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.