was the lieutenant of the vessel. Might he not return that afternoon to take tea. locked in a mutual incomprehension.

??I have decided to leave England
??I have decided to leave England.????She has saved. one for which we have no equivalent in English: rondelet??all that is seduc-tive in plumpness without losing all that is nice in slimness. Poulteney have ever allowed him into her presence otherwise???that he was now (like Disrae-li) a respectable member of the Church of England. ??Whose exact nature I am still ignorant of. It was the same one as she had chosen for that first interview??Psalm 119: ??Blessed are the undefiled in the way. From Mama?????I know that something happened . For a day she had been undecided; then she had gone to see Mrs. I said I would never follow him. I prescribe a copious toddy dispensed by my own learned hand.. So I married shame. it was another story. He believed he had a flair for knowing the latest fashion. If he does not return.????Have you never heard speak of Ware Commons?????As a place of the kind you imply??never. with her. my blindness to his real character. This was why Charles had the frequent benefit of those gray-and-periwinkle eyes when she opened the door to him or passed him in the street.I cannot imagine what Bosch-like picture of Ware Com-mons Mrs. and a fiddler. But whatever his motives he had fixed his heart on tests.

yes. an added sweet. handed him yet another test. and he kissed her on the lips. he glimpsed the white-ribboned bottoms of her pantalettes. but a little more gilt and fanciful. no. that her face was half hidden from him??and yet again. eyes that invited male provocation and returned it as gaily as it was given. with her hair loose; and she was staring out to sea. but he abhorred the unspeakability of the hunters. With the vicar Mrs. for this was one of the last Great Bustards shot on Salisbury Plain. for she is one of the more celebrated younger English film actresses. Tranter only a very short time. not one native type bears the specific anningii. Dulce est desipere. her eyes intense. was the lieutenant of the vessel. real than the one I have just broken.By 1870 Sam Weller??s famous inability to pronounce v except as w..

one incisively sharp and blustery morning in the late March of 1867. From Mama?????I know that something happened . Fairley. When I was your age . The day drew to a chilly close. But he spoke quickly. in people.?? As if she heard a self-recriminatory bitterness creep into her voice again. Poulteney looked somewhat abashed then before the girl??s indignation. Albertinas. Smithson.It was this place.??????From what you said??????This book is about the living. Or at least he tried to look seriously around him; but the little slope on which he found himself. with her saintly nose out of joint. I did what I could for the girl. as the one she had given at her first interroga-tion. When his leg was mended he took coach to Weymouth. on Ware Commons.. a traditionally Low Church congregation. He was brought to Captain Talbot??s after the wreck of his ship.

to be free of parents .. sir. A few minutes later he startled the sleepy Sam. then a minor rage among the young ladies of En-gland??the dark green de rigueur was so becoming. Poulteney; to be frank. I know it was wicked . Thus I blamed circumstances for my situation. It lit her face. and smelled the salt air. She imagined herself for a truly sinful moment as someone wicked??a dancer. But he would never violate a woman against her will. oblivious of the blood sacrifice her pitiless stone face de-manded. and therefore she did not jump. I talk to her. I had better add. Christian. even some letters that came ad-dressed to him after his death . ??Varguennes became insistent. Poulteney by sinking to her knees. But as in the lane she came to the track to the Dairy she saw two people come round a higher bend.The Undercliff??for this land is really the mile-long slope caused by the erosion of the ancient vertical cliff face??is very steep.

with a shrug and a smile at her. at least in London.??It is a most fascinating wilderness. and the couple continued down the Cobb. ??I did not ask you to tell me these things. so wild. Certhidium portlandicum. controlled and clear. you are poor by chance.??I think it is better if I leave.Exactly how the ill-named Mrs. among his not-too-distant ancestors. He was shrewd enough to realize that Ernestina had been taken by surprise; until the little disagree-ment she had perhaps been more in love with marriage than with her husband-to-be; now she had recognized the man. a rich grazier??but that is nothing. I know he was a Christian. . but it would be most improper of me to . The author was a Fellow of the Royal Society and the leading marine biologist of his day; yet his fear of Lyell and his followers drove him in 1857 to advance a theory in which the anomalies between science and the Biblical account of Creation are all neatly removed at one fine blow: Gosse??s ingenious argument being that on the day God created Adam he also created all fossil and extinct forms of life along with him??which must surely rank as the most incomprehensible cover-up operation ever attributed to divinity by man. then turned and resumed his seat.??Lyell. as his father had hoped. That one in the gray dress? Who is so ugly to look at??? This was unkind of Charles.

but also for any fatal sign that the words of the psalmist were not being taken very much to the reader??s heart. but because of that fused rare power that was her essence??understanding and emotion. When I wake. has only very recently lost us the Green forever. The girl became a governess to Captain John Talbot??s family at Charmouth.????But. if he liked you. He would mock me. But he stood where he was. Grogan recommended that she be moved out of the maids?? dormitory and given a room with more light. were shortsighted... my beloved!??Then faintly o??er her lips a wan smile moved. no longer souffrante. Her father had forced her out of her own class. momentarily dropped.The reason was simple. He saw that her eyelashes were wet. One was her social inferior. at least from the back. But I must confess I don??t understand why you should seek to .

Poul-teney might go off.In her room that afternoon she unbuttoned her dress and stood before her mirror in her chemise and petticoats. each time she took her throne. Poulteney sat in need-ed such protection..??Madam!??She turned. with the consequence that this little stretch of twelve miles or so of blue lias coast has lost more land to the sea in the course of history than almost any other in England. and on the very day that Charles was occupied in his highly scientific escapade from the onerous duties of his engagement. No man had ever paid me the kind of attentions that he did??I speak of when he was mending. and in his fashion was also a horrid. he was a Victo-rian. almost the color of her hair.But at last the distinguished soprano from Bristol ap-peared. A slightly bolder breeze moved the shabby red velvet curtains at the window; but in that light even they looked beautiful.????Well. But his uncle was delighted. Poulteney had made several more attempts to extract both the details of the sin and the present degree of repen-tance for it. tinker with it . Charles was smiling; and Sarah stared at him with profound suspicion. I too saw them talking together yesterday. He wished he might be in Cadiz. When a government begins to fear the mob.

madam.There was a patter of small hooves. Half Harley Street had examined her. I did what I could for the girl. glistening look. There was an antediluvian tradition (much older than Shakespeare) that on Midsummer??s Night young people should go with lanterns. Bigotry was only too prevalent in the country; and he would not tolerate it in the girl he was to marry. Here there came seductive rock pools. Mrs.??But Charles stopped the disgruntled Sam at the door and accused him with the shaving brush.????My dear uncle.The grog was excellent. but was distracted by the necessity of catching a small crab that scuttled where the gigantic subaqueous shadow fell on its vigilant stalked eyes.??Her eyes flashed round at him then. Ernestina ran into her mother??s opened arms. Her look back lasted two or three seconds at most; then she resumed her stare to the south. Its sorrow welled out of it as purely. as judges like judging. They could not conceal an intelligence. who was a Methodist and therefore fond of calling a spade a spade. had not his hostess delivered herself of a characteristic Poulteneyism. at any rate an impulse made him turn and go back to her drawing room.

of her behavior. but her eyes studiously avoided his. Perhaps. and concerts. Never mind how much a summer??s day sweltered.??She possessed none. with exotic-looking colonies of polypody in their massive forks. I wish for solitude. Eyebright and birdsfoot starred the grass. if not in actual words.. unless a passing owl??standing at the open window of her unlit bedroom. as if she might faint should any gentleman dare to address her. His brave attempt (the motion was defeated by 196 to 73. who sat as implacably in her armchair as the Queen on her throne. there were far more goose-berries than humans patiently. as if it might be his last. But he told me he should wait until I joined him.Indeed. we shall never be yours. and sometimes with an exciting. a kind of Mayfair equivalent of Mrs.

and the real Lymers will never see much more to it than a long claw of old gray wall that flexes itself against the sea. Ernestina delivered a sidelong. I do not mean that Charles completely exonerated Sarah; but he was far less inclined to blame her than she might have imagined. There was the pretext of a bowl of milk at the Dairy; and many inviting little paths.????Come come. she would find his behavior incomprehensible and be angry with him; at best. Poulteney seldom went out. Far out to sea. Plucking a little spray of milkwort from the bank beside her.????A-ha.?? His own cheeks were now red as well. she may be high-spirited. a museum of objects created in the first fine rejection of all things decadent. and their ambitious parents. Now bring me some barley water. In wicked fact the creature picked her exits and entrances to coincide with Charles??s; and each time he raised his hat to her in the street she mentally cocked her nose at Ernestina; for she knew very well why Mrs. to remind her of their difference of station .????So I am a doubly dishonored woman. I shall devote all my time to the fossils and none to you. Talbot was an extremely kindhearted but a not very perspicacious young woman; and though she would have liked to take Sarah back??indeed. They found themselves. But I thank Mother Nature I shall not be alive in fifty years?? time.

????There is no reason why you should give me anything.?? and ??I am most surprised that Ernestina has not called on you yet?? she has spoiled us??already two calls . Tranter??s com-mentary??places of residence. Fiction is woven into all. let me quickly add that she did not know it. not just those of the demi-monde. He saw the cheeks were wet. ??I should become what so many women who have lost their honor become in great cities. This remarkable event had taken place in the spring of 1866. have made Sarah vaguely responsible for being born as she was. then said. After all. which hid the awkward fact that it was also his pleasure to do so. cannot be completely exonerated. but it will do.When. Such folk-costume relics of a much older England had become pic-turesque by 1867. the solemn young paterfamili-as; then smiled indulgently at his own faces and euphoria; poised.Charles put his best foot forward. There was first of all a very material dispute to arbitrate upon??Ernestina??s folly in wearing grenadine when it was still merino weather. The cottage walls have crumbled into ivied stumps. In a moment he returned and handed a book to Charles.

was loose. His thoughts were too vague to be described. but obsession with his own ancestry. and interrupted in a low voice. ??Quisque suos patimur manes. methodically. with a kind of joyous undiscipline.????Dessay you??ve got a suitor an?? all. found himself telling this mere milkmaid something he had previously told only to himself. and I know not what crime it is for.????Mind you. there were footsteps. Plucking a little spray of milkwort from the bank beside her. politely but firmly. in the midst of the greatest galaxy of talent in the history of English literature? How could one be a creative scientist.??Science eventually regained its hegemony. In company he would go to morning service of a Sunday; but on his own. if not on his lips.????Just so. The farther he moved from her.??We??re not ??orses. upon examination.

. You are able to gain your living. Waterloo a month after; instead of for what it really was??a place without history.?? According to Ernestina.The Undercliff??for this land is really the mile-long slope caused by the erosion of the ancient vertical cliff face??is very steep.Nobody in Lyme liked good food and wine better; and the repast that Charles and the White Lion offered meeting his approval. and therefore she did not jump. and Charles bowed.??Good heavens.??Would I have . Poulteney??s horror of the carnal. a tile or earthen pot); by Americans. for Sarah had begun to weep towards the end of her justification. Before. Poulteney on her own account. and that the heels of her shoes were mudstained. When Charles finally arrived in Broad Street.But we started off on the Victorian home evening. when Mrs. the solemn young paterfamili-as; then smiled indulgently at his own faces and euphoria; poised. with a dry look of despair. since the bed.

you understand. He lavished if not great affection. English thought too moralistic. But to a less tax-paying. creeping like blood through a bandage. timid. but at the edge of her apron. as one returned. She sat very upright. This stone must come from the oolite at Portland. not from the book. he was using damp powder. and means something like ??We make our destinies by our choice of gods. tender.?? She bent her head to kiss his hand. . but to certain trivial things he had said at Aunt Tranter??s lunch. I think we are not to stand on such ceremony. at least amongthe flints below the bluff. It also required a response from him . He did not force his presence on her. and she clapped her hand over her mouth.

and it was only then that he realized whom he had intruded upon. seen sleeping so. hesitated. Mr. I detest immorality. ??Now I have offended you.??E. But as if she divined his intention. Deli-cate. never serious with him; without exactly saying so she gave him the impression that she liked him because he was fun?? but of course she knew he would never marry. Jem!???? and the sound of racing footsteps. He had been very foolish. it was hard to say. She now went very rarely to the Cobb. But I count it not the least of the privileges of my forthcoming marriage that it has introduced me to a person of such genuine kindness of heart. Like all soubrettes. At worst. When the Assembly Rooms were torn down in Lyme. He watched her smell the yellow flowers; not po-litely. but the reverse: an indication of low rank.??E. ??Mary? I would not part with her for the world.

you haven??t been beheading poor innocent rocks?? but dallying with the wood nymphs. was all it was called. I can only smile. but cannot end.??Sam tested the blade of the cutthroat razor on the edge of his small thumb.Under this swarm of waspish self-inquiries he began to feel sorry for himself??a brilliant man trapped. at such a moment. he tried to dismiss the inadequacies of his own time??s approach to nature by supposing that one cannot reenter a legend. Tomkins. to the eyes. I ain??t ??alf going to . Both journeys require one to go to Dorchester. Tea and tenderness at Mrs. out of its glass case in the drawing room at Winsyatt. the face for 1867. the main carriage road to Sidmouth and Exeter. rather deep. But it charmed her; and so did the demeanor of the girl as she read ??O that my ways were directed to keep Thy statutes!??There remained a brief interrogation.The visitors were ushered in. ??I will dispense with her for two afternoons. as if they were a boy and his sister. and similar mouthwatering op-portunities for twists of the social dagger depended on a sup-ply of ??important?? visitors like Charles.

and none too gently. who made more; for no young male ever set foot in the drawing room of the house overlooking Hyde Park who had not been as well vetted as any modern security department vets its atomic scientists. ??Now for you. an infuriated black swan. but to certain trivial things he had said at Aunt Tranter??s lunch. was not wholly bad. in the fullest sense of that word. He therefore pushed up through the strands of bramble?? the path was seldom used??to the little green plateau.Whether they met that next morning. It was certain??would Mrs.??I understand. has only very recently lost us the Green forever. and given birth to a menacing spirit of envy and rebellion. momentarily dropped. should have suggested?? no. She stood pressed sideways against the sharp needles. ??It seems to me that Mr. The last five years had seen a great emancipation in women??s fashions. This principle explains the Linnaean obsession with classifying and naming.. together with her accompanist.??This new revelation.

the increased weight on his back made it a labor. He felt baffled. a little mad. The boy must thenceforth be a satyr; and the girl. and it seems highly appropriate that Linnaeus himself finally went mad; he knew he was in a labyrinth. He determined to give it to Ernestina when he returned. a weak pope; though for nobler ends.?? said Charles.????Which means you were most hateful. as if she wanted to giggle. dear girl. expressed a notable ignorance. very subtly but quite unmistakably. both clearly embarrassed.??I have long since received a letter. but she must even so have moved with great caution. incapable of sustained physical effort. He found a pretty fragment of fossil scallop. . lean ing with a straw-haulm or sprig of parsley cocked in the corner of his mouth; of playing the horse fancier or of catching sparrows under a sieve when he was being bawled for upstairs. that is. without hope.

sir. Mrs. there came a blank. I could endure it no longer. invented by Archbishop Ussher in the seventeenth century and recorded solemnly in count-less editions of the official English Bible. ??But a most distressing case. and Sam uncovered. From your request to me last week I presume you don??t wish Mrs. And what I say is sound Christian doctrine. Talbot. Poulteney was not a stupid woman; indeed. Sarah heard the girl weeping. in short. handsome. the despiser of novels. a small red moroc-co volume in her left hand and her right hand holding her fireshield (an object rather like a long-paddled Ping-Pong bat.??Her eyes were suddenly on his. with fossilizing the existent. too informally youthful. and Charles.????How should you?????I must return..

It would not be enough to say she was a fine moral judge of people.??If only poor Frederick had not died. eye it is quite simply the most beautiful sea rampart on the south coast of England. That there are not spirits generous enough to understand what I have suffered and why I suffer . Poulteney had to be read to alone; and it was in these more intimate ceremonies that Sarah??s voice was heard at its best and most effective.??Dear. Two days after he had gone Miss Woodruff requested Mrs. and walk out alone); and above all on the subject of Ernestina??s being in Lyme at all. and plot. Poulteney seemed not to think so. with Lyell and Darwin still alive? Be a statesman. When he returned to London he fingered and skimmed his way through a dozen religious theories of the time. I have heard it said that you are .??They stopped.??Miss Woodruff!?? He raised his hat. sharp. is one already cooked?? and therefore quite beyond hope of resurrection. immortalized half a century later in his son Edmund??s famous and exquisite memoir. ??I fear I don??t explain myself well. but the wind was out of the north. staring. had a poor time of it for many months.

that is. more like a man??s riding coat than any woman??s coat that had been in fashion those past forty years.. then.He knew at once where he wished to go. Lyell??s Principles of Geology. of The Voyage of the Beagle.The second. ??and a divilish bit better too!???? Charles smiled. a swift sideways and upward glance from those almost exophthalmic dark-brown eyes with their clear whites: a look both timid and forbidding. Tories like Mrs. ??He was very handsome.?? She paused again.?? was the very reverse. since its strata are brittle and have a tendency to slide.Very gently. not too young a person. Once there.????My dear uncle. television.. were shortsighted.

but it spoke worlds; two strangers had recognized they shared a common enemy.??????From what you said??????This book is about the living.??I did not mean to imply??????Have you read it?????Yes. Her envy kept her there; and also her dark delight in the domestic catastrophes that descended so frequently on the house.????I??ll never do it again. had not . The sleeper??s face was turned away from him. glazed by clouds of platitudinous small talk. my beloved!??Then faintly o??er her lips a wan smile moved. He and Sam had been together for four years and knew each other rather better than the partners in many a supposedly more intimate me-nage. a community of information.His uncle often took him to task on the matter; but as Charles was quick to point out.The time came when he had to go. But she cast down her eyes and her flat little lace cap.Ernestina resumes. do I not?????You do. that I do not need you. It was as if the road he walked.. was the lieutenant of the vessel. Might he not return that afternoon to take tea. locked in a mutual incomprehension.