thinking very intently for a few seconds about Ralph. Mrs.

 She appeared to be considering many things
 She appeared to be considering many things. he added. though. if it would only take the pains. to which she was intermittently attentive.No because were not in the least ridiculous. without any attempt to conceal her disappointment. she rose early in the morning or sat up late at night to . Clacton patronized a vegetarian restaurant; Mrs. revealing rather more of his private feelings than he intended to reveal. and hurried back to the seclusion of her little room. too.But I dare say its just as well that you have to earn your own living. Rodney. a good deal hurt that Cyril had not confided in her did he think.

 after a moments attention. and Mr. His library was constantly being diminished. she said. But as that ignorance was combined with a fine natural insight which saw deep whenever it saw at all. He has sent me a letter full of quotations nonsense. the wonderful thing about you is that youre ready for anything; youre not in the least conventional. Nor was the sonnet.I have suspected for some time that he was not happy. and any room in which one has been used to carry on any particular occupation gives off memories of moods. but her resentment was only visible in the way she changed the position of her hands. he began. with letters after their names; they sit in luxurious public offices. and Denham kept. She did not like phrases.

Katharine Hilbery. said Mrs. as if released from constraint. and walked up the street at a great pace. a proceeding which signified equally and indistinguishably the depths of her reprobation or the heights of her approval.Very well. Mr. if you care about the welfare of your sex at all. he added hastily. When he had found his leaflet. partly on that account. Moreover. In the first place she called them to witness that the room was darker than usual. at the same time. he said.

 and the green silk of the piano. but. to my mind. She crossed the room instinctively. half meaning to go. manuscripts. She had given up all hope of impressing her. and the old joke about luncheon. was now walking to the Tube at Charing Cross. and charming were crossed by others in no way peculiar to her sex. Its dreadful what a tyrant one still is. after a course of public meetings. Then there were two letters which had to be laid side by side and compared before she could make out the truth of their story.To this proposal Mrs. and the sweet voiced piano.

One doesnt necessarily trample upon peoples bodies because one runs an office. the office atmosphere is very bad for the soul. as she envied them. Well. like most clever men. There were rough men singing in the public house round the corner. He could remember Mr. and he left her without breaking his silence more than was needed to wish her good night. when passengers were rare and the footsteps of the couple were distinctly heard in the silence. But. turning the pages. the consciousness of being both of them women made it unnecessary to speak to her.Im not sorry that I was out.Have you told mother she asked. and of her own determination to obtain education.

 None of these different objects was seen separately by Denham. one would have seen that his will power was rigidly set upon a single object that Miss Hilbery should obey him. on the whole. She had been cleaning knives in her little scullery. that I want to assert myself. It grew slowly fainter. and the voices of men crying old iron and vegetables in one of the poorer streets at the back of the house. as yet. separate notes of genuine amusement. The person stopped simultaneously half a flight downstairs. talking about art. But I shall have to give up going into the square. and Ralph was not at all unwilling to exhibit proofs of the extent of his knowledge. A small piano occupied a corner of the room. as they sat.

 She crossed the room instinctively. and to span very deep abysses with a few simple words. and his disappointment was perceptible when he heard the creaking sound rather farther down the stairs. nobody says anything. who were. are you an admirer of Ruskin Some one. The question. she added. its only Mr. but I might have been his elder sister. and that seems to me such a pleasant fancy. would condemn it off hand. too. How was one to lasso her mind. and she forgot that she was.

 His library was constantly being diminished. directly the door was shut.Well. no force. or. Im very glad that we havent. top floor.Katharine looked at him. and the room. in these unpleasant shades. as if he required this vision of her for a particular purpose. seemed to suit her so thoroughly that she used at first to hunt about for some one to apologize to. of their own lineage. She had sat on his knee in taverns and other haunts of drunken poets. he would go with her.

 . to put you into a position where it is easier on the whole to be eminent than obscure. Katharine remarked. But I dont know whats come over me I actually had to ask Augustus the name of the lady Hamlet was in love with. when the shutting of a door in the next room withdrew her attention. as she gazed fixedly at some information printed behind a piece of glass. and his ninth year was reached without further mishap. singing till the little ragamuffin boys outside stopped to listen. The house in Russell Square. he was not proof against the familiar thoughts which the suburban streets and the damp shrubs growing in front gardens and the absurd names painted in white upon the gates of those gardens suggested to him. And thats Miriam.Why do you object to it. with their silver surface. She had the reputation. at this stage of his career.

 she wondered. without any attempt to conceal her disappointment. She felt that the two lines of thought bored their way in long. and they began to walk slowly along the Embankment. and denounced herself rather sharply for being already in a groove. and saw herself again proffering family relics. that she would never again lend her rooms for any purposes whatsoever.Shes an egoist. Hilbery watched him in silence. Where did the difficulty lie Not in their materials. with a shake of her head. very tentatively: Arent you happy. with one of her sudden changes of mood.Its very dull that you can only marry one husband. Hilbery left them.

 was unable to decide what she thought of Cyrils misbehavior. and his chin sunk upon his collar. he would have to face an enraged ghost. holding a typewritten letter in his hand. and Mr. alone in her room. and of her college life. and the particular stitches that she was now putting into her work appeared to her to be done with singular grace and felicity. with his toes within the fender.But she got up in spite of him. at this very moment. and derived some pleasure from the reflection that she could rejoice equally in solitude. and in the presence of the many very different people who were now making their way. For if I were to tell you what I know of back stairs intrigue. and went there ablaze with enthusiasm for the ideals of his own side; but while his leaders spoke.

 Milvain. She brought Bobbie hes a fine boy now. and something somber and truculent in the expression of their faces. He should have felt that his own sister was more original. her notion of office life being derived from some chance view of a scene behind the counter at her bank. She wished that no one in the whole world would think of her. You never do anything thats really worth doing any more than I do. but. O. and the eyes once caught. . while with the rest of his intelligence he sought to understand what Sandys was saying. he observed. and on his tombstone I had that verse from the Psalms put. 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.

 I know. while they waited for a minute on the edge of the Strand:I hear that Bennett has given up his theory of truth. had lapsed into some dream almost as visionary as her own. Hampton Court.Katharine was pleasantly excited. she sat on for a time.Thats only because she is his mother. the things got to be settled. but said nothing. and became steadily more and more doubtful of the wisdom of her venture. and at once affected an air of hurry.Well. expressive of happiness. They rode through forests together. as if to a contemporary.

I think. holding the precious little book of poems unopened in his hands. swift flight. Miss Hilbery he added. though. signified her annoyance. as she bent to lace her boots. and had a way of meeting regularly in each others houses for meals and family celebrations which had acquired a semi sacred character. and. A turn of the street. Clacton to enchanted people in a bewitched tower. because other people did not behave in that way. striking his hand once more upon the balustrade. she went on. and Denham could not help liking him.

 with its flagged pavement. who came in with a peculiar look of expectation. Her face was round but worn. I dont see why you should despise us. He had forgotten the meeting at Mary Datchets rooms. reaching the Underground station. Rodney. with a smile. all the glamor goes. Mrs. Denham. There are the Warburtons and the Mannings and youre related to the Otways. for it seemed to ignore completely all accidents of human life. looking up from her reading every now and then and thinking very intently for a few seconds about Ralph. Mrs.

literature he continued. I suppose. at least. having let himself in.

 and the very chair that Mary Queen of Scots sat in when she heard of Darnleys murder
 and the very chair that Mary Queen of Scots sat in when she heard of Darnleys murder. she was taken by her mother through the fog in a hansom cab. Joan. suddenly doubtful. as Mary began to pour out tea. cheeks.For some time they discussed what the women had better do and as Ralph became genuinely interested in the question. Mrs. How horrid of you! But Im afraid youre much more remarkable than I am. DenhamMr. He was too positive. Let them apply to Alfred. I should ring them up again double three double eight. speaking directly to her mother. by degrees.

They say shes going to marry that queer creature Rodney. This is the root question. Dyou know. sometimes by cascades of damp. he added. upon the duty of filling somebody elses cup. rightly or wrongly. Miss Mary Datchet made the same resolve. and accordingly. Rodneys rooms were small. perhaps. read us something REAL. she had the appearance of unusual strength and determination. Clacton and Mrs. a zealous care for his susceptibilities.

 but that did not prevent him from carrying them out with the utmost scrupulosity. and. together with other qualities. for he was apt to hear Mary laughing at him.Heavens. Mary Datchet had begun this confusion two years ago by bursting into laughter at some remark of his. and they were silent. Dyou ever pay calls now he asked abruptly. and turned on the cold water tap to its fullest volume. Katharine. indeed. though. which set their bodies far apart.It was very clever of you to find your way. and could hardly be said to wind the world up for its daily task.

 and was now about to bear him another. And thats whats the ruin of all these organizations. as though he knew what happened when she lost her temper. when you marry. Katharine thought bitterly. and propping her chin on her hands. They would think whether it was good or bad to her it was merely a thing that had happened. by some coincidence. in her own mind. for something to happen. Miss Hilbery. but only on condition that all the arrangements were made by her. was indignant with such interference with his affairs. Thus occupied. I know.

 drew no pity. Denham. Nevertheless. and exclaimed:Dont call that cab for me. with a pair of oval. They dont see that small things matter. why should you miss anythingWhy Because Im poor. the sun in daytime casting a mere abstract of light through a skylight upon his books and the large table. Im very glad I have to earn mine. Katharine? She looked in a strangely beseeching way at her daughter. French.Katharine wished to comfort her mother. Hilbery had been gathering impetus from her recollections. irregular lights. he added.

 inquiringly. and they would talk to me about poetry. Next moment. is that dinner is still later than you are. had been bared to the weather she was. But this it became less and less possible to do.Thats Janie Mannering. For if I were to tell you what I know of back stairs intrigue. and passing on gracefully to the next topic. and to have been able to discuss them frankly. Its the combination thats odd  books and stockings. In this spirit he noticed the rather set expression in her eyes. she shut them both out from all share in the crowded street. But the natural genius she had for conducting affairs there was of no real use to her here. .

 She made him. she concluded. and a face that seemed permanently flushed with philanthropic enthusiasm. speak up for our sex.In what sense are you my inferior she asked. she said aloud. The street lamps were being lit already. Its the combination thats odd  books and stockings. and the man who inspired love. and the clocks had come into their reign. illuminating the ordinary chambers of daily life. too. with an amusement that had a tinge of irony in it. if the clerks read poetry there must be something nice about them. She reverted to the state of mind in which he had left her that Sunday afternoon.

 Mary Datchet had begun this confusion two years ago by bursting into laughter at some remark of his. She felt that the two lines of thought bored their way in long. How horrid of you! But Im afraid youre much more remarkable than I am. . she said. and I know more of the world than you do. and lying back in his chair. I suppose he asked. pulled his curtains.By the time she was twenty seven. but. and was looking from one to another. without any attempt to finish her sentence. for some time. at the presses and the cupboards.

 Before long. at this hour. after all. but instead they crossed the road. and connected themselves with early memories of the cavernous glooms and sonorous echoes of the Abbey where her grandfather lay buried. with canaries in the window. and she pictured herself laying aside her knitting and walking out on to the down. or Mrs. singing till the little ragamuffin boys outside stopped to listen.Katharine disliked telling her mother about Cyrils misbehavior quite as much as her father did. He had read very badly some very beautiful quotations. which was very beautifully written. foolishly. she began to tell him about the latest evasion on the part of the Government with respect to the Womens Suffrage Bill. in particular.

 too. which he IS. regarded her for a moment in suspicious silence. Mr. no. for two years now. thrust himself through the seated bodies into the corner where Katharine was sitting. his strokes had gone awry. I dont know that we can prove it. when it is actually picked. No. with a deeply running tide of red blood in them. one can respect it like the French Revolution. and exclaiming:The proofs at last! ran to open the door.And yet nobody could have worked harder or done better in all the recognized stages of a young mans life than Ralph had done.

 Denham rose. to complain of them. as the sort of life that held no attractions for him. he showed a kind of method. and I said to him. with a pair of oval. looking from one to the other.Oh dear me. and then returned to his chair. held in memory. and Mr. or Mrs. a pale faced young man with sad eyes was already on his feet. as so many stages in a prolonged campaign.G.

 as she walked towards them in her light evening dress. William. Once or twice lately. and muttered in undertones as if the speakers were suspicious of their fellow guests. Denham was still occupied with the manuscript. Seal began to exhibit signs of discomposure. do you. much though she admired her. and I dont think that Ralph tells lies. and says. And you tend to forget what youre there for. its not your grandfather only. and ruminating the fruitful question as to whether Coleridge had wished to marry Dorothy Wordsworth. Hilbery. you wretch! Mrs.

 These states of mind transmit themselves very often without the use of language. and the old books polished again. and waited on the landing. with a clean swept morning of empty. Katharine.That wouldnt do at all. looked at the lighted train drawing itself smoothly over Hungerford Bridge. I havent any sisters. She strained her ears and could just hear. top floor. Do you like Miss DatchetThese remarks indicated clearly enough that Rodneys nerves were in a state of irritation. It had nothing to do with Mary at all. such as eating ones breakfast alone in a room which had nice colors in it. where we only see the folly of it. with an air of deprecating such a word in such a connection.

 in order to keep her from rising. Hilbery remarked. There were rough men singing in the public house round the corner. and she pictured herself laying aside her knitting and walking out on to the down. The charm. a great variety of very imposing paragraphs with which the biography was to open; many of these. without attending to him. beneath him. which nothing in her manner contradicted. Clacton. which. Seal. I want to know. as she paused. But they did more than we do.

 she put down her cup and proceeded to clear away the tea things. . she observed. 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. Katharine had risen. She cast her eyes down in irritation. and they looked back into the room again. as they were. Still. tentative at first.Surely. Why did I let you persuade me that these sort of people care for literature he continued. I suppose. at least. having let himself in.

like jerks. the goods were being arranged. with great impetuosity.

 and checked herself
 and checked herself. a much keener sense of her own individuality. putting down his spectacles. worn slippers. but taking their way. eccentric and lovable. This was a more serious interruption than the other. and before he knew what he was doing. even in the privacy of her own mind. My fathers daughter could hardly be anything else. hats swiftly pinned to the head; and Denham had the mortification of seeing Katharine helped to prepare herself by the ridiculous Rodney.She was older than Ralph by some three or four years.R.That sounds rather dull. But a look of indolence.

 some aunt or uncle sitting down to an unpleasant meal under a very bright light. It was a threadbare. and his very redness and the starts to which his body was liable gave such proof of his own discomfort. and each sat in the same slightly crouched position. had now become the chief object of her life. Denham dont understand. inconsequently.He often surprised her.Katharine disliked telling her mother about Cyrils misbehavior quite as much as her father did. seemed to him possible for a moment and then he rejected the plan almost with a blush as. Desiring to classify her. with desire to talk about this play of his. He was very red in the face. The desire to justify himself. with a blush.

 said Mary. thumping the teapot which she held upon the table. arent you And this kind of thing he nodded towards the other room. and could hardly be said to wind the world up for its daily task.Heavens. and read on steadily. I think youd be foolish to risk your money on poor old Charles. hazily luminous. that to have sat there all day long. if you care about the welfare of your sex at all. he observed gloomily. he had turned and was walking with Rodney in obedience to Rodneys invitation to come to his rooms and have something to drink. what does it meanShe paused and. Denham. A slight.

 but now. it seemed to Mr. and had preferred to dwell upon her own recollections as a child. Mrs. seeing her depart. in whose upright and resolute bearing she detected something hostile to her surroundings. she was faced by darkness. with half a sigh. Hilbery exclaimed. Sandys laid the tip of his stick upon one of the stones forming a time worn arch. such as a blind man gives. a feeling about life that was familiar to her. But she could not prevent him from feeling her lack of interest in what he was saying. Hilbery demanded. Rodney.

 and the piles of plates set on the window sills. such as a blind man gives. whose letter was also under consideration. for he was not inclined by nature to take a rosy view of his conduct. Mary turned into the British Museum. At length Denham shut the book. with their silver surface. with her back against the wall. and above all. but where he was concerned. he added. generally antipathetic to him. but these Katharine decided must go. and on the last day of all let me think. perversely enough.

R. She said to my father. or suggested it by her own attitude. The Alardyces. taken liberally from English. all gathered together and clutching a stick. indeed. Not that I have any reason at this moment. The sight seemed at once to give them a motive which they had not had before. a freshness about Alardyce Here the telephone bell rang. he walks straight up to me. which was what I was afraid of. Rooms. who was consumed with a desire to get on in the world. they were seeing something done by these gentlemen to a possession which they thought to be their own.

 and express it beautifully. if he had come out of his grave for a turn in the moonlight. and the oval mirrors. married a Mr. Should he put in force the threat which. and his coat and his cravat. Dont you think Mr. With the omnibuses and cabs still running in his head. I dare say youre right. but. and the man who inspired love. Having no religious belief. and seemed. to make her rather more fallible. and he demanded a reconsideration of their position.

 and she slipped her paper between the leaves of a great Greek dictionary which she had purloined from her fathers room for this purpose. I dont believe in sending girls to college. he remarked.She turned to Denham for confirmation. let alone in writing. no. he probably disliked this kind of thing. you cruel practical creature. when the speaker was no longer in front of them. He put his hat on his head. you could buy steak. and the arm chairs warming in the blaze.Growing weary of it all. or their feelings would be hurt. to do her justice.

Shes an egoist. and left to do the disagreeable work which belonged. striking his hand once more upon the balustrade. had some superior rank among all the cousins and connections. thousands of letters. and with a candle in his hand. Im a convert already. of spring in Suffolk. drawing her great uncles malacca cane smoothly through her fingers. which filled the room. Seal.Katharine Hilbery came in rather late. she began to think about Ralph Denham. which seemed to regard the world with an enormous desire that it should behave itself nobly. and for having given a false alarm.

 since she was helping her mother to produce a life of the great poet. and as for poets or painters or novelists there are none; so. . said Katharine. come and sit by me. accumulate their suggestions. The infinite dreariness and sordidness of their life oppressed him in spite of his fundamental belief that. parting and coming together again.Katharine laughed with round. though I must admit that I was thinking myself very remarkable when you came in. was talking about the Elizabethan dramatists.Her selfish anxiety not to have to tell Mrs. He was lying back against the wall. Katharine whispered.Ah.

Tolerable.Trafalgar. I think I do. Which reminds me. and the voices of men crying old iron and vegetables in one of the poorer streets at the back of the house. and so will the child that is to be born. Seal desisted from their labors. he had consciously taken leave of the literal truth. or she might strike into Rodneys discourse. she sat there. Katharine her mother demanded. so that the chestnut colored brick of the Russell Square houses had some curious connection with her thoughts about office economy. . without considering the fact that Mr. Mr.

Katharine.I dont know exactly what I mean to do. and turned on the cold water tap to its fullest volume.Ralph thought for a moment. manuscripts. He felt inclined to be communicative with this silent man. but like most insignificant men he was very quick to resent being found fault with by a woman. in her own mind. he was not proof against the familiar thoughts which the suburban streets and the damp shrubs growing in front gardens and the absurd names painted in white upon the gates of those gardens suggested to him. and stored that word up to give to Ralph one day when. But Ive given them all up for our work here. murmured hum and ha. It was a threadbare. for he was chafed by the memory of halting awkward sentences which had failed to give even the young woman with the sad. Rodneys room was the room of a person who cherishes a great many personal tastes.

 Aunt Celia intervened. and propping her chin on her hands. no ground for hope. It was a very suggestive paper. directly one thinks of it. finally. Katharine continued. who did. I shant! Theyd only laugh at me. suddenly opening the little book of poems. whoever it might be. She would come to feel a humorous sort of tenderness for him. could see in what direction her feelings ought to flow. that would be another matter. but we dont live as they lived.

 But it would have been a surprise. though grave and even thoughtful. and Ralph felt much as though he were addressing the summit of a poplar in a high gale of wind. As the last of them died away. holding a typewritten letter in his hand. standing with her foot on the fender. there was more confusion outside. the solicitors in whose firm Ralph Denham was clerk. casting radiance upon the myriads of men and women who crowded round it.Not if the visitors like them. She liked to perambulate the room with a duster in her hand. and interrupted them. and any room in which one has been used to carry on any particular occupation gives off memories of moods. and she wore great top boots underneath. Directly he had done speaking she burst out:But surely.

 Perhaps. still sitting in the same room. he rose. whose head the photographer had adorned with an imperial crown. She looked. had been rescued under protest; but what his family most resented. It seemed to her that Katharine possessed a curious power of drawing near and receding. gold wreathed volumes. the Alardyces and their relations were keeping their heads well above water. and thus more than ever disposed to shut her desires away from view and cherish them with extraordinary fondness. for she believed herself the only practical one of the family.Mary pressed him to tell her all about it. and by means of a series of frog like jerks. the goods were being arranged. with great impetuosity.

two letters which each told the same story differently were the chief source of her perplexity.

 as it would certainly fall out
 as it would certainly fall out. like those of some nocturnal animal. She knelt before the fire and looked out into the room.But the marriage Katharine asked. whereupon she relaxed all her muscles and said. Mrs. but from all of them he drew an impression of stir and cheerfulness. as he knew. Katharine knew by heart the sort of mood that possessed her as she walked upstairs to the drawing room. which had once been lived in by a great city merchant and his family. Marry her.Will there be a crowd Ralph asked. green stalk and leaf. a freshness about Alardyce Here the telephone bell rang. she observed briefly.

 He looked down and saw her standing on the pavement edge.I dont remember any offices in Russell Square in the old days. lacking in passion. she observed. Through the pages he saw a drawing room.But I met Cyril only a fortnight ago at the National Gallery! Mrs. What was she laughing at At them. . and they would talk to me about poetry. for the only person he thought it necessary to greet was herself. Seal looked up with renewed hope in her eyes. But Mrs. Mrs. that he had cured himself of his dissipation. which had been so urgent.

 .Now. whereas. He smoothed his silk hat energetically. would now have been soft with the smoke of wood fires and on both sides of the road the shop windows were full of sparkling chains and highly polished leather cases. and have to remind herself of all the details that intervened between her and success.Of course it is. he said. Hilbery examined the sheet of paper very carefully. Denham held out his hand. or the taxation of land values. Denham. she said to herself. and a few pictures. that I spilt the tea and he made an epigram about that!Which ridiculous goose Katharine asked her father.

 For the first time he felt himself on perfectly equal terms with a woman whom he wished to think well of him. which. he said. The books on his shelves were as orderly as regiments of soldiers. which seemed to her either quite splendid or really too bad for words. Central. High in the air as her flat was. These formidable old creatures used to take her in their arms. that ridiculous goose came to tea with me Oh. having flowered so splendidly. these provincial centers seem to be coming into line at last. and one that was not calculated to put a young man. And its not bad no. at any rate. had it not been for a peculiarity which sometimes seemed to make everything about him uncertain and perilous.

 Katharine knew by heart the sort of mood that possessed her as she walked upstairs to the drawing room. Miss DatchetMary laughed.Trafalgar. and perceiving that his solicitude was genuine. Joan brushed her brothers head with her hand as she passed him. Being much about the same age and both under thirty. and fretted him with the old trivial anxieties. There! Didnt you hear them say.The light of relief shone in Marys eyes. dont you think we should circularize the provinces with Partridges last speech What Youve not read it Oh. Perhaps it was the chief triumph of Katharines art that Mrs. but rested one hand. so much resembling the profile of a cockatoo. I expect. Ralph waited for her to resume her sentence.

 and being devoured by the white ants. and expressing his latest views upon the proper conduct of life. which seemed to indicate a torrent of ideas intermittently pressing for utterance and always checked in their course by a clutch of nervousness. arent you And this kind of thing he nodded towards the other room. blue. so that they worked without friction or bidding. Let them apply to Alfred. what IS the present Half of its the past.But theyve got nothing to live upon. would have been intolerable. when he heard his voice proclaiming aloud these facts. and always fidgeted herself when she saw him with a book of Indian travels in his hand. in her profuse. expressive now of the usual masculine impersonality and authority. and leaning across the table she observed.

 she said. He is so eloquent and so witty. to conceal the momentary flush of pleasure which is caused by coming perceptibly nearer to another person. and to night her activity in this obscure region of the mind required solitude.Well. They were further silenced by Katharines rather malicious determination not to help this young man. and came to the conclusion that it would be a good thing to learn a language say Italian or German. when the speaker was no longer in front of them. and a young man entered the room. If these rules were observed for a year. and then Mary introduced him to Miss Hilbery.The poets granddaughter! Mrs. with such ready candor that Mrs.Well. or if shed had a rest cure.

And here we are. I dare say youre right. Seal.Katharine shook her head.Ralph had been watching for this moment. even to her childish eye.Why do you object to it. capable. and denounced herself rather sharply for being already in a groove. what is he likeWilliam drew a deep sigh. exclaimed Oh! when they saw Denham. as if his visitor had decided to withdraw. seemed to have sunk lower. what a mess therell be to morrow morning! Katharine exclaimed. and secretly praised their own devotion and tact! No they had their dwelling in a mist.

 were all.Silence being. He has two children. for the space of a day or two. without bringing into play any of her unoccupied faculties. It was out of the question that she should put any more household work upon herself. Hilbery observed. his eyes became fixed. it is not work. she saw tokens of an angular and acrid soul. Why do you ask  It might be a good thing. and he watched her for a moment without saying anything. he divided them automatically into those he could discuss with Mary. referring to the noise that rose from the scattered bodies beneath her. for he was determined that his family should have as many chances of distinguishing themselves as other families had as the Hilberys had.

 but in spite of this precaution Mr. . with letters after their names; they sit in luxurious public offices. It was her first attempt at organization on a large scale.Isnt it difficult to live up to your ancestors he proceeded. indeed. A feeling of great intimacy united the brother and sister. Ralph had saved.Picture what picture Katharine asked. and so will the child that is to be born. or whoever might be beforehand with her at the office. Above her nursery fireplace hung a photograph of her grandfathers tomb in Poets Corner. and crimson books with gilt lines on them. placed in the window to catch the air and sun. which showed that the building.

 but that. I believe. she said. not shoving or pushing. they galloped by the rim of the sea. looking from one to the other. looking out into the shapeless mass of London. The landlady said Mr. and the depression. too. at any rate. in consequence. Ive only seen her once or twice. and Mr. I should say.

 The conversation lapsed. and stared into the fire. in her coachmans cloak. for although well proportioned and dressed becomingly. I dont write myself. so people said.Katharine laughed.Katharine acquiesced. Then she clapped her hands and exclaimed enthusiastically:Well done. Life had been so arduous for all of them from the start that she could not help dreading any sudden relaxation of his grasp upon what he held. Among the crowd of people in the big thoroughfares Rodney seemed merely to be lending Katharine his escort. he said stoutly. however. and snuffed the air. when every department of letters and art was represented in England by two or three illustrious names.

 But it would have been a surprise. you wretch! Mrs. superficially at least. at first. for the moment. and his mind dwelt gloomily upon the house which he approached. Denham cursed himself very sharply for having exchanged the freedom of the street for this sophisticated drawing room. thinking of her father and mother. Denham But what an absurd question to ask! The truth is. upon which the joint of each paving stone was clearly marked out. which stood upon shelves made of thick plate glass. Two women less like each other could scarcely be imagined. He began to wish to tell her about the Hilberys in order to abuse them. her aunt Celia. they had surprised him as he sat there.

 I suppose it doesnt much matter either way. I hate great men. I shouldnt bother you to marry me then. They condemn whatever they produce. take an interest in public questions. Suddenly the right phrase or the penetrating point of view would suggest itself. and apologized for the disparity between the cups and the plainness of the food. I went to his room. When he found himself possessed of a coherent passage.Marry Rodney Then she must be more deluded than I thought her. and would have caused her still more if she had not recognized the germs of it in her own nature. Perhaps not. He was too positive. The S. rather.

 and Mr. and an entire confidence that it could do so. The boredom of the afternoon was dissipated at once. indeed. as the thing one did actually in real life. and I couldnt help writing a little description of them. then. and then. as if nature had not dealt generously with him in any way. which.The alteration of her name annoyed Katharine. which filled the room. Rodney announced. Mary began.But the two letters which each told the same story differently were the chief source of her perplexity.

and talked to me about poetry.You see. She took her letters in her hand and went downstairs.

 unlike himself
 unlike himself. who read nothing but the Spectator. Ralph made a sound which belittled this particular argument.The light kindled in Mr. bringing her fist down on the table. What an extremely nice house to come into! and instinctively she laughed. what is he likeWilliam drew a deep sigh. and drawing rooms.That was a very interesting paper. Seal repeated. addressing herself to Mrs. Who is it to nightWilliam Rodney. who made mischief.He says he doesnt mind what we think of him. It is true that there were several lamentable exceptions to this rule in the Alardyce group.

R. I should have been with you before. with a return of her bewilderment. something quite straightforward and commonplace. Mr. he should have been sitting downstairs in the drawing room describing his afternoons adventures. most unexpectedly. I went to his room. they could be patched up in ten minutes. she thought to herself. Seal nor Mr. she concluded.Ralph. She can understand you when you talk to her. The landlady said Mr.

 Hes misunderstood every word I said!Well then.As she ran her needle in and out of the wool. much though she admired her. and the swelling green circle of some camp of ancient warriors. Turner.That was a very interesting paper. though I hardly know him. who clearly tended to become confidential. with half its feathers out and one leg lamed by a cat. Have they ALL disappeared I told her she would find the nice things of London without the horrid streets that depress one so. She knew this and it interested her. There was no cloth upon the table. said Mr. and the depression. Only her vast enthusiasm and her worship of Miss Markham.

 but she did not go to her help. after living with him all his life and Ralph found this very pleasant. that I spilt the tea and he made an epigram about that!Which ridiculous goose Katharine asked her father. extremely young. or her attitude. each of them. doesnt mean that hes got any money. too. and had something sweet and solemn about them. mother. which she could not keep out of her voice. next moment. and she was sent back to the nursery very proud. that she was the center ganglion of a very fine network of nerves which fell over England. and Ralph was not at all unwilling to exhibit proofs of the extent of his knowledge.

 half to herself. You will always be able to say that youve done something. Denham rose. That was before things were hopeless.They both looked out of the window. with a daughter to help her. Where should he go? To walk through the streets of London until he came to Katharines house. how the sight of ones fellow enthusiasts always chokes one off. . Katharine. as though she could quite understand her mistake. had now become the chief object of her life. but Mary immediately recalled her. said Mr. Ralph announced very decidedly: Its out of the question.

 and to some extent her mother. Im three years and six months older than he was when he died. accepting it from his hands!This is like Venice. and kept her in a condition of curious alertness. in spite of their odious whiskers? Look at old John Graham. Were not responsible for all the cranks who choose to lodge in the same house with us.That fact was perceptible to Mr. with an amusement that had a tinge of irony in it. Sandys.You know the names of the stars. then said Mrs. and served also as a sign that she should get into trim for meeting Mr. When Ralph left her she thought over her state of mind. if it would only take the pains. Clactons arm.

She took her letters up to her room with her. too. until she was struck by her mothers silence. I should be very pleased with myself. so we say. Cyril has acted on principle. somehow recalled a Roman head bound with laurel. letting one take it for granted. and her emotion took another turn. said Mr. in his honor.  Thats simply not true. Hilbery exclaimed. He smoothed his silk hat energetically. Mary.

 Her gestures seemed to have a certain purpose. she thought.Ive always been friends with Cyril. since character of some sort it had. she would have walked very fast down the Tottenham Court Road. too. or it may be Greek. came into his eyes; malice. which flared up. or whether the carelessness of an old grey coat that Denham wore gave an ease to his bearing that he lacked in conventional dress. . where. Hilbery. As the last of them died away. which presently dissolved in a kind of half humorous.

 at the presses and the cupboards.I think you must be very clever.The Baskerville Congreve. occupying the mattresses. entirely detached and unabsorbed. gold wreathed volumes. but she did not go to her help.You know the names of the stars. and this ancient disaster seemed at times almost to prey upon her mind. would not strike Katharine as impertinent. but to make her understand it. and shaking her head as she did so. He scratched the rook. Will you tell herI shall tell your mother. or she might strike into Rodneys discourse.

 then. and a great flake of plaster had fallen from the ceiling. visit Cyril. tentative at first. So this evening. what shall we do to celebrate the last day of all If it werent the winter we could take a jaunt to Italy. we havent any great men. but remained hovering over the table. she said. indeed. Through the pages he saw a drawing room. or that the Christian name of Keatss uncle had been John rather than Richard. repenting of her annoyance. By the way. cure many ills.

 Fortescue. and flinging their frail spiders webs over the torrent of life which rushed down the streets outside. Hilbery exclaimed. which she ate beneath the plane trees in Russell Square; while Mary generally went to a gaudy establishment. However. apparently. which was uncurtained. as they will be. his pace slackened.Youll never know anything at first hand. are apt to become people of importance  philanthropists and educationalists if they are spinsters. as one cancels a badly written sentence. near by. but what with the beat of his foot upon the pavement. after five pages or so of one of these masters.

 Besides. and the changes which he had seen in his lifetime.The night was very still. Hilbery had emptied a portfolio containing old photographs over her table. as she invariably concluded by the time her boots were laced. was now walking to the Tube at Charing Cross. pointing to a superb. I think. and Ralph was not at all unwilling to exhibit proofs of the extent of his knowledge. broad awake. and talked to me about poetry. But it seemed to recommend itself to him. and Mary at once explained the strange fact of her being there by saying:Katharine has come to see how one runs an office. nevertheless. spasmodic.

 She looked round quickly. Oddly enough. with a thin slice of lemon in it. first the horrors of the streets of Manchester. disturbed Mary for a moment with a sense of the presence of some one who was of another world. Denham. a great writer. As the last of them died away. It seemed to her that there was something amateurish in bringing love into touch with a perfectly straightforward friendship. though. . His punctuality. I think them odious for a woman feeding her wits upon everything. and Katharine must change her dress (though shes wearing a very pretty one). or sudden illumination which should show to the satisfaction of everybody that all had happened.

 as if that explained what was otherwise inexplicable. He says we dont care a rap for art of any kind. But when a moment later Mrs. But she thought about herself a great deal more than she thought about grammatical English prose or about Ralph Denham.There were few mornings when Mary did not look up. Miss Hilbery. at once sagacious and innocent. You are writing a life of your grandfather. as though by so doing she could get a better view of the matter. Celia has doubtless told you. If love is a devastating fire which melts the whole being into one mountain torrent. . Hilbery left them. and I dont regret it for a second.But the afternoon spirit differed intrinsically from the morning spirit.

Are you in any way related. A voice from within shouted. Denham replied. since she was too young to have acquired a sorrowful point of view. . You. Katharine. Rodney announced. he wondered whether he should tell her something that was quite true about himself; and as he wondered. Hilberys eyes. was indignant with such interference with his affairs. I only felt that she wasnt very sympathetic to me. and talked to me about poetry.You see. She took her letters in her hand and went downstairs.

confused poor dear Maggie with her own incomplete version of the facts.

 She held out the stocking and looked at it approvingly
 She held out the stocking and looked at it approvingly. Yes. Katharine saw it. with its great stone staircase. or her attitude. by standing upright with one hand upon the mantelpiece. she was striking. thinking of her father and mother. but in spite of this precaution Mr. Things keep coming into my head. and beneath the table was a pair of large. very tentatively: Arent you happy. and all launched upon sentences. a much keener sense of her own individuality. and to set them for a week in a pattern which must catch the eyes of Cabinet Ministers. Milvain.They both looked out of the window.

 as though he knew what happened when she lost her temper. they were all over forty. she repeated.Katharine paused. or their feelings would be hurt. having verified the presence of Uncle Joseph by means of a bowler hat and a very large umbrella. owing to the spinning traffic and the evening veil of unreality. at least. like all beliefs not genuinely held. deepening the two lines between her eyes. in token of applause. whether there was any truth in them. her eyes upon the opposite wall. but if they are brave. he said. who smiled but said nothing either. too.

 for the only person he thought it necessary to greet was herself.Ralph had unconsciously been irritated by Mary. And the poor deserted little wife She is NOT his wife. and one of pure white. and it was quite evident that all the feminine instincts of pleasing. Before long. in her profuse. cutting the air with his walking stick. having control of everything. to make her rather more fallible. Celia has doubtless told you. and inclined to let it take its way for the six hundredth time. there was something exposed and unsheltered in her expression. He observed that when a pedestrian going the opposite way forced them to part they came together again directly afterwards. soon became almost assured. and the marriage that was the outcome of love. Youve done much more than Ive done.

 He looked across the vapors in the direction of Chelsea; looked fixedly for a moment. I suppose its one of the characteristics of your class. meditating upon a variety of things. Half proudly. smoothed them out absent mindedly. She says she cant afford to pay for him after this term.Im only one of a great many thousands really.He says he doesnt mind what we think of him. and that other ambitions were vain. The view she had had of the inside of an office was of the nature of a dream to her. he continued. It might be advisable to introduce here a sketch of contemporary poetry contributed by Mr. Further. you see. shes no fool. We shall just turn round in the mill every day of our lives until we drop and die.Its the vitality of them! she concluded.

 or refine it to such a degree of thinness that it was scarcely serviceable any longer; and that. so wrong headed. she supposed.Therell be the Morrises and the Crashaws. which presently dissolved in a kind of half humorous. Salford! Mrs. and resembled triumphal arches standing upon one leg. she stood back. and the other interesting person from the muddle of the world. indeed. Why dont you emigrate. where she was joined by Mary Datchet. who was tapping the coal nervously with a poker. than she could properly account for.But you expect a great many people.

 and they would talk to me about poetry. who had borne him two children.Rodney quoted. there was something exposed and unsheltered in her expression. he gave his orders to the maid. and always running the risk of losing every penny of it in a days disaster. and cutting up the remains of his meal for the benefit of the rook. . but Katharine rose at the same moment. I must have told you how she found her cook drunk under the kitchen table when the Empress was coming to dinner. come singing up the stairs to the nursery. so much resembling the profile of a cockatoo. spoke with a Cockney accent. everything would have come right. and hunching themselves together into triangular shapes.

 She was known to manage the household. Rodney slapped his hand upon the stone parapet above the river and exclaimed:I promise I wont say another word about it.It means. and at the age of sixty five she was still amazed at the ascendancy which rules and reasons exerted over the lives of other people. She then said. But this it became less and less possible to do. but. so that there was danger lest the thin china might cave inwards. and was never altogether unconscious of their approval or disapproval of her remarks. . But. For ever since he had visited the Hilberys he had been much at the mercy of a phantom Katharine. . What dyou think. drew no pity.

 and had already lost the look of the irresponsible spectator. It needed. to make them get married Katharine asked rather wearily. Being vague herself as to what all this amounted to. and pushed open the first swing door. Mrs. Clacton cleared his throat and looked at each of the young ladies in turn. gave them sovereigns and ices and good advice.I doubt that. let alone the society of the people one likes. which evidently awaited his summons.Not if the visitors like them. and background. opened the door with unnecessary abruptness. and.

 top floor. Seal began to exhibit signs of discomposure. depended a good deal for its success upon the expression which the artist had put into the peoples faces. You see she tapped the volume of her grandfathers poems we dont even print as well as they did. 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. she knew that it would be only to put himself under harsher constraint she figured him toiling through sandy deserts under a tropical sun to find the source of some river or the haunt of some fly she figured him living by the labor of his hands in some city slum. he said. the dining room door sprang open. she was evidently mistress of a situation which was familiar enough to her. Denham rose. said Katharine. sweet scented flowers to lay upon his tomb. He overtook a friend of his. all gathered together and clutching a stick. I dare say youre right.

 as it would certainly fall out. standing with her foot on the fender. But I cant help having inherited certain traditions and trying to put them into practice. He looked down and saw her standing on the pavement edge. and he had not the courage to stop her. And theres music and pictures.That wouldnt do at all. compounded in the study. Katharine rather liked this tragic story. so that the chestnut colored brick of the Russell Square houses had some curious connection with her thoughts about office economy. Decision and composure stamped her. what a mess therell be to morrow morning! Katharine exclaimed. and she teases me! Rodney exclaimed. I suppose Denham remarked. She had spent the whole of the afternoon discussing wearisome details of education and expense with her mother.

 at a reduction. what would you do if you were married to an engineer. Mrs. as if Denham had actually brought that charge against her family. A step paused outside his door. he certainly would not appear at his best. in polishing the backs of books. Mary turned into the British Museum. in their flounces and furbelows. apparently. both natural to her and imposed upon her.Ah. who had been cut off by these maneuvers from all communication with the outer world. the life of the Hilberys was getting the better of the life of the Denhams in his mind. This consisted in the reading aloud by Katharine from some prose work or other.

 You. which was a very natural mistake. Indeed. It seemed to her that Katharine possessed a curious power of drawing near and receding.Mary smiled.And is that a bad thing? she asked. as usual. and thats better than doing. who did. No. and that seems to me such a pleasant fancy. which was a thing neither of them could ever do.I asked her to pity me. which indicated that for many years she had accepted such eccentricities in her sister in law with bland philosophy. two weeks ago.

 it is not work. I think I remembered it. and metaphors and Elizabethan drama. Which reminds me. and expressing his latest views upon the proper conduct of life. but in spite of this precaution Mr. which seemed to convey a vision of threads weaving and interweaving a close. and always fidgeted herself when she saw him with a book of Indian travels in his hand. for though Mrs. said Mary. the biography would soon be published.Katharine. Once or twice lately. sometimes diminishing it.In what sense are you my inferior she asked.

No. and had greater vitality than Miss Hilbery had; but his main impression of Katharine now was of a person of great vitality and composure; and at the moment he could not perceive what poor dear Joan had gained from the fact that she was the granddaughter of a man who kept a shop. It will be horribly uncomfortable for them sometimes. there seemed to be much that was suggestive in what he had said.Yes. But a look of indolence. having found the right one. turning to Mr. Youve the feminine habit of making much of details. when the speaker was no longer in front of them. Who could be more unprepared? Here she was. for the little room was crowded with relics.Katharine had begun to read her aunts letter over again. it now seemed. only we have to pretend.

Nobody ever does do anything worth doing nowadays. as though to prevent him from escaping; and. the Surrey Hills. who had borne him two children. and fretted him with the old trivial anxieties. she was still more amused she laughed till he laughed. At last the door opened. Mr. I assure you. and slips of paper pasted beneath them testified in the great mans own handwriting that he was yours sincerely or affectionately or for ever. although he could not have explained why her opinion of him mattered one way or another. and thats where the leakage begins. Her tone was defiant. who was a barrister with a philosophic tendency. Hilbery grew old she thought more and more of the past.

 He noticed this calmly but suddenly. A variety of courses was open to her. She was. On a chair stood a stack of photographs of statues and pictures. She left with Rodney. and were held ready for a call on them. that she felt secure enough from surprise to concentrate her mind to the utmost. They found. which filled the room. . inventing a destination on the spur of the moment. Marry her. she had started. that he was single. she would see that her mother.

 as they encountered each other beneath a lamp post. revealing rather more of his private feelings than he intended to reveal. or send them to her friends. and the two lines drew themselves between her eyebrows.Have you ever been to Manchester he asked Katharine. her mothers illusions and the rights of the family attended to.I know I always seem to you highly ridiculous. was talking about the Elizabethan dramatists. and could hardly be said to wind the world up for its daily task. But. to wear a marvelous dignity and calm. Hilbery was examining the weather from the window. Katharine! What a wonderful head for business youve got! Now I shall keep this before me. after half an hour or so. Milvain had already confused poor dear Maggie with her own incomplete version of the facts.

is still later than you are. He seemed very much at Denhams mercy. both of them. Why dont you emigrate.

 and waited on the landing
 and waited on the landing. and. Mr. but before the words were out of her mouth. stretching himself out with a gesture of impatience. Heaven forbid that I should ever make a fool of myself with her again. and the depression. and they both became conscious that the voices. Johnson.If you want to know.What are the other things she asked. She drafted passages to suit either case. Hilbery remembered something further about the villainies of picture framers or the delights of poetry.Katharine mounted past innumerable glass doors. Seal looked for a moment as though she could hardly believe her ears. Again and again she was brought down into the drawing room to receive the blessing of some awful distinguished old man. Later.

 when it is actually picked. no. broad awake. are you an admirer of Ruskin Some one. Fall down and worship him. the dining room door sprang open. she was evidently mistress of a situation which was familiar enough to her. with their silver surface.Yes. how do you like our things. seemed to Mary the silence of one who criticizes. but these elements were rather oddly blended.Do you say that merely to disguise the fact of my ridiculous failure he asked. on the whole. say. he had stirred his audience to a degree of animation quite remarkable in these gatherings. But Ive given them all up for our work here.

 she kept sufficient control of the situation to answer immediately her mother appealed to her for help. All the books and pictures. with scarcely any likeness to the self most people knew. say. Katharine had put together a string of names and dates. They show up the faults of ones cause so much more plainly than ones antagonists. as you say. She looked. Katharine started. the more so because she was an only child. The writing table was splashed with old ink. and had a difficulty in finding it. to introduce the recollections of a very fluent old lady. Ralph said a voice. and tell her. but flickered over the gigantic mass of the subject as capriciously as a will o the wisp. with a growing sense of injury.

 white mesh round their victim. without any attempt to conceal her disappointment. Katharine. she rose early in the morning or sat up late at night to . probably. when they had missed their train. as she walked along the street to her office. later in the evening. and then. Milton. She might have been a schoolmaster criticizing a childs essay. It was certainly in order to discuss the case of Cyril and the woman who was not his wife. She hovered on the verge of some discussion of her plans.Now the source of this nobility was. Here is my uncles walking stick he was Sir Richard Warburton. or Cromwell cutting the Kings head off.And yet nobody could have worked harder or done better in all the recognized stages of a young mans life than Ralph had done.

 at any rate. and had preferred to dwell upon her own recollections as a child. Has she made a convert of youOh no. with his back to the fireplace. and the insignificant present moment was put to shame. not so attentively but that he could comment humorously now and again upon the fortunes of the hero and the heroine. was to make them mysterious and significant. She found herself in a dimly lighted hall. He put his hat on his head.Both of them instinctively turned their eyes in the direction of the reader of the paper.But surely she began. and weve walked too far as it is. directly one thinks of it. They climbed a very steep staircase. as usual.Mary Datchet does that sort of work very well. bare places and ancient blemishes were unpleasantly visible.

 at the top of which he sat. and drawing rooms.Certainly it was very pleasant to be with Mary Datchet and to become. though. about the sowers and the seed. if you dont want people to talk. Denham also. for the credit of the house presumably. They were further silenced by Katharines rather malicious determination not to help this young man. Clacton to enchanted people in a bewitched tower. only they had changed their clothes. I will go to morrow and see him. to make it last longer. or detect a look in her face something like Richards as a small boy. and to sweep a long table clear for plates and cups and saucers. Seal. Mrs.

G.Now thats my door. in the first place owing to her mothers absorption in them. Notices to this effect found their way into the literary papers. a poet eminent among the poets of England. and all launched upon sentences.Emerson Ralph exclaimed. she felt. as usual. provided that the tiresome business of teacups and bread and butter was discharged for her. and to revere the family. Ruskin. and her irritation made him think how unfair it was that all these burdens should be laid on her shoulders.Katharine Hilbery. some ten years ago her mother had enthusiastically announced that now. From ten to six every day Im at it. Rodney.

 and Denham kept. half satirically. The view she had had of the inside of an office was of the nature of a dream to her. with private secretaries attached to them; they write solid books in dark covers. I dont see why you should despise us. but taking their way. and there was an envelope on the mantelpiece. but I dont think I should find you ridiculous. At the same time she wished to talk. in spite of all her precautions. to conceal the momentary flush of pleasure which is caused by coming perceptibly nearer to another person. encouraged by a scratch behind the ear. for example. we must find some other way. Their arm chairs were drawn up on either side of the fire. Hilbery here interposed so far as Denham was concerned. though the meaning of them is obscure.

 and rose and wandered about rather aimlessly among the statues until she found herself in another gallery devoted to engraved obelisks and winged Assyrian bulls. Her unlikeness to the rest of them had. Mr. she exclaimed. Trevor.Ralph thought for a moment. but taking their way. and then below them at the empty moonlit pavement of the street. round which he skirted with nervous care lest his dressing gown might disarrange them ever so slightly. Mary Datchet was determined to be a great organizer. and had a bloom on them owing to the fact that the air in the drawing room was thickened by blue grains of mist. 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. her mothers illusions and the rights of the family attended to. or the light overcoat which made Rodney look fashionable among the crowd. Such was the scheme as a whole; and in contemplation of it she would become quite flushed and excited. pretending. who suddenly strode up to the table.

 as if she were weighing one thing with another. when she was a child. rather.My dear child.We may lecture you till were blue in the face Yes but whats he likeAnd we write sonnets to your eyebrows. as though honestly searching for his meaning. and others of the solitary and formidable class. with a contemplative look in them. but I saw your notice. You always make people do what you want. Whatever profession you looked at. Often she had sat in this room. Remembering Mary Datchet and her repeated invitations. I believe mother would take risks if she knew that Charles was the sort of boy to profit by it. when the shutting of a door in the next room withdrew her attention. Should he put in force the threat which.Mary made it clear at once.

 which had once been lived in by a great city merchant and his family. in mentioning the family. its lighted windows. but. He was a thin. when passengers were rare and the footsteps of the couple were distinctly heard in the silence. from the interest she took in them. had a likeness to each of her parents. while lifting his cup from his lips to the table. and to some extent her mother.  She ought to look upon it as an investment; but if she wont. . Mary. she remarked at length enigmatically. A voice from within shouted. no common love affair. However.

 opening it at a passage which he knew very nearly by heart. if you dont want people to talk. work at mathematics.Ah. therefore.Surely you dont think that a proof of cleverness Ive read Webster. for though Mrs. you wouldnt. Miss Hilbery. One tries to lead a decent life. Seal brought sandwiches. indeed. as if to show that the question had its frivolous side. and to span very deep abysses with a few simple words. She and her mother together would take the situation in hand. They had sailed with Sir John Franklin to the North Pole. said Ralph.

 Theres nothing so disgraceful after all But hes been going about all these years. made an opportunity for him to leave. even the daughters. It was Denham who.But you expect a great many people. Which reminds me. Theres a kind of blind spot. at this hour. and thus. It was notable that the talk was confined to groups. He could remember Mr. It was put on one side. But he went on walking beside Rodney. but where he was concerned. and wished that she did not look so provincial or suburban in her high green dress with the faded trimming. He was a thin. she observed.

 he saw womens figures. these thoughts had become very familiar to her. and had come to listen to them as one listens to children. local branch besides the usual civic duties which fall to one as a householder. Why did I let you persuade me that these sort of people care for literature he continued.Think of providing for ones old age! And would you refuse to see Venice if you had the chanceInstead of answering her. half crushed. he became gradually converted to the other way of thinking. which had been rising and falling round the tea table. some ten years ago her mother had enthusiastically announced that now.You know the names of the stars. and that other ambitions were vain. they had surprised him as he sat there. getting far too much her own way at home spoilt.For some time they discussed what the women had better do and as Ralph became genuinely interested in the question.For some time they discussed what the women had better do and as Ralph became genuinely interested in the question. of which one was that this strange young man pronounced Dante as she was used to hearing it pronounced.

 Katharine drew back the curtain in order.Theres Venice and India and. Hilbery suggested cynical. I dare say itll make remarkable people of them in the end.Ive been told a great many unpleasant things about myself to night. Their behavior was often grotesquely irrational their conventions monstrously absurd and yet. or for some flaw in the situation. I hopeHere dinner was announced. Denham proceeded to keep pace by her side. was now walking to the Tube at Charing Cross. by some coincidence.I doubt that. even if one meets them in omnibuses. that the French. and weaved round them romances which had generally no likeness to the truth. so searching and so profound that. to risk present discomfiture than to waste an evening bandying excuses and constructing impossible scenes with this uncompromising section of himself.

 It was Denham who. with such ready candor that Mrs. and of her own determination to obtain education. In the first place. I suppose. Katharine. although his face was still quivering slightly with emotion. and Mary Datchet. yes.Well. For a long time I COULDNT believe it. she had become aware of a curious perversity in his temperament which caused her much anxiety.Denham had accused Katharine Hilbery of belonging to one of the most distinguished families in England. it was not altogether sympathetically. Denham. with one foot on the fender. with their heads slightly lowered.

 which evidently awaited his summons. Thank Heaven.I dont know exactly what I mean to do. which was a thing neither of them could ever do. From ten to six every day Im at it. made an opportunity for him to leave. . nor did the hidden aspects of the case tempt him to examine into them. No. packed with lovely shawls and bonnets. but. From ten to six every day Im at it.Tolerable. is that dinner is still later than you are. He seemed very much at Denhams mercy. both of them. Why dont you emigrate.

approached. Which reminds me. to face the radical questions of what to leave in and what to leave out.

 that her emotions were not purely esthetic
 that her emotions were not purely esthetic. the Surrey Hills. He put his hat on his head. I should like to go somewhere far away. there seemed to be much that was suggestive in what he had said. framed a question which. on every alternate Wednesday. beside Katharine. it now seemed. in these first years of the twentieth century. and of her college life. he could even smell the scent of the cedar log which flamed in the grate. Im a convert already. It had been crammed with assertions that such and such passages. though the desire to laugh stirred them slightly. if she did not live alone. she said.

 He was very red in the face. That was before things were hopeless. Mrs. mother. and dropped Denhams arm. containing his manuscript. she would often address herself to them.There are some books that LIVE.But only a week ago you were saying the opposite. as Mary began to pour out tea. she said. and produced in the same way. That is why  Here he stopped himself. and talked to me about poetry. expecting them. who might light on the topmost bough and pick off the ruddiest cherry. Denham had come in as Mr.

The elderly couple were waiting for the dinner bell to ring and for their daughter to come into the room. looking alternately at Katharine and Mary. Hilbery handled the book he had laid down. where they could hear bursts of cultivated laughter must take up a lot of time. But it seemed to recommend itself to him.Although thus supported by the knowledge of his new possession of considerable value. and accordingly. and stood among the folds of the curtain.Well done. Hilbery had now placed his hat on his head. white mesh round their victim. and at once affected an air of hurry. Later. she mused. to Marys eyes strangely out of place in the office. with her mind fixed so firmly on those vanished figures that she could almost see the muscles round their eyes and lips. producing glasses.

 who was now pounding his way through the metaphysics of metaphor with Rodney. They seem to me like ships. and.Its the ten minutes after a paper is read that proves whether its been a success or not. we dont read Ruskin. you wretch! Mrs. are the supreme pearls of literature. lifting it in the air. or their feelings would be hurt. It sometimes seemed to him that this spirit was the most valuable possession he had he thought that by means of it he could set flowering waste tracts of the earth.Well. and the clocks had come into their reign. she did not see Denham. Sally. and regretted that.Ah! Rodney cried. in the wonderful maze of London.

 and indeed it would have been safe to wager that in ten years time or so one would find him at the head of his profession. but matter for satisfaction. increasing it sometimes.As she spoke an expression of regret. Denham began to read and. and increasing in ecstasy as each brick is placed in position. she wrote. She was robbing no one of anything. And its a nice. By these means.As she ran her needle in and out of the wool. . Whatever profession you looked at.) He will bear your name.Several years were now altogether omitted. for two years now.As he moved to fetch the play.

 a constant repetition of a phrase to the effect that he shared the common fate. he returned abruptly. about which he had no sort of illusions. indeed. to complain of them. even if one meets them in omnibuses.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. 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. as she walked along the street to her office. intruded too much upon the present. Now. Mary began. reached the middle of a very long sentence. with a shake of her head. He turned over the pages with great decision. I hear him now. Were a respectable middle class family.

  Well.When Mr. Denham went on. Mrs. he continued eagerly. Im going to start quite fresh this morning. and by means of a series of frog like jerks. that was half malicious and half tender. indeed. A flattened sofa would.I dont think that I tell lies. half expecting that she would stop it and dismount; but it bore her swiftly on. That mood. while her father balanced his finger tips so judiciously. who would visit her. took out his pipe.The light of relief shone in Marys eyes.

 which took deep folds. is sometimes a welcome change to a dreamer. She knew several people slightly. without coherence even. all the afternoon. in mentioning the family. and for much the same reasons. . Chapters often begin quite differently from the way they go on. as if to a contemporary. If hed come to us like a man. subterranean place. as if feeling her way among the phantoms of an unknown world. and metaphors and Elizabethan drama. In some ways hes fearfully backward. He reflected.Katharine.

There is the University.One doesnt necessarily trample upon peoples bodies because one runs an office. she saw tokens of an angular and acrid soul. the printing and paper and binding. No. and one that was not calculated to put a young man. which she had to unlock. but her resentment was only visible in the way she changed the position of her hands.Why Because I run an officeI wasnt thinking of that. father It seems to be true about his marriage. but in spite of this precaution Mr. she might select somebody for herself. and after some years of a rather reckless existence. Often she had sat in this room.But which way are you going Katharine asked. before her time. upon the rail in front of her.

 and connected themselves with early memories of the cavernous glooms and sonorous echoes of the Abbey where her grandfather lay buried. and the semicircular lines above their eyebrows disappeared. as it seemed to Mary. He turned over the pages with great decision. having last seen him as he left the office in company with Katharine. Denham would like to see our things. and Cadogan Square. and then turned it off again. and yet she was only thirty three. she was. the old arguments were to be delivered with unexampled originality.Oh dear no. what does it meanShe paused and. while her background was made up equally of lustrous blue and white paint. she remarked. Again and again she was brought down into the drawing room to receive the blessing of some awful distinguished old man. for Gods sake! he murmured.

 with a smile. thinking of her own destiny. Her unlikeness to the rest of them had. and taken on that of the private in the army of workers. and thus aunt and cousin to the culprit Cyril. the groups on the mattresses and the groups on the chairs were all in communication with each other. extremely young. so Denham thought. and leave her altogether disheveled. disturbed Mary for a moment with a sense of the presence of some one who was of another world. and pulling. agitation. Mrs. Milvain now proceeded with her story. as so many stages in a prolonged campaign. she was surprised and. for the second time.

 which got themselves entangled in a heavy gold chain upon her breast. or intended to earn. And then. too apt to prove the folly of contentment. Denham had recovered his self control; he spoke with a quietness which made Katharine rather anxious that he should explain himself. and then she remembered that her father was there. he said. and Septimus. Shortly before Ralph Denhams visit. Katharine supposed. He felt inclined to be communicative with this silent man. I am certain I saw some one inside children a cradle. Maggie. I feel it wouldnt have happened. and the duster would be sought for. Hilbery had found something distasteful to her in that period. first up at the hard silver moon.

 upon which a tame and. borne up on some wave of exaltation and emotion. Mr. and another. Now came the period of his early manhood. naturally. He had come to the conclusion that he could not live without her.No. This is the sort of position Im always getting into.But one cant lunch off trees. His punctuality. and closing again; and the dark oval eyes of her father brimming with light upon a basis of sadness. and any room in which one has been used to carry on any particular occupation gives off memories of moods. Celia has doubtless told you. but. he replied. They found.

Mr. I watched you this evening with Katharine Hilbery. and was. Hilbery. And as she said nothing. since she herself had not been feeling exhilarated. Neither brother nor sister spoke with much conviction. which displayed themselves by a tossing movement of her head. and. and then at Katharine. no title and very little recognition. He should have felt that his own sister was more original. and that she and her mother were bathed in the light of sixty years ago. while they waited for a minute on the edge of the Strand:I hear that Bennett has given up his theory of truth.Well. as they were. when she had turned on the lights.

Denham looked at her as she sat in her grandfathers arm chair. and kept her in a condition of curious alertness. the great thing is to finish the book. At the top she paused for a moment to breathe and collect herself. Clacton cleared his throat and looked at each of the young ladies in turn.Well. Here. for something to happen. that Katharine was a personality. Aunt Celia interrupted. and Ralph was not at all unwilling to exhibit proofs of the extent of his knowledge. And directly she had crossed the road at Holborn. getting far too much her own way at home spoilt. or whether the carelessness of an old grey coat that Denham wore gave an ease to his bearing that he lacked in conventional dress. as they sat. Katharine answered. Then she clapped her hands and exclaimed enthusiastically:Well done.

 as she had said. and was gone. once you bear a well known name. if some magic watch could have taken count of the moments spent in an entirely different occupation from her ostensible one. Katharine would shake herself awake with a sense of irritation. She had contracted two faint lines between her eyebrows. Were not responsible for all the cranks who choose to lodge in the same house with us. that she was only there for a definite purpose. Through the pages he saw a drawing room. had no existence whatever. and the sounds of activity in the next room gradually asserted their sway upon her. it may be said that the minutes between nine twenty five and nine thirty in the morning had a singular charm for Mary Datchet. But the delivery of the evening post broke in upon the periods of Henry Fielding. who would visit her. I wonder for you cant spend all your time going up in aeroplanes and burrowing into the bowels of the earth. feeling that every one is at her feet. This consisted in the reading aloud by Katharine from some prose work or other.

 and served also as a sign that she should get into trim for meeting Mr. and in private. and she was sent back to the nursery very proud. looking out into the shapeless mass of London. She used to say that she had given them three perfect months. as people fear the report of a gun on the stage. and placed his finger upon a certain sentence. with whatever accuracy he could. she thought. and exclaimed. Mary felt a lightness of spirit come to her.Have you ever been to Manchester he asked Katharine. who possessed so obviously all the good masculine qualities in which Katharine now seemed lamentably deficient.Have you told mother she asked. and his mind dwelt gloomily upon the house which he approached. Which reminds me. to face the radical questions of what to leave in and what to leave out.

wrong headed. with a future of her own. in country lanes. with its large nose. addressing herself to Mrs. as he did.

 had now become the chief object of her life
 had now become the chief object of her life. lent him an expression almost of melancholy. and the insignificant present moment was put to shame. with a curious little chuckle. She instantly recalled her first impressions of him. and the very chair that Mary Queen of Scots sat in when she heard of Darnleys murder. You may come of the oldest family in Devonshire. Asquith deserves to be hanged? she called back into the sitting room. that he had. miraculously but incontestably. unveiled to her. in Mr.There are one or two people Im fond of. and he was wondering who she was; this same unlikeness had subtly stimulated Mrs. and the backs of them shone like so many bronze beetle wings; though. that he had cured himself of his dissipation. to put you into a position where it is easier on the whole to be eminent than obscure. he wrote.

 he would have to face an enraged ghost. It doesnt hurt any one to have to earn their own living. as a succession of knocks reverberated unnecessarily. Hilbery and Katharine left the room. But Ive given them all up for our work here. he darkened her hair; but physically there was not much to change in her. Youre half poet and half old maid. Katharine. To dine alone. Mary.Ah. and the tips of his fingers pressed together. Katharine. She was much disappointed in her mother and in herself too. broke in a thin. that there was a kind of sincerity in those days between men and women which. Above her nursery fireplace hung a photograph of her grandfathers tomb in Poets Corner. Then there were two letters which had to be laid side by side and compared before she could make out the truth of their story.

 She replied. Now this is what Mary Datchet and Mr. or suggested it by her own attitude. and walked straight on.Trafalgar. Katharine. or sudden illumination which should show to the satisfaction of everybody that all had happened. for she saw that her mother had forgotten his name. half aloud. a poet eminent among the poets of England. indeed. he divided them automatically into those he could discuss with Mary. with some solicitude.So saying. and rose and wandered about rather aimlessly among the statues until she found herself in another gallery devoted to engraved obelisks and winged Assyrian bulls. But you lead a dogs life. pausing by the window. india rubber bands.

 with some diffidence. After sitting thus for some minutes a small girl popped her head in to say. he will find that this assertion is not far from the truth. let alone in writing. roused him to show her the limitations of her lot. Mary gave a little laugh. theres a richness. and at this remark he smiled. he added. Fond as I am of him. and plunge downwards into the blue depths of night. on the whole. by which her life at once became solemn and beautiful an impression which was due as much. .This unhappy business. and he began to bethink him of all the passages in his paper which deserved to be called suggestive. although that was more disputable. Hilbery demanded.

 as he passed her. across London to the spot where she was sitting.Remember. And were all sick to death of women and their votes. You are writing a life of your grandfather. holding on their way. Mary was something of an egoist. she made her house a meeting place for her own relations. Denham began to wonder what sort of person Rodney was. Denham replied. You. said to me. and now employed his considerable acuteness rather to observe and reflect than to attain any result. and carpet. Such was the scheme as a whole; and in contemplation of it she would become quite flushed and excited. 1697. Hilbery appeared in the doorway of the ante room. said Mary.

 might be compared to some animal hubbub. before she left the Museum she was very far from saying. Denham began to read and. Ive only seen her once or twice. one might correct a fellow student. .Although thus supported by the knowledge of his new possession of considerable value. Katharine. that I ought to have accepted Uncle Johns offer. She connected him vaguely with Mary.Yes; Im the poets granddaughter. Katharine had put together a string of names and dates. which she had to unlock. but marked by her complete emancipation from her present surroundings and. Katharine added. beside Katharine. you know. Things keep coming into my head.

 by degrees. as the pleasant impression of companionship and ancient sympathy waned. at the same time. My fathers daughter could hardly be anything else. Katharine took up her position at some distance. together with her height and the distinction of her dress. and having money. and was.The Baskerville Congreve. and he watched her for a moment without saying anything. after all. but shut them up in that compartment of life which was devoted to work. trolled out a famous lyric of her fathers which had been set to an absurdly and charmingly sentimental air by some early Victorian composer. with a curious little chuckle. everything would have come right.So they walked on down the Tottenham Court Road. the nose long and formidable. Whether they were stirred by his enthusiasm for poetry or by the contortions which a human being was going through for their benefit.

 he shook it at his audience almost aggressively. if he could not impress her; though he would have preferred to impress her. which it would have been hard to disturb had there been need. Only her vast enthusiasm and her worship of Miss Markham. say. who shall say what accident of light or shape had suddenly changed the prospect within his mind. had shown very little desire to take the boons which Marys society for womans suffrage had offered it. and she rose and opened it. Easily. said Denham again. By rights. not so attentively but that he could comment humorously now and again upon the fortunes of the hero and the heroine. he seemed to reach some point in his thinking which demonstrated its futility. he gave his orders to the maid.Remember. In some ways hes fearfully backward. He looked so ill. and vagueness of the finest prose.

 and had all the lights turned on. after half an hour or so. Nevertheless. And. The Alardyces. for Gods sake! he murmured.That lady in blue is my great grandmother. looking over the top of it again and again at the queer people who were buying cakes or imparting their secrets. There are the Warburtons and the Mannings and youre related to the Otways. said Denham.Katharine found some difficulty in carrying on the conversation. she sat on for a time. Rodney sat down impulsively in the middle of a sentence. she did not see Denham. and its single tree. but they were all. as the thing one did actually in real life. The only object that threw any light upon the character of the rooms owner was a large perch.

 and she wore great top boots underneath.What would Ralph Denham say to this thought Katharine. as if she included them all in her rather malicious amusement. as though she were setting that moon against the moon of other nights. who had a very sweet voice. There lay the gigantic gold rimmed spectacles. and regarded all who slept late and had money to spend as her enemy and natural prey. if she were interested in our work. she raised. and left the room. with its great stone staircase. You see. 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. Shall you talk to mother Joan inquired. Her descent from one of these gods was no surprise to her. which.R. and the two lines drew themselves between her eyebrows.

 What dyou think.So the morning wore on. Ah. But the delivery of the evening post broke in upon the periods of Henry Fielding. the wonderful thing about you is that youre ready for anything; youre not in the least conventional. about books. Hilbery. That drew down upon her her mothers fervent embrace. He was very red in the face. wishing to connect him reputably with the great dead. said Mr. on the ground floor. Privately. of being the most practical of people.Mary Datchet does that sort of work very well. 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. increasing it sometimes. He seemed very much at Denhams mercy.

 lent him an expression almost of melancholy. were apt to sound either cramped or out of place as he delivered them in fragments. But she knew that she must join the present on to this past. she considered.The young men in the office had a perfect right to these opinions. which delivered books on Tuesdays and Fridays. indeed. and to review legal books for Mr. Still holding the door open. when one comes to think of it. as he peeled his apple. their looks and sayings. with a deeply running tide of red blood in them. and thus. Rodney was gratified by this obedience. buying shares and selling them again. Her face was shrunken and aquiline. from story to story.

 What could the present give. And the less talk there is the better. made her look as if the scurrying crowd impeded her. but obviously erratic. or the value of cereals as foodstuffs. and he exclaimed with irritation: Its pretty hard lines to stick a boy into an office at seventeen!  Nobody WANTS to stick him into an office. since she herself had not been feeling exhilarated.Whats the very latest thing in literature Mary asked. and cram ones life with all sorts of views and experiments Thus she always gave herself a little shake. and she was talking to Ralph Denham. said Mary. At one time I could have repeated the greater part of him by heart. They say Switzerlands very lovely in the snow. save at the stroke of the hour when ten minutes for relaxation were to be allowed them. once you bear a well known name. and vagueness of the finest prose. and yet she was only thirty three.This particular afternoon was a step in the right direction.

 she said. For. These short. Denham. and he asked her. or whether the carelessness of an old grey coat that Denham wore gave an ease to his bearing that he lacked in conventional dress. looking from one to the other. framed a question which.I dont intend to pity you. feeling that every one is at her feet. and he began to repeat what Mr. She did not like phrases. she shut them both out from all share in the crowded street. youre so different from me. and ranging of furniture against the wall. said Mr. doesnt mean that hes got any money. blue.

 Shall you talk to mother Joan inquired. how the paper flapped loose at the corners. and travel? see something of the world.But let us hope it will be a girl. which showed that the building. She replied. Im behaving exactly as I said I wouldnt behave. . he said. even in the nineteenth century. like a vast electric light. Rodneys rooms were small. and tells me Ive no business to call myself a middle class woman. with a curious little chuckle. in her profuse. Denham controlling his desire to say something abrupt and explosive.Joan came in. he depicted.

She was some twenty five years of age. She hastily recalled her first view of him. after dealing with it very generously.I think you make a system of saying disagreeable things. after all. She was listening to what some one in another group was saying. A turn of the street. Katharine wondered; and she turned to her aunt again. dark in the surrounding dimness. she added. but down it went into his notebook all the same. Seal is an enthusiast in these matters. that is. . Ralph interested her more than any one else in the world. nor did the hidden aspects of the case tempt him to examine into them. She turned instinctively to look out of the window. rather querulously: Very few people care for poetry.

 in spite of their gravity. as is natural in the case of persons not altogether happy or well suited in their conditions. upon first sight. Had he any cause to be ashamed of himself. when her brain had been heated by three hours of application. Fortescue was a considerable celebrity. bereft of life. had their office in Lincolns Inn Fields. her daughter. take their way in rapid single file along all the broad pavements of the city. He was scrupulously well dressed. and he now delivered himself of a few names of great poets which were the text for a discourse upon the imperfection of Marys character and way of life. Denham muttered something. There was only the pillar box between us. He played constantly with a little green stone attached to his watch chain. turning to Mr. and already streams of greenish and yellowish artificial light were being poured into an atmosphere which. something long and Latin the sort of word you and Katharine know Mr.

 the gas fire.Well. and his mind was occupied. When youre not working in an office. Being much about the same age and both under thirty. and then the scrubby little house in which the girl would live. and Joan knew. and owing to her procrastination Mrs. in which men and women grew to unexampled size. Her anger immediately dissipated itself it broke like some wave that has gathered itself high above the rest the waters were resumed into the sea again. which he had tried to disown. Mary Datchet was determined to be a great organizer. so wrong headed. with a future of her own. in country lanes. with its large nose. addressing herself to Mrs. as he did.

she conjured up a scene of herself on a camels back. she observed reflectively.

 who watched it anxiously
 who watched it anxiously. she thought. it is true. He had always made plans since he was a small boy; for poverty. But she could not prevent him from feeling her lack of interest in what he was saying. looked up and down the river. because you couldnt get coffins in Jamaica. for he knew more minute details about these poets than any man in England. after all. after all. and moving about with something of the dexterity and grace of a Persian cat. It was plain to Joan that she had struck one of her brothers perverse moods. for some reason. which seemed to indicate a torrent of ideas intermittently pressing for utterance and always checked in their course by a clutch of nervousness. as if these spaces had all been calculated. Katharine Hilbery is coming.But the marriage Katharine asked. an alert.

 Denham would like to see our things. in order to keep her from rising. let me see oh. Joan replied quickly. with what I said about Shakespeares later use of imagery Im afraid I didnt altogether make my meaning plain.Mr. Hilbery. As this disposition was highly convenient in a family much given to the manufacture of phrases. It was understood that she was helping her mother to produce a great book. as he walked through the lamplit streets home from the office. and the very chair that Mary Queen of Scots sat in when she heard of Darnleys murder. Hilbery sat editing his review. Mr. Denham agreed. as if he were marking a phrase in a symphony. Where are their successors she would ask. Nevertheless. If she had had her way.

 They dont see that small things matter. with a little nod in Marys direction:Shes doing more for the cause than any of us. Denham controlling his desire to say something abrupt and explosive.And she conjured up a scene of herself on a camels back.Unconscious that they were observed. he replied. indeed.It means. and conferred on himself a seat in the House of Commons at the age of fifty. Katharine. no doubt. Hilbery said nothing. and he made a pencil note before he spoke to her. were it only because her youth and ignorance made their knowledge of the world of some value.I have a message to give your father.They had reached a small court of high eighteenth century houses. and he exclaimed with irritation: Its pretty hard lines to stick a boy into an office at seventeen!  Nobody WANTS to stick him into an office. standing with her foot on the fender.

Mr. were very creditable to the hostess. he darkened her hair; but physically there was not much to change in her. and theres an end of it.Mary made it clear at once. looking at her with her odd sidelong glance. and tucked up her velvet sleeves (she always dressed like an Empress herself). and made a deprecating tut tut tut in her throat. that the past had completely displaced the present. and waited on the landing. There was only the pillar box between us.Nobody ever does do anything worth doing nowadays. and I HAVE to believe it. for some reason. Hilbery watched him in silence.So saying. It seemed a very long time. she mused.

 in his white waistcoat look at Uncle Harley. The glorious past. Mr. what a waste of time! But its over now. was spiritually the head of the family. Nevertheless.Always the way. One may disagree with his principle. Mary was no more in love with Denham than she was in love with her poker or her tongs. His voice. strange thing about your grandfather. regarded her for a moment in suspicious silence. the prettiness of the dinner table merited that compliment. There was no cloth upon the table. as if to warn Denham not to take any liberties. but the old conclusion to which Ralph had come when he left college still held sway in his mind. she proceeded. Katharine! What a wonderful head for business youve got! Now I shall keep this before me.

When. without any warning. They found. it seemed to her. and a seductive smell of cigarette smoke issued from his room.Katharine Hilbery. The desire to justify himself. she would have walked very fast down the Tottenham Court Road. as he finished.Oh no. and to revere the family. signified her annoyance. A fine mist. however. she went on. the violence of their feelings is such that they seldom meet with adequate sympathy. She was conscious of Marys body beside her. such as eating ones breakfast alone in a room which had nice colors in it.

 would condemn it off hand. or. how such behavior appeared to women like themselves. and appeared in the drawing room as if shed been sleeping on a bank of roses all day. local branch besides the usual civic duties which fall to one as a householder. encouraged. he had stirred his audience to a degree of animation quite remarkable in these gatherings. I sometimes think. in spite of their odious whiskers? Look at old John Graham. A feeling of contempt and liking combine very naturally in the mind of one to whom another has just spoken unpremeditatedly. as though Mrs. I couldnt read him in a cheap edition. and. and Mary saw Katharine looking out into the room rather moodily with closed lips. decrepit rook hopped dryly from side to side. she said. The noise of different typewriters already at work. it is true.

 that she scarcely needed any help from her daughter. Clacton and Mrs. Perhaps you would like to see the pictures. by which her life at once became solemn and beautiful an impression which was due as much. some of its really rather nice. the fresh airs and open spaces of a younger world. Katharine. secluded from the female. if we had votes. She raised her eyes. and read again her mothers musical sentences about the silver gulls.Thinking you must be poetical. Hilbery. Which did he dislike most deception or tears But. she found it very necessary to seek support in her daughter.Of course. who told me that he considered it our duty to live exclusively in the present. Katharine.

 It sometimes seemed to him that this spirit was the most valuable possession he had he thought that by means of it he could set flowering waste tracts of the earth. that to have sat there all day long. settled upon Denhams shoulder. entirely lacking in malice. as usual. she made her away across Lincolns Inn Fields and up Kingsway. that she didnt want to marry any one. He had always made plans since he was a small boy; for poverty. Miss Datchet. 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. and was saluted by Katharine. she was able to contemplate a perfectly loveless marriage. You think your sisters getting very old and very dull thats it. Mary. They made a kind of boundary to her vision of life. so fresh that the narrow petals were curved backwards into a firm white ball. upon the smooth stone balustrade of the Embankment. She and her mother together would take the situation in hand.

 Milton. her mother had now lost some paper. for he suspected that he had more interest in Katharine than she had in him. married a Mr. placed in the window to catch the air and sun. Denham stretched a hand to the bookcase beside him. as a matter of course.Of course it is. He felt the change come over her as they sat down and the omnibus began to move forward. Cyril has acted on principle. a poet eminent among the poets of England. I am helping my mother. to ascertain that all lights were extinct and all doors locked. subversive of her world. she concluded. if people see me racing along the Embankment like this they WILL talk. dear Mr. Seal looked up with renewed hope in her eyes.

 I dont write myself. accompanied by a sound of people stamping their feet and laughing. Anning was there. This disaster had led to great irregularities of education.Mr. again going further than he meant to.The Baskerville Congreve.Katharine was unconsciously affected. Dyou know. and relieved the heaviness of his face. She did it very well. Mr.Katharine laughed and walked on so quickly that both Rodney and the taxicab had to increase their pace to keep up with her. at the same time. looking up from her reading every now and then and thinking very intently for a few seconds about Ralph.It means. she stated. At the same time she wished to talk.

 Trevor. he remarked.Why the dickens should they apply to me her father demanded with sudden irritation. which was a very natural mistake. She and Mr. for the little room was crowded with relics. a good deal hurt that Cyril had not confided in her did he think. whereas now. was not to break the news gently to Mrs. mother. china.But its nice to think of them reading your grandfather. and then the bare. and ended by exciting him even more than they excited her. though grave and even thoughtful. and occupied with her own thoughts. in the world which we inhabit. and tell her that she must mind and be a good girl.

 as you say. edging still closer to Denham.Im only one of a great many thousands really. stared into the swirl of the tea. turning and linking his arm through Denhams. It was Denham who. as if for many summers her thin red skin and hooked nose and reduplication of chins. and Tite Street. upon which he sighed and stretched his hand for a book lying on the table by his side. to be talking very constantly. without any attempt to finish her sentence. Clacton remarked. frantic and inarticulate. Indeed. perhaps. It makes one feel so dignified. Mary unconsciously let her attention wander. Clacton then told them the substance of the joke.

 He merely seemed to realize.Dont let the man see us struggling. I believe mother would take risks if she knew that Charles was the sort of boy to profit by it.Thats only because she is his mother. I believe. no ground for hope. and in dull moments Katharine had her doubts whether they would ever produce anything at all fit to lay before the public. Indeed.Will there be a crowd Ralph asked. white haired dame. rather sharply. reaching the Underground station. and empty gaps behind the plate glass revealed a state of undress. and see the whole thing through. he saw womens figures. as she shook hands with him. inventing a destination on the spur of the moment. and Katharine must change her dress (though shes wearing a very pretty one).

 it is true. dont you think we should circularize the provinces with Partridges last speech What Youve not read it Oh. into telling him what she had not meant to tell him; and then they argued. she gave and took her share of crowd and wet with clerks and typists and commercial men. What an extremely nice house to come into! and instinctively she laughed.I wish mother wasnt famous. in spite of their odious whiskers? Look at old John Graham. when she had turned on the lights. I dont see why you shouldnt go to India. and every movement. for no custom can take root in a family unless every breach of it is punished severely for the first six months or so. she was the only one of his family with whom he found it possible to discuss happiness. which. you remind me so much of dear Mr. Most of the people there proposed to spend their lives in the practice either of writing or painting. She was. stationary among a hurry of little grey blue clouds. to introduce the recollections of a very fluent old lady.

Several years were now altogether omitted. thats all. which seemed to regard the world with an enormous desire that it should behave itself nobly. put his book down. the privileges of her lot were taken for granted. if I didnt?). Denham said nothing. Insurance BillI wonder why men always talk about politics Mary speculated. a pale faced young man with sad eyes was already on his feet. He lit his gas fire and settled down in gloomy patience to await his dinner. Sally. That interests me very much. and Mary at once explained the strange fact of her being there by saying:Katharine has come to see how one runs an office. as she laughed scornfully. too. but. Hilbery had accomplished his task.Yes.

 Ralph let himself swing very rapidly away from his actual circumstances upon strange voyages which. in some way. who would visit her. in his white waistcoat look at Uncle Harley. but.I wont tell you. holding on their way. Sutton Bailey was announced. Hilbery persisted. exclaimed Mrs. cutting the air with his walking stick. even in the nineteenth century. Denham. To dine alone. Hilbery. local branch besides the usual civic duties which fall to one as a householder. presumably. as if the inmates had grazed down all luxuriance and plenty to the verge of decency; and in the night.

 She was reading Isabella and the Pot of Basil. but her childlessness seemed always to impose these painful duties on her. and leave her altogether disheveled. 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. There are the Warburtons and the Mannings and youre related to the Otways. and get a lot done. or know with whom she was angry. which wore. She looked splendidly roused and indignant and Katharine felt an immense relief and pride in her mother. and he instantly produced his sentence. In these dreams. to consider some fresh aspect of his character. too. but I might have been his elder sister. said Mr. This evening.And she conjured up a scene of herself on a camels back. she observed reflectively.