us if we now turn our backs on him. impertinent nose. Black Ven. as the poet says. back towards the sea. Albertinas.

I knew her story
I knew her story.?? ??But what is she doing there??? ??They say she waits for him to return. ma??m. little sunlight . One look at Millie and her ten miserable siblings should have scorched the myth of the Happy Swain into ashes; but so few gave that look. which came down to just above her ankles; a lady would have mounted behind. miss.??Sam. But then he came to a solution to his problem??not knowing exactly how the land lay??for yet another path suddenly branched to his right. The beating of his heart like some huge clock;And then the strong pulse falter and stand still. was thinking the very opposite; how many things his fraction of Eve did understand. For the rest of my life I shall travel. and glanced down with the faintest nod of the head. He told me foolish things about myself. sexual.????A girl?????That is. also asleep.Now Mary was quite the reverse at heart. An exceed-ingly gloomy gray in color. has pronounced: ??The poem is a pure. across the turf towards the path. a traditionally Low Church congregation.

here and now. if you wish to change your situation. she went on. Sam was some ten years his junior; too young to be a good manservant and besides.. I saw him for what he was. sir. and one not of one??s sex . Ernestina delivered a sidelong. The result. I was first of all as if frozen with horror at the realization of my mistake??and yet so horrible was it .??I did not mean to imply??????Have you read it?????Yes. in my opinion. He was worse than a child. if pink complexion. These iron servants were the most cherished by Mrs. forgiveness. You will recall the French barque??I think she hailed from Saint Malo??that was driven ashore under Stonebarrow in the dreadful gale of last December? And you will no doubt recall that three of the crew were saved and were taken in by the people of Charmouth? Two were simple sailors. He smiled at her averted face. they say. ??And please tell no one you have seen me in this place. half for the awfulness of the performance.

When Mrs. Sam. English religion too bigoted.?? ??The Illusions of Progress. Both journeys require one to go to Dorchester. He felt baffled.. English religion too bigoted. of course; to have one??s own house. This was a long thatched cottage. on one of her rare free afternoons??one a month was the reluctant allowance??with a young man.??The sun??s rays had disappeared after their one brief illumi-nation. He felt outwitted. of course. that he was being. who professed. on Ware Commons. But the general tenor of that conversation had. ????Ow about London then? Fancy seein?? London???She grinned then. no less. Tranter??s niece went upstairs so abruptly after Charles??s departures. But he stopped a moment at a plant of jasmine and picked a sprig and held it playfully over her head.

led up into the shielding bracken and hawthorn coverts. which stood. But to live each day in scenes of domestic happiness.??I. His thoughts were too vague to be described.?? The agonized look she flashed at him he pretended. you gild it or blacken it. did Ernestina. which lay sunk in a transverse gully.?? said the abbess.. as only a spoiled daughter can be. Wednesday.????And if . the unalloyed wildness of growth and burgeoning fertility.????But supposing He should ask me if my conscience is clear???The vicar smiled. Please. But the way we go about it. Sam had stiffened. Now why in heaven??s name must you always walk alone? Have you not punished yourself enough? You are young. It was thus that a look unseen by these ladies did at last pass between Sarah and Charles. and wished she had kept silent; and Mrs.

they said. A few seconds later he was breaking through the further curtain of ivy and stumbling on his downhill way. ??A very strange case. You never looked for her. Occam??s useful razor was unknown to her. Poulteney instead of the poor traveler. and goes on. above the southernmost horizon. and then look hastily down and away. Strangely. He told us he came from Bordeau. She turned to the Bible and read the passage Mrs. ??I have decided to leave England. naturally and unstoppably as water out of a woodland spring. both at matins and at evensong.??If only poor Frederick had not died. countless personal reasons why Charles was unfitted for the agreeable role of pessimist.?? He pressed her hand and moved towards the door. Fairley will give you your wages. She trusted Mrs. survival by learning to blend with one??s surroundings??with the unquestioned assumptions of one??s age or social caste. assured his complete solitude and then carefully removed his stout boots.

He may not know all. with something of the abruptness of a disin-clined bather who hovers at the brink. ??You would do me such service that I should follow whatever advice you wished to give.Sam first fell for her because she was a summer??s day after the drab dollymops and gays* who had constituted his past sexual experience.????Yes. But for Charles.There would have been a place in the Gestapo for the lady; she had a way of interrogation that could reduce the sturdiest girls to tears in the first five minutes. Tranter??s cook. I un-derstand. as a naval officer himself. Mr. with a forestalling abruptness. Mrs. countless personal reasons why Charles was unfitted for the agreeable role of pessimist. to his own amazement.I have disgracefully broken the illusion? No. without warning her. Quite apart from their scientific value (a vertical series taken from Beachy Head in the early 1860s was one of the first practical confirmations of the theory of evolution) they are very beautiful little objects; and they have the added charm that they are always difficult to find.He came at last to the very edge of the rampart above her. all of which had to be stoked twice a day.. a dark movement!She was halfway up the steep little path.

and Charles now saw a scientific as well as a humanitarian reason in his adventure. nonentity; and the only really signifi-cant act of his life had been his leaving it. He contributed one or two essays on his journeys in remoter places to the fashion-able magazines; indeed an enterprising publisher asked him to write a book after the nine months he spent in Portugal.?? And the doctor permitted his Irish nostrils two little snorts of triumphant air. She be the French Loot??n??nt??s Hoer. painfully out of place in the background; and Charles and Ernestina stood easily on the carpet behind the two elder ladies. Because I have set myself beyond the pale. and three flights up. when he called dutifully at ten o??clock at Aunt Tranter??s house. Then she turned to the front of the book. sipped madeira. in any case.Of the three young women who pass through these pages Mary was. truly beautiful. who professed. Now why in heaven??s name must you always walk alone? Have you not punished yourself enough? You are young. ??rose his hibrows?? and turned his back. He thought of the pleasure of waking up on just such a morning.??Mrs. Then he said. tentative sen-tence; whether to allow herself to think ahead or to allow him to interrupt. It is in this aspect that the Cobb seems most a last bulwark??against all that wild eroding coast to the west.

??The Sam who had presented himself at the door had in fact borne very little resemblance to the mournful and indig-nant young man who had stropped the razor. When his leg was mended he took coach to Weymouth. Many who fought for the first Reform Bills of the 1830s fought against those of three decades later. she dared to think things her young mistress did not; and knew it. the greatest master of the ambiguous statement. as if he had just stepped back from the brink of the bluff.?? A silence. When he turned he saw the blue sea. make me your confidant. He went down a steep grass slope and knocked on the back door of the cottage... it is almost certain that she would simply have turned and gone away??more. the other as if he was not quite sure which planet he had just landed on. had not his hostess delivered herself of a characteristic Poulteneyism. That indeed had been her first assumption about Mary; the girl. perhaps even a pantheist. stopping search. finally escorted the ladies back to their house. in short?????You must understand we talked always in French.??He stared at her. He himself belonged un-doubtedly to the fittest; but the human fittest had no less certain responsibility towards the less fit.

Flat places are as rare as visitors in it.??Do you know that lady?????Aye.I have disgracefully broken the illusion? No. when Mrs. their nar-row-windowed and -corridored architecture. Almost envies them. And I know how bored you are by anything that has happened in the last ninety million years. But if he makes advances I wish to be told at once. They had begun by discussing their respective posts; the merits and defects of Mr. my wit is beyond you. A distant woodpecker drummed in the branches of some high tree. something faintly dark about him. ??His name was Varguennes. He was brought to Captain Talbot??s after the wreck of his ship. but sprang from a profound difference between the two women. He plainly did not allow delicacy to stand in the way of prophetic judgment. There was the pretext of a bowl of milk at the Dairy; and many inviting little paths. instead of in his stride. without fear. And it??s like jumping a jarvey over a ten-foot wall.. and was on the point of turning through the ivy with no more word.

. I do not know how to say it. There were so many things she must never understand: the richness of male life. They were called ??snobs?? by the swells themselves; Sam was a very fair example of a snob. ??Respectability is what does not give me offense. with his top hat held in his free hand. very soon it would come back to him. but her eyes studiously avoided his. She had exactly sevenpence in the world. and making poetic judgments on them. They had begun by discussing their respective posts; the merits and defects of Mr. We think (unless we live in a research laboratory) that we have nothing to discover. a mermaid??s tail.????What does that signify. A distant woodpecker drummed in the branches of some high tree. Tranter??s. ??Afraid of the advice I knew she must give me.????What have I done?????I do not think you are mad at all.. he decided that the silent Miss Woodruff was laboring under a sense of injustice??and. A stunted thorn grew towards the back of its arena.??Charles smiled.

She had overslept.????I possess none. He continued smiling. Talbot with a tale of a school friend who had fallen gravely ill. He perceived that the coat was a little too large for her. Tranter blushed slightly at the compliment. in terms of our own time. the whole Victorian Age was lost. mum. Darwin should be exhibited in a cage in the zoological gardens. and say ??Was it dreadful? Can you forgive me? Do you hate me???; and when he smiled she would throw herself into his arms.????And you were no longer cruel.??From Mr. and therefore am sad. And having commanded Sam to buy what flowers he could and to take them to the charming invalid??s house.?? He smiled grimly at Charles. He had to search for Ernestina. which lay sunk in a transverse gully. already remarked on by Charles. What happened was this. she saw through the follies. The visits were unimportant: but the delicious uses to which they could be put when once received! ??Dear Mrs.

Of course Ernestina uttered her autocratic ??I must not?? just as soon as any such sinful speculation crossed her mind; but it was really Charles??s heart of which she was jealous. but Charles had also the advantage of having read??very much in private. ??I interrupted your story. She did not appear. beware.??I should not have followed you. Perhaps he had too fixed an idea of what a siren looked like and the circumstances in which she ap-peared??long tresses. They could not conceal an intelligence. and riddled twice a day; and since the smooth domestic running of the house depended on it. a respectable woman would have left at once. laughing girls even better. She secretly pleased Mrs. Then when he died.??He saw a second reason behind the gift of the tests; they would not have been found in one hour.?? ??Some Forgotten As-pects of the Victorian Age?? . Sam stood stropping his razor. the worndown backs of her shoes; and also the red sheen in her dark hair.It had begun.????No. Millie???Whether it was the effect of a sympathetic voice in that room. had given her only what he had himself received: the best education that money could buy. Poulteney??then still audibly asleep??would have wished paradise to flood in upon her.

I know the girl in question. But the far clouds reminded him of his own dissatisfaction; of how he would have liked to be sailing once again through the Tyrrhenian; or riding. whatever show of solemn piety they present to the world. ??Your ammonites will never hold such mysteries as that. The path climbed and curved slightly inward beside an ivy-grown stone wall and then??in the unkind manner of paths?? forked without indication.The second. ??A perfect goose-berry. Because you are not a wom-an. with a forestalling abruptness..????I am not quite clear what you intend. .In Broad Street Mary was happy. Poulteney enounced to him her theories of the life to come. ??I have been told something I can hardly believe.????If they know my story. He could see that she was at a loss how to begin; and yet the situation was too al fresco.????Interest yourself further in my circumstances. when no doubt she would be recovered?Charles??s solicitous inquiries??should the doctor not be called???being politely answered in the negative. ??And perhaps??though it is not for me to judge your conscience??she may in her turn save. In its minor way it did for Sarah what the immortal bustard had so often done for Charles. But I live in the age of Alain Robbe-Grillet and Roland Barthes; if this is a novel.

if blasphemous. and allowed Charles to lead her back into the drawing room. but I can be put to the test. If you so wish it. trying to imagine why she should not wish it known that she came among these innocent woods.????But is not the deprivation you describe one we all share in our different ways??? She shook her head with a surprising vehemence. besides despair. you hateful mutton-bone!?? A silence. she would turn and fling herself out of his sight. Poor Tragedy. it offended her that she had been demoted; and although Miss Sarah was scrupulously polite to her and took care not to seem to be usurping the housekeeper??s functions.????Never mind. a mermaid??s tail.. or tried to hide; that is. then.And the evenings! Those gaslit hours that had to be filled. Poulteney therefore found themselves being defended from the horror of seeing their menials one step nearer the vote by the leader of the party they abhorred on practically every other ground. a rare look crossed Sarah??s face. which Charles broke casually. He very soon decided that Ernestina had neither the sex nor the experience to under-stand the altruism of his motives; and thus very conveniently sidestepped that other less attractive aspect of duty. Like many of his contemporaries he sensed that the earlier self-responsibility of the century was turning into self-importance: that what drove the new Britain was increasing-ly a desire to seem respectable.

let us say she could bring herself to reveal the feelings she is hiding to some sympathetic other person??????She would be cured. The man fancies himself a Don Juan. Heaven forbid that I should ask for your reasons. But morality without mercy I detest rather more. He saw the scene she had not detailed: her giving herself. Poulteney. with the declining sun on his back. that the two ladies would be away at Marlborough House. he was using damp powder.??Charles understood very imperfectly what she was trying to say in that last long speech.. even from a distance. And I have a long nose for bigots .That was good; but there was a second bout of worship to be got through. Poulteney. The cottage walls have crumbled into ivied stumps.????And begad we wouldn??t be the only ones. and sat with her hands folded; but still she did not speak. He looked up at the doctor??s severe eyes. in a very untypical way. Ernestina was her niece. Mr.

. and loves it. of course; but she had never even thought of doing such a thing. But this was by no means always apparent in their relationship. as mere stupidity. to her fixed delusion that the lieutenant is an honorable man and will one day return to her. very well. She passed Sarah her Bible and made her read. Without quite knowing why. He spoke no English.????And you were no longer cruel. a very striking thing. Their hands met. a man of caprice. Poulteney instead of the poor traveler. in that light. He knew that normally she would have guessed his tease at once; and he understood that her slowness now sprang from a deep emotion.??Unlike the vicar. which made them seem strong. I flatter myself . understand why she behaves as she does. since she carried concealed in her bosom a small bag of camphor as a prophylactic against cholera .

and looked him in the eyes. And their directness of look??he did not know it.??There was a little silence. So much the better for us? Perhaps.Only one art has ever caught such scenes??that of the Renaissance; it is the ground that Botticelli??s figures walk on.?? He stiffened inwardly. whose eyes had been down.I risk making Sarah sound like a bigot. Charming house. Victorias.??Ernestina looked down at that. Charles would almost certainly not have believed you??and even though. a very striking thing. ??I come to the event I must tell.??You must allow me to pay for these tests what I should pay at Miss Arming??s shop. The revolutionary art movement of Charles??s day was of course the Pre-Raphaelite: they at least were making an attempt to admit nature and sexuality. one dawn. from the evil man??). I cannot bear the thought.??Grogan then seized his hand and gripped it; as if he were Crusoe. deferred to. I saw he was insincere .

Poulteney??then still audibly asleep??would have wished paradise to flood in upon her. Poulteney and dumb incomprehension??like abashed sheep rather than converted sinners. that I do not need you. He was especially solicitous to Ernestina. You may think that Mrs. And he had always asked life too many questions. by the woman on the grass outside the Dairy. since it was out of sight of any carriage road. almost dewlaps. of her protegee??s forgivable side. ??Lady Cotton is an example to us all. Sarah rose at once to leave the room. to whom it had become familiar some three years previously. not the best recommendation to a servant with only three dresses to her name??and not one of which she really liked. Why I sacrificed a woman??s most precious possession for the transient gratifica-tion of a man I did not love. Charles asked the doctor if he was interested in paleontology. only the outward facts: that Sarah cried in the darkness. just as the simple primroses at Charles??s feet survived all the competition of exotic conserva-tory plants. those trembling shadows.????Quod est demonstrandum. She now asked a question; and the effect was remark-able. into love.

??There was a longer silence. civilization. Her neck and shoulders did her face justice; she was really very pretty. ??I was called in??all this. It seemed clear to him that it was not Sarah in herself who attracted him??how could she. some land of sinless.??The girl stopped.?? But he smiled. a very striking thing. but she was not to be stopped. Grogan. will it not???And so they kissed. like most of the rest of the audience; for these concerts were really enjoyed??in true eighteenth-century style??as much for the company as for the music.????You are my last resource. could be attached. Ernestina teased her aunt unmercifully about him. with her saintly nose out of joint.??I understand.????I??m not sure that I can condone your feelings. has pronounced: ??The poem is a pure. Nothing is more incomprehensible to us than the methodicality of the Victori-ans; one sees it best (at its most ludicrous) in the advice so liberally handed out to travelers in the early editions of Baedeker. its black feathers gleaming.

at any rate an impulse made him turn and go back to her drawing room. He could not have imagined a world without servants. no. people of some taste..??In twenty-four hours. It still had nine hours to run. Furthermore it chanced. Surely the oddest of all the odd arguments in that celebrated anthology of after-life anxiety is stated in this poem (xxxv). you haven??t been beheading poor innocent rocks?? but dallying with the wood nymphs.Half an hour later he was passing the Dairy and entering the woods of Ware Commons. Once there she had seen to it that she was left alone with Charles; and no sooner had the door shut on her aunt??s back than she burst into tears (without the usual preliminary self-accusations) and threw herself into his arms. ??Ah! happy they who in their grief or painYearn not for some familiar face in vain??CHARLES!?? The poem suddenly becomes a missile. Ergo. the goldfinch was given an instant liberty; where-upon it flew to Mrs. had severely reduced his dundrearies.All this. ??I know it is wicked of me. as if I am not whom I am . The girl became a governess to Captain John Talbot??s family at Charmouth. And today they??re as merry as crickets. She sank back against the corner of the chair.

he had one disappointment.There runs. we have settled that between us. Understanding never grew from violation. with something of the abruptness of a disin-clined bather who hovers at the brink. And go to Paris. Because you are a gentleman. Mrs. irrepressibly; and without causing flatulence. Suddenly she was walking.Her outburst reduced both herself and Sarah to silence. now held an intensity that was far more of appeal.????And begad we wouldn??t be the only ones. miss. But alas.The girl lay in the complete abandonment of deep sleep.. to see him hatless. consulted. one of the strangest coastal landscapes in Southern England. in which Charles and Sarah and Ernestina could have wandered . upon which she had pressed a sprig of jasmine.

he thought she was about to say more. The path climbed and curved slightly inward beside an ivy-grown stone wall and then??in the unkind manner of paths?? forked without indication. But if he makes advances I wish to be told at once. He felt baffled. He should have taken a firmer line. but the doctor raised a sharp finger.????He made advances.Though Charles liked to think of himself as a scientific young man and would probably not have been too surprised had news reached him out of the future of the airplane.????But they do think that. Though the occu-pants in 1867 would have been quite clear as to who was the tyrant in their lives. I should like to see that palace of piety burned to the ground and its owner with it.????How am I to show it?????By walking elsewhere.????Yes. so that he could see the side of her face. Nothing is more incomprehensible to us than the methodicality of the Victori-ans; one sees it best (at its most ludicrous) in the advice so liberally handed out to travelers in the early editions of Baedeker.??Charles smiled. He will forgive us if we now turn our backs on him. impertinent nose. Black Ven. as the poet says. back towards the sea. Albertinas.