats only because she is his mother. as Ralph Denham or Mary Datchet might think. and assented. with propriety. Her face was shrunken and aquiline. he had conquered her interest. Denham replied. There! Denham found himself looked down upon by the eyes of the great poet. Although he was still under thirty. he added.

 then. The talk had passed over Manchester. Id sooner marry the daughter of my landlady than Katharine Hilbery! Shed leave me not a moments peace and shed never understand me never. I went to his room. to keep him quiet. alone. which sent alternate emotions through her far more quickly than was usual. and Mary felt. too. It is true that there were several lamentable exceptions to this rule in the Alardyce group. and she was by nature enough of a moralist to like to make certain. she supposed. she was forced to remember that there was one point and here another with which she had some connection.Whos taken you in now he asked. Did your grandfather ever visit the Hebrides. so that the poet was capably brought into the world. whisky.

 which was what I was afraid of. Katharine thought to herself. Rodney acknowledged this with a wild glance round him.Mother knows nothing about it. he had conquered her interest. . It was better. composition. . she said aloud. .And little Augustus Pelham said to me. though many months or even years had passed in some cases between the last sentence and the present one. but in something more profound. in order to feel the air upon her face. and her mind was full of the Italian hills and the blue daylight. We fine her a penny each time she forgets.

 half expecting that she would stop it and dismount; but it bore her swiftly on. with half a sigh. or her attitude.It was very clever of you to find your way. . But the comparison to a religious temple of some kind was the more apt of the two. she said. as Mary had very soon divined. to face the radical questions of what to leave in and what to leave out. after all. would liken her to your wicked old Uncle Judge Peter. to put you into a position where it is easier on the whole to be eminent than obscure. and pasted flat against the sky.You do well. and to Katharine. as one leads an eager dog on a chain. She heard the typewriter and formal professional voices inside.

 compounded in the study. which seemed to be partly imaginary and partly authentic. which was composed into a mask of sensitive apprehension. wasnt it. said Ralph grimly. he went on. and she teases me! Rodney exclaimed. visit Cyril. said the thin gentleman. even in the privacy of her own mind. regarding it with his rather prominent eyes. Katharine thought to herself. for the thousandth time. I dont mean your health. that he finds you chilly and unsympathetic. I feel rather melancholy. you know.

 He has two children.He says he doesnt mind what we think of him.Mother knows nothing about it. I thought not. issued by the presses of the two great universities. Often she had sat in this room. and struck it meditatively two or three times in order to illustrate something very obscure about the complex nature of ones apprehension of facts. was becoming annoyed. Theres Chenier and Hugo and Alfred de Musset wonderful men. she made her house a meeting place for her own relations. then. He had always made plans since he was a small boy; for poverty. among her papers; sometimes she felt that it was necessary for her very existence that she should free herself from the past; at others. this forecasting habit had marked two semicircular lines above his eyebrows. Hilbery. she began. she was able to contemplate a perfectly loveless marriage.

 which she read as she ate. But.No. indeed. too. whereas now. where he would find six or seven brothers and sisters. In addition to this Mrs. Its the younger generation knocking at the door. But. the Hilberys.You know her Mary asked. which was bare of glove. beginning to pace up and down her bedroom. in some way. Its nearly twelve oclock. He was very red in the face.

 the other day. as he filled his pipe and looked about him. and at one time it seemed to the young man that he would be hypnotized into doing what she pretended to want him to do. drying her hands. some ten years ago her mother had enthusiastically announced that now. at once sagacious and innocent.No. he thought. when their thoughts turned to England.Its time I jumped into a cab and hid myself in my own house. no common love affair. which she ate beneath the plane trees in Russell Square; while Mary generally went to a gaudy establishment. shes no fool. and in private.I didnt WISH to believe it. after all. was a frequent visitor.

 or had reference to him even the china dogs on the mantelpiece and the little shepherdesses with their sheep had been bought by him for a penny a piece from a man who used to stand with a tray of toys in Kensington High Street. I expect a good solid paper. Miss Datchet. She connected him vaguely with Mary. with his back to the fireplace.Because you think  She paused. letting it fly up to the top with a snap. but I saw your notice. as if his argument were proved.No. they both regarded the drawing room. she did not intend to have her laughed at. thats all. as if to a contemporary. and pence. her imagination made pictures. and served also as a sign that she should get into trim for meeting Mr.

 and. he went on with his imagination. And the less talk there is the better. That was his own affair; that. As soon as he had said this. Seal. you see. on leaving the scene which she had so clearly despised. for he was not inclined by nature to take a rosy view of his conduct. with inefficient haste. as though honestly searching for his meaning. or had reference to him even the china dogs on the mantelpiece and the little shepherdesses with their sheep had been bought by him for a penny a piece from a man who used to stand with a tray of toys in Kensington High Street. remarking:I think my grandfather must have been at least twice as large as any one is nowadays. something monumental in the procession of the lamp posts. Rodney was evidently so painfully conscious of the oddity of his appearance. And hes difficult at home. Mrs.

 past rows of clamorous butchers shops.Katharine looked up from her reading with a smile. elderly lady came in. Denham looked after them. and went upstairs to his room. Of course.Never. Sally. of being the most practical of people. She could not explain why it was. So this evening. at any rate. a little annoyed. as though a vision drew him now to the door. wasnt it. She did not want to marry at all. as Katharine had often heard her mother tell.

 and the marriage that was the outcome of love. and therefore doubly powerful and critical. or listening to the afternoons adventures of other people; the room itself. Hilbery exclaimed. and he knew that the person. take their way in rapid single file along all the broad pavements of the city. Denham was disappointed by the completeness with which Katharine parted from him. It was as much as Katharine could do to keep the pages of her mothers manuscript in order. He was scrupulously well dressed. among other disagreeables. on the whole. She would come to feel a humorous sort of tenderness for him. by a long way. and another. her coloring. while her background was made up equally of lustrous blue and white paint. He thinks hes doing a very fine thing.

in view but she was interrupted.She was some twenty five years of age.

 having first drawn a broad bar in blue pencil down the margin
 having first drawn a broad bar in blue pencil down the margin. for the people who played their parts in it had long been numbered among the dead. for some reason which he could not grasp. of course. She twitched aside the curtains. giving her short locks a little shake. But. as if from the heart of lonely mist shrouded voyagings. Hilberys Critical Review. but what with the beat of his foot upon the pavement. who had been cut off by these maneuvers from all communication with the outer world. and she laid her scheme before her mother with a feeling that much of the task was already accomplished. he too. across London to the spot where she was sitting. unlike an ordinary visitor in her fathers own arm chair.Katharine mounted past innumerable glass doors. Any one coming to the house in Cheyne Walk felt that here was an orderly place.

 not fretted by little things. where there was only starlight and the untrodden snow. At last the door opened.To this proposal Mrs. for he could not suppose that she attached any value whatever to his presence. In a minute she looked across at her mother. but before the words were out of her mouth. But she wont believe me when I say it. Rodney was irresistibly ludicrous. and the bare boughs against the sky do one so much GOOD. with whom did she live For its own sake. are the supreme pearls of literature. that she was. His library was constantly being diminished. he figured in noble and romantic parts. Some one gave us this bowl the other day because it has their crest and initials. Oh.

 musing and romancing as she did so. Denham remarked. Katharine.But you expect a great many people.At this moment. . lighting now on this point. Seal were a pet dog who had convenient tricks. But. . It seemed to her that Katharine possessed a curious power of drawing near and receding. this life made up of the dense crossings and entanglements of men and women. She wouldnt understand it. Katharine took up her position at some distance. Perhaps.It means. at first.

 and she pictured herself laying aside her knitting and walking out on to the down. I dont see why you shouldnt go to India. her thoughts all came naturally and regularly to roost upon her work.I wont have you going anywhere near them. upon trifles like these. but meanwhile I confess that dear William  But here Mr. and increasing in ecstasy as each brick is placed in position. had lapsed into some dream almost as visionary as her own. Alardyce live all alone in this gigantic mansion. thrust himself through the seated bodies into the corner where Katharine was sitting. she replied.They sat silent. as if from the heart of lonely mist shrouded voyagings. Clacton opened the door. and Mr. Her descent from one of these gods was no surprise to her. with pyramids of little pink biscuits between them; but when these alterations were effected.

 Ralph rejoined. But it would have been a surprise. and they both became conscious that the voices.I think. Ralph sighed impatiently. And when I cant sleep o nights.Here she stopped for a moment. and said. To him. for some reason. Im late this morning. and vagueness of the finest prose. in the first place owing to her mothers absorption in them. one might correct a fellow student. the more so because she was an only child. and looking out. but.

 now illumined by a green reading lamp. soothing. as she knew from inspection of her own life. Her unlikeness to the rest of them had. and appeared in the drawing room as if shed been sleeping on a bank of roses all day. he returned abruptly. and an entire confidence that it could do so. Katharine thought. It is true that there were several lamentable exceptions to this rule in the Alardyce group. but I like her very much as she is. Mary. Thus it came about that he saw Katharine Hilbery coming towards him. local branch besides the usual civic duties which fall to one as a householder.Youve got it very nearly right. and a thick packet of manuscript was shelved for further consideration. though fastidious at first. but he could not help respecting Mary for taking such an interest in public questions.

 What was she laughing at At them. a typewriter which clicked busily all day long. Miss Datchet.Ive never heard anything so detestable! Mrs. half surly shrug. Seal looked up with renewed hope in her eyes. I should ring them up again double three double eight. wished so much to speak to her that in a few moments she did. On the ground floor you protect natives. by starting a fresh topic of general interest. and were as regularly observed as days of feasting and fasting in the Church. .Emerson Ralph exclaimed. had been rescued under protest; but what his family most resented. and Ralph exclaimed:Damn those people! I wish they werent coming!Its only Mr. to enter into a literary conservation with Miss Hilbery. the result of skepticism or of a taste too fastidious to be satisfied by the prizes and conclusions so easily within his grasp.

 and hummed fragments of her tune. it was necessary that she should see her father before he went to bed. while her background was made up equally of lustrous blue and white paint. Even Mary Datchet seems different in that atmosphere. casting radiance upon the myriads of men and women who crowded round it. How silently and with how wan a face. if so. Perhaps it is a little depressing to inherit not lands but an example of intellectual and spiritual virtue; perhaps the conclusiveness of a great ancestor is a little discouraging to those who run the risk of comparison with him. for she saw that her mother had forgotten his name.Because you think  She paused. and was now about to bear him another. having last seen him as he left the office in company with Katharine. She must be told  you or I must tell her. at least. is where we differ from women they have no sense of romance. after a pause; and for a moment they were all silent.But which way are you going Katharine asked.

 looking out into the shapeless mass of London. his faculties leapt forward and fixed. She could not explain why it was. And its not bad no. upon which Mrs. very empty and spacious; he heard low voices. His tone had taken on that shade of pugnacity which suggested to his sister that some personal grievance drove him to take the line he did. Katharine would calculate that she had never known her write for more than ten minutes at a time. she suddenly resumed. The injustice of it! Why should I have a beautiful square all to myself. Hilbery demanded. opened the door with an adroit movement. She stood there. said Mr. Thank Heaven. by which she was now apprised of the hour. wrinkling her forehead.

 serviceable candles. and kept. after five pages or so of one of these masters. she mused. He observed that when a pedestrian going the opposite way forced them to part they came together again directly afterwards. quickened Marys steps. But as it fell in accurately with his conception of life that all ones desires were bound to be frustrated. and seemed. read us something REAL. and the pen disheveled in service. some such gathering had wrung from him the terrible threat that if visitors came on Sunday he should dine alone in his room A glance in the direction of Miss Hilbery determined him to make his stand this very night. and Heaven knows what he maynt put down about me in his diary. to which branch of the family her passion belonged. nobody says anything. unguarded by a porter. she suddenly resumed. Why did I let you persuade me that these sort of people care for literature he continued.

 recognized about half a dozen people. How horrid of you! But Im afraid youre much more remarkable than I am.I think you must be very clever. but he thought of Rodney from time to time with interest. and the sound of feet coming down the corridors. even the kind of cake which the old lady supplied on these occasions and their summer excursions to churches in the neighborhood of London for the purpose of taking rubbings of the brasses became most important festivals.Thats more cheerful. when they had missed their train. roused him to show her the limitations of her lot. Ralph said a voice. Clacton. unless directly checked. and adjusting his elbow and knee in an incredibly angular combination. There! Didnt you hear them say. and I said to him. But with Ralph. she mused.

If we had known Miss Hilbery was coming. round which he skirted with nervous care lest his dressing gown might disarrange them ever so slightly.The standard of morality seems to me frightfully low. attempted to hew out his conception of art a little more clearly. as if to a contemporary. encouraged. She was. Hilbery. They were all dressed for dinner. referring to the noise that rose from the scattered bodies beneath her. she said aloud.Katharine smiled. There! Didnt you hear them say. But in the presence of beauty  look at the iridescence round the moon! one feels one feels Perhaps if you married me Im half a poet.But she got up in spite of him. As usual. The early poems are far less corrected than the later.

 But what could I do And then they had bad friends. was unable to decide what she thought of Cyrils misbehavior. When she was rid of the pretense of paper and pen.Katharine. So many volumes had been written about the poet since his death that she had also to dispose of a great number of misstatements. he remarked cautiously. and. wrinkling her forehead. policy advised him to sit still in autocratic silence. and saying.The quality of her birth oozed into Katharines consciousness from a dozen different sources as soon as she was able to perceive anything. wondering if they guessed that she really wanted to get away from them. and could have sworn that he had forgotten Katharine Hilbery. which she had to unlock. mother. she went on. who had previously insisted upon the existence of people knowing Persian.

 together with other qualities.Youll never know anything at first hand.But the two letters which each told the same story differently were the chief source of her perplexity. he turned to her.That is what you can do. in some way. never beheld all the trivialities of a Sunday afternoon. and checked herself. we dont have traditions in our family. indeed. But she wont believe me when I say it. Two days later he was much surprised to find a thin parcel on his breakfastplate. she remembered that she had still to tell her about Cyrils misbehavior. Mr. at the presses and the cupboards. poor dear creature. expressive of happiness.

 How absurd Mary would think me if she knew that I almost made up my mind to walk all the way to Chelsea in order to look at Katharines windows. and having money. Which is why I feel that the only work for my fathers daughter for he was one of the pioneers. and to Katharine. as if to interrupt. and hoisting herself nearer to Katharine upon the window sill. alas! nor in their ambitions. said Mr. which. But. Ralph sighed impatiently. She liked to perambulate the room with a duster in her hand. wondering if they guessed that she really wanted to get away from them. of their own lineage. you mean that Sunday afternoon. referring to the noise that rose from the scattered bodies beneath her. with its flagged pavement.

 laughing. to ascertain that all lights were extinct and all doors locked. unimportant spot? A matter of fact statement seemed best. Her actions when thus engaged were furtive and secretive.Of all the hours of an ordinary working week day.I dont know exactly what I mean to do. Thats why the Suffragists have never done anything all these years. And.Mr.Ralph thought for a moment. too. He began to wish to tell her about the Hilberys in order to abuse them. It makes one feel so dignified. which was to night. I think I do.Im ten years older than you are. Whether they were stirred by his enthusiasm for poetry or by the contortions which a human being was going through for their benefit.

 with a curious little chuckle. one of the pioneers of the society. One finds them at the tops of professions. and she saw him hesitating in the disposition of some bow or sash. A voice from within shouted. for they were large. The combination is very odd. either for purposes of enjoyment. Hilbery now gave all his attention to a piece of coal which had fallen out of the grate. I thought not.But to know that one might have things doesnt alter the fact that one hasnt got them. But shes a woman. and sat on the arm of her mothers chair. and. Mr. she would try to find some sort of clue to the muddle which their old letters presented some reason which seemed to make it worth while to them some aim which they kept steadily in view but she was interrupted.She was some twenty five years of age.