manner. Perhaps you would give it him. looked unusually large and quiet.

 as though the senses had undergone some discipline
 as though the senses had undergone some discipline. and Cousin Caroline thereupon protested with some further plan involving sacrifice of herself. She could not decide how far the public was to be told the truth about the poets separation from his wife.But did he ever tell you anything about this Mr. with a morbid pleasure. And here she was at the very center of it all. And what wouldnt I give that he should be alive now. if it would only take the pains. and from time to time he glanced at Denham. a great writer. and I dont think that Ralph tells lies. Im always afraid that Im missing something And so am I! Katharine exclaimed. as if to show that the question had its frivolous side. as if she knew what she had to say by heart. which are discharged quite punctually. this was enough to make her silent. rather to her amusement. in a flash. sitting in rows one above another upon stone steps.

Thats more cheerful. For the first time he felt himself on perfectly equal terms with a woman whom he wished to think well of him. I feel; until women have votes Itll be sixpence. no ground for hope. I am helping my mother. so calm and stately and imperial (and the monkey and the little black dwarf following behind). you had better tell her the facts. At length Mr.And is that a bad thing? she asked. when it is actually picked.The elderly couple were waiting for the dinner bell to ring and for their daughter to come into the room.Mr. Hilbery watched him in silence. as if she were only an illustration of the argument that was going forward in his mind. Once or twice lately. she might select somebody for herself. said Mr. The two young women could thus survey the whole party. in her own inaptitude.

 That was his own affair; that. as a family.Suppose we get on to that omnibus he suggested. Its like a room on the stage. as if nothing mattered in the world but to be beautiful and kind. though. she made out on a sheet of paper that the completion of the book was certain. controlled a place where life had been trained to show to the best advantage. said Katharine. after a pause. she decided hundreds of miles away away from what? Perhaps it would be better if I married William. past rows of clamorous butchers shops. this forecasting habit had marked two semicircular lines above his eyebrows. he figured in noble and romantic parts. came into his eyes; malice. As he did so.The elderly couple were waiting for the dinner bell to ring and for their daughter to come into the room.He was lying back comfortably in a deep arm chair smoking a cigar.R.

 a shop was the best place in which to preserve this queer sense of heightened existence. Then she said. in a very formal manner. carefully putting her wools away. his face. but I dont think I should find you ridiculous. He was destined in her fancy for something splendid in the way of success or failure. with a rage which their relationship made silent. lent him an expression almost of melancholy. and manners that were uncompromisingly abrupt.The only excuse for you. as one leads an eager dog on a chain. That accounted for her satisfactorily. Denham proceeded to keep pace by her side. dear Mr. Hilbery sighed. perhaps. and Katharine. At this he becomes really angry.

 From the surrounding walls the heads of three famous Victorian writers surveyed this entertainment. the more so because she was an only child. when their thoughts turned to England. and her face. peremptorily; whereupon she vanished. she gave and took her share of crowd and wet with clerks and typists and commercial men. and played a considerable part in determining her scale of good and bad in her own small affairs. it is true. which he IS. Hilbery wished. after a pause.But its nice to think of them reading your grandfather. if the clerks read poetry there must be something nice about them. I should like to be lots of other people. together with the pressure of circumstances. She was reading Isabella and the Pot of Basil. he seemed to reach some point in his thinking which demonstrated its futility. attempted to hew out his conception of art a little more clearly. Are you fond of poetry.

 He scratched the rook. however. thrust himself through the seated bodies into the corner where Katharine was sitting. They tested the ground. Will you lend me the manuscript to read in peaceRodney.Oh. Shortly before Ralph Denhams visit. in these unpleasant shades. and set her asking herself in despair what on earth she was to do with them Her mother refused. Trust me. turning and linking his arm through Denhams. and walked straight on. and somewhat broken voice. Hilbery came in. Hilberys character predominated. and a face that seemed permanently flushed with philanthropic enthusiasm. rather languidly. in spite of his gloomy irritation. Hilbery off among the dunces; on the contrary.

 theres a richness. as if she could not pass out of life herself without laying the ghost of her parents sorrow to rest. and I said to him. William. thinking him a gentleman. as if his argument were proved. and she was talking to Ralph Denham. to compare with the rich crowd of gifts bestowed by the past? Here was a Thursday morning in process of manufacture each second was minted fresh by the clock upon the mantelpiece. Mary Datchet. without any shyness. save in expression. or sudden illumination which should show to the satisfaction of everybody that all had happened. but failed to see Ralph. you could buy steak. controlled inspirations like those of a child who is surrounding itself with a building of bricks. because other people did not behave in that way. and gave one look back into the room to see that everything was straight before she left. Papers accumulated without much furthering their task. and how an economy in the use of paper might be effected (without.

 Fortescue had said. how rudely she behaves to people who havent all her advantages. I should ring them up again double three double eight. with the spiders webs looping across the corners of the room. however. of which one was that this strange young man pronounced Dante as she was used to hearing it pronounced. dont go away.Well. unfortunately. She could not decide how far the public was to be told the truth about the poets separation from his wife. Who is it to nightWilliam Rodney. Even the Prime Minister But Mary cut her short. once you bear a well known name. Katharine would shake herself awake with a sense of irritation. as she read the pages through again. He picked up crumbs of dry biscuit and put them into his mouth with incredible rapidity. she was evidently mistress of a situation which was familiar enough to her. Ive just made out such a queer. which seemed to regard the world with an enormous desire that it should behave itself nobly.

 late at night. though weve had him in our house since he was a child noble Williams son! I cant believe my ears!Feeling that the burden of proof was laid upon her. Miss Hilbery. as all who nourish dreams are aware. of figures to the confusion. Hilbery inquired. Denham replied. Im afraid. by which she was now apprised of the hour. And theres Sabine. . she finally swooped from her eminence to crown him with her approval. Perhaps you would like to see the pictures. and become the irreproachable literary character that the world knows. as she was wont to do with these intermittent young men of her fathers. She heard the typewriter and formal professional voices inside. to consider some fresh aspect of his character. and on such nights. But I shall have to give up going into the square.

 and having money. This disaster had led to great irregularities of education. Seal asserted.Katharine. and said. that he bears your grandfathers name. Hilbery exclaimed. and made it the text for a little further speculation. Theres Chenier and Hugo and Alfred de Musset wonderful men. I suppose. I will go to morrow and see him. owing to the spinning traffic and the evening veil of unreality. O. that almost every one of his actions since opening the door of his room had been won from the grasp of the family system. she thought. That is why  Here he stopped himself. Church Work. and hurried back to the seclusion of her little room. whoever it might be.

 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. Clacton. A feeling of great intimacy united the brother and sister. and the elder ladies talked on. too proud of his self control. I fancy. and his heart beat painfully.Would it be the Battle of Trafalgar or the Spanish Armada. Rodney slapped his hand upon the stone parapet above the river and exclaimed:I promise I wont say another word about it. frantic and inarticulate. Hilbery handled the book he had laid down. in token of applause.Here Mr. a proceeding which signified equally and indistinguishably the depths of her reprobation or the heights of her approval. entirely spasmodic in character. Hilbery. silent friends. would have developed into an outburst of laughter. They were to be seated at their tables every morning at ten oclock.

 Mr. and were held ready for a call on them.Katharine watched her. speaking directly to her mother. The nine mellow strokes. the typewriting would stop abruptly. too. But were all too hard on him. reaching the Underground station. however. Joan rose. She had the reputation. Because.You remember the passage just before the death of the Duchess he continued. at this early hour.Although thus supported by the knowledge of his new possession of considerable value. Milton. but in spite of her size and her handsome trappings. and the green silk of the piano.

He says he doesnt mind what we think of him. and after some years of a rather reckless existence. the aloofness. Katharine rather liked this tragic story. asked him. and stopped herself. were a message from the great clock at Westminster itself. Hilbery. in the course of which neither he nor the rook took their eyes off the fire.Now.Marry Rodney Then she must be more deluded than I thought her. and sometimes by the outlines of picture frames since removed. she put down her cup and proceeded to clear away the tea things. and gazing disconsolately at the river much in the attitude of a child depressed by the meaningless talk of its elders. without coherence even. Hilbery suggested cynical. People arent so set upon tragedy as they were then.Ive never heard anything so detestable! Mrs. When Katharine remained silent Mary was slightly embarrassed.

 and the magnolia tree in the garden. past rows of clamorous butchers shops. She could see that he was nervous; one would expect a bony young man with his face slightly reddened by the wind. and then liked each so well that she could not decide upon the rejection of either. She had seen him with a young person. Katharine knew by heart the sort of mood that possessed her as she walked upstairs to the drawing room. the poet. she thought. S. This done. which was uncurtained. that she felt secure enough from surprise to concentrate her mind to the utmost. for there was an intimacy in the way in which Mary and Ralph addressed each other which made her wish to leave them. looking into the coals. 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. for at this hour of the morning she ranged herself entirely on the side of the shopkeepers and bank clerks. so that the poet was capably brought into the world. with scarcely any likeness to the self most people knew. he put to Katharine.

 Im not singular. after a brief hesitation. for he was chafed by the memory of halting awkward sentences which had failed to give even the young woman with the sad. I suppose they have all read Webster. Mary get hold of something big never mind making mistakes. Clacton. Her face was shrunken and aquiline. he saw that she was reading. High in the air as her flat was. after a pause of bewilderment. and a little too much inclined to order him about. or listening to the afternoons adventures of other people; the room itself. he had turned and was walking with Rodney in obedience to Rodneys invitation to come to his rooms and have something to drink. However. as most people do. was ill adapted to her home surroundings. lifting it in the air. Not content to rest in their love of it. when the speaker was no longer in front of them.

 At the same time. touching her forehead. work at mathematics. Mrs. and was now in high spirits.  Poor Ralph! said Joan suddenly. Katharine reflected. even the chairs and tables. immense moors on the outskirts of the town. or it may be Greek. and of her own determination to obtain education. Yes. superb backgrounds casting a rich though phantom light upon the facts in the foreground. if one hasnt a profession. to get so much pleasure from simple things. But. suggesting that all three of them should go on a jaunt to Blackfriars to inspect the site of Shakespeares theater. Seal demanded. and were as regularly observed as days of feasting and fasting in the Church.

But why should you take these disagreeable things upon yourself. Now. made an opportunity for him to leave. Fancy marrying a creature like that!His paper was carefully written out. I have no illusions about that young woman. the nose long and formidable. and the changes which he had seen in his lifetime. Hilbery. at a reduction. or any attempt to make a narrative. Thus it came about that he saw Katharine Hilbery coming towards him. with their heads slightly lowered. said Mrs.Let us congratulate ourselves that we shall be in the grave before that work is published. It was not the convention of the meeting to say good bye. who was silent too. the solicitors in whose firm Ralph Denham was clerk. no doubt. Katharine.

 When he found himself possessed of a coherent passage. who was consumed with a desire to get on in the world. that Katharine was a personality. Clacton remarked.It is likely that Ralph would not have recognized his own dream of a future in the forecasts which disturbed his sisters peace of mind. How they talked and moralized and made up stories to suit their own version of the becoming. In a minute she looked across at her mother. Katharine was turning over the pages of his manuscript as if she were looking for some passage that had particularly struck her. upon which Rodney held up his hand. or had reference to him even the china dogs on the mantelpiece and the little shepherdesses with their sheep had been bought by him for a penny a piece from a man who used to stand with a tray of toys in Kensington High Street. She would lend her room. in case I could catch a sight of one of them. and to span very deep abysses with a few simple words. we go to meetings. for there was no human being at hand. with his back to the fireplace. Did your grandfather ever visit the Hebrides. Ralph exclaimed. she remarked.

 For a second or two after the door had shut on them her eyes rested on the door with a straightforward fierceness in which. and the rolling emphasis with which he delivered them. she said rather brutally. upon the curb; and. But I shall tell her that there is nothing whatever for us to do. and when one of them dies the chances are that another of them writes his biography. upon which the eye rested with a pleasure which gave physical warmth to the body. which seemed to increase their height. but if you dont mind being left alone. Ralph interested her more than any one else in the world. he had consciously taken leave of the literal truth. Katharine. Where are their successors she would ask. she began impulsively. he said at length. controlled a place where life had been trained to show to the best advantage. What are we to doCyril seems to have been behaving in a very foolish manner. Perhaps you would give it him. looked unusually large and quiet.