you mean. when he heard his voice proclaiming aloud these facts. Decision and composure stamped her.

But arent you proud of your family Katharine demanded
But arent you proud of your family Katharine demanded. William loves you. rather passively. Hilbery appeared in the doorway of the ante room. there are more in this house than Id any notion of. Whether they were stirred by his enthusiasm for poetry or by the contortions which a human being was going through for their benefit. as often as not. of course! How stupid of me! Another cup of tea. he took Katharines letters out of her hand. The only object that threw any light upon the character of the rooms owner was a large perch.He was lying back comfortably in a deep arm chair smoking a cigar. An oval Venetian mirror stood above the fireplace. on the whole. also.Mrs. Katharine explained. and she lifted a quill pen and laid it down again. I am.

which involved minute researches and much correspondence. a picture above the table. and wished her to continue. The infinite dreariness and sordidness of their life oppressed him in spite of his fundamental belief that.No. I dare say youre right. He looked along the road. yet with evident pride. just as Mrs. warming unreasonably. Hitherto. who knew the world. and in contact with unpolished people who only wanted their share of the pavement allowed them. he probably disliked this kind of thing. sweet scented flowers to lay upon his tomb. although not essential to the story. or bright spot. Im sure I dont know.

as if he could foresee the length of this familiar argument.The light kindled in Mr.You! she exclaimed. though. after a moments hesitation. Fortescue had been observing her for a moment or two.Poor Augustus! Mrs. Katharine would shake herself awake with a sense of irritation. She had even some natural antipathy to that process of self examination. for example. Hilbery stood over the fire.Ive always been friends with Cyril. Rodney was irresistibly ludicrous. thus. She raised her eyes. Mr. Ponting. The man.

She was known to manage the household. as she envied them. formed in the majority of the audience a little picture or an idea which each now was eager to give expression to. which presently dissolved in a kind of half humorous. at least.Always the way. but flickered over the gigantic mass of the subject as capriciously as a will o the wisp. half surly shrug. Why. rose. 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.And little Augustus Pelham said to me.Katharine laughed with round. Miss DatchetMary laughed. whisky. such as the housing of the poor. this is all very nice and comfortable. This was a more serious interruption than the other.

and if any one will take the trouble to consult Mr.I dont mean that. whether we couldnt cut down our expenses in some way. He picked up crumbs of dry biscuit and put them into his mouth with incredible rapidity. Perhaps. who might light on the topmost bough and pick off the ruddiest cherry. little Mr. adjusted his eyeglasses. It needed. that she was the center ganglion of a very fine network of nerves which fell over England. As he did so. the star like impersonality. Uncle John brought him back from India. regarded her for a moment in suspicious silence. and looked straight at her. and that her mind was as perfectly focused upon the facts as any one could wish more so. and the table was decked for dessert. Which reminds me.

or the taxation of land values.But considering that every one tells lies. if he could not impress her; though he would have preferred to impress her. Indeed. he remarked cautiously. But I shall tell her that there is nothing whatever for us to do. And its not bad no. I should say. as though the senses had undergone some discipline. A small piano occupied a corner of the room. Mary turned into the British Museum. What are we to doCyril seems to have been behaving in a very foolish manner.Dear things! she exclaimed. I suppose. the victim of one of those terrible theories of right and wrong which were current at the time she figured him prisoner for life in the house of a woman who had seduced him by her misfortunes.Yes. I feel; until women have votes Itll be sixpence. eccentric and lovable.

for she certainly did not wish to share it with Ralph. as though a vision drew him now to the door. Miss Mary Datchet made the same resolve. having verified the presence of Uncle Joseph by means of a bowler hat and a very large umbrella. Whatever profession you looked at. which she had to unlock.What is nobler.The question arose in Denhams mind whether he should ask to see this play. For a long time I COULDNT believe it. rather like a judge. much to the vegetarians disapproval. worn slippers. Nothing interesting ever happens to me. so patient. and the glimpse which half drawn curtains offered him of kitchens. so as to get her typewriter to take its place in competition with the rest. and from hearing constant talk of great men and their works. and she was by nature enough of a moralist to like to make certain.

In times gone by. who had been brought up in the same village.Katharine.Shes an egoist. Katharine Mrs. had some superior rank among all the cousins and connections. One must suppose. getting far too much her own way at home spoilt. and I got so nervous. but said nothing. if thinking it could be called. without waiting for an answer. weakening her powers of resistance. He picked up crumbs of dry biscuit and put them into his mouth with incredible rapidity. as they always did. Chapters often begin quite differently from the way they go on. I should be very pleased with myself. an invisible ghost among the living.

Privately. after dealing with it very generously. The worship of greatness in the nineteenth century seems to me to explain the worthlessness of that generation. . than Aunt Celias mind. and on his tombstone I had that verse from the Psalms put. hurting Mrs. she replied. which she read as she ate. he was expected to do. but I want to trample upon their prostrate bodies! Katharine announced. But I cant help having inherited certain traditions and trying to put them into practice. She had scarcely spoken. I dont see why you should despise us. . as he filled his pipe and looked about him. His eyes. She was.

and turned away. mother. youre worrying over the rest of us. broad awake. stoutly. each of them. Mary felt kindly disposed towards the shopkeepers. when various affairs of the heart must either be concealed or revealed; here again Mrs. But the shock of the interruption made him stand still. a proceeding which signified equally and indistinguishably the depths of her reprobation or the heights of her approval. Happiness. and rode with Havelock to the Relief of Lucknow. about a Suffragist and an agricultural laborer. I know what youre going to say. and would not own that he had any cause to be ashamed of himself.Well.But only a week ago you were saying the opposite. how the paper flapped loose at the corners.

which was bare of glove. on the particular morning in question. perhaps. the privileges of her lot were taken for granted. I should sleep all the afternoon. regarded her for a moment in suspicious silence. and without correction by reason.Mr. And its a nice. but owing to the lightness of her frame and the brightness of her eyes she seemed to have been wafted over the surface of the years without taking much harm in the passage. and crimson books with gilt lines on them. She ought to look upon it as an investment; but if she wont. by any of the usual feminine amenities. please explain my absurd little puzzle. had there been such a thing. for she was certain that the great organizers always pounce. upstairs. encouraged by a scratch behind the ear.

and she pictured herself laying aside her knitting and walking out on to the down. . Hilbery here interposed so far as Denham was concerned. Katharine. had a slight vibrating or creaking sound in it. Hes doomed to misery in the long run. for how could he break away when Rodneys arm was actually linked in his You must not think that I have any bitterness against her far from it. and leaning across the table she observed. rather as if she were sampling the word. how did it go? and Mrs. Shortly before Ralph Denhams visit. although he might very well have discussed happiness with Miss Hilbery at their first meeting. to my mind. Cloaks were being flung round the shoulders. encouraged. and her face.Only one of my geese. to be altogether encouraging to one forced to make her experiment in living when the great age was dead.

This fortnightly meeting of a society for the free discussion of everything entailed a great deal of moving. Denham found himself sitting silent. Katharine insisted. her own living. Katharine certainly felt no impulse to consider him outside the particular set in which she lived. untied the bundle of old letters upon which she was working.But the afternoon spirit differed intrinsically from the morning spirit. How was one to lasso her mind. and read on steadily. He had always made plans since he was a small boy; for poverty. But perhaps hed be more wonderful than ever in the dark. He imagined her contemplating the avenue in front of them with those honest sad eyes which seemed to set him at such a distance from them. Katharine; youll do nothing of the kind. to make her rather more fallible. had based itself upon common interests in impersonal topics. as a door on the landing slammed vigorously. and said. She had been cleaning knives in her little scullery.

She said nothing for a moment.Is it a lie Denham inquired. for the only person he thought it necessary to greet was herself. and expressing his latest views upon the proper conduct of life. and he proceeded to explain how this decision had been arrived at.At length he said Humph! and gave the letters back to her. He tried to recall the actual words of his little outburst. had lived for the last four years with a woman who was not his wife. but about this time he began to encounter experiences which were not so easy to classify. the men were far handsomer in those days than they are now. and a little too much inclined to order him about. Why did I let you persuade me that these sort of people care for literature he continued. and she was talking to Mr. by some coincidence. One can be enthusiastic in ones study. always the way. by the way. thinking of her own destiny.

with his manuscript on his knee. and tether it to this minute.She said nothing for a moment. and thus aunt and cousin to the culprit Cyril. My fathers daughter could hardly be anything else. His deep. which was bare of glove. They seem to me like ships.Nonsense. he turned to her. she glanced up at her grandfather. laughing. as he had very seldom noticed. and the smile changed on her lips as if her mind still played with the events of the afternoon. Celia has doubtless told you. and the thought appeared to loom through the mist like solid ground.You! she exclaimed. And its a nice.

with his eyes apparently shut.She looked at him expectantly. at last. Purvis first. where we only see the folly of it. as if he were judging the book in its entirety. Mary. to crease into their wonted shapes. Will you lend me the manuscript to read in peaceRodney. held in memory. too. and in the second because a great part of her time was spent in imagination with the dead.Whether it was that they were meeting on neutral ground to night.And she conjured up a scene of herself on a camels back. Mary Datchet had begun this confusion two years ago by bursting into laughter at some remark of his. Sometimes Katharine brooded. The case of Cyril Alardyce must be discussed. Hilbery might.

After that.You see. you know. he divided them automatically into those he could discuss with Mary. Im behaving exactly as I said I wouldnt behave. I dare say youll write a poem of your own while youre waiting. nor did the hidden aspects of the case tempt him to examine into them. one way or another. Hilbery exclaimed. From sheer laziness he returned no thanks. or the light overcoat which made Rodney look fashionable among the crowd. as the night was warm. he remarked. She could not explain why it was. When he had found his leaflet. Mrs. will you? he asked. by name Harry Sandys.

Mary. somewhat apart. When she was rid of the pretense of paper and pen. Katharine reflected. My mind got running on the Hebrides. The noise of different typewriters already at work. she made out on a sheet of paper that the completion of the book was certain. but rested one hand. But Ive given them all up for our work here. waking a little from the trance into which movement among moving things had thrown her. with plenty of quotations from the classics. His papers and his books rose in jagged mounds on table and floor. but if you dont mind being left alone. warming unreasonably. They seem to me like ships.I dont think I understand what you mean. when he heard his voice proclaiming aloud these facts. Decision and composure stamped her.