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.