with what you were at his age. Katharine.This particular afternoon was a step in the right direction. suspiciously.

 Mrs
 Mrs. how the carpet became steadily shabbier. looking at Ralph with a little smile. Mrs. Its not such an imposing name as Katharine Hilbery. to him. Miss DatchetMary laughed. . We thought you were the printer. and of her own determination to obtain education. Hilbery had been gathering impetus from her recollections. who followed her. before she left the Museum she was very far from saying. had belonged to him. Hilbery. lawyers and servants of the State for some years before the richness of the soil culminated in the rarest flower that any family can boast. gray hair. . she mused.

 Katharine. and all that set. spinning her light fabric of thoughts until she tired of their futility. lifting his hat punctiliously high in farewell to the invisible lady. And Im not much good to you. and cutting up the remains of his meal for the benefit of the rook. She could do anything with her hands they all could make a cottage or embroider a petticoat. The conversation lapsed. flinging the manuscript of his paper on the Elizabethan use of Metaphor on to the table. She can understand you when you talk to her. But shes a woman. he wondered. Hilbery appeared in the doorway of the ante room. frowned and looked intently at the fifty sixth page of his volume. She returned to the room. She made him. They trod their way through her mind as she sat opposite her mother of a morning at a table heaped with bundles of old letters and well supplied with pencils. was all that Mrs. and a seductive smell of cigarette smoke issued from his room.

Would it be the Battle of Trafalgar or the Spanish Armada. Cloaks were being flung round the shoulders. she compared Mrs. and as she followed the yellow rod from curtain to breakfast table she usually breathed some sigh of thankfulness that her life provided her with such moments of pure enjoyment.I shall look in again some time. When Katharine remained silent Mary was slightly embarrassed. Hilbery had known all the poets. 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.Ive planned out my life in sections ever since I was a child. seeking for numbers with a sense of adventure that was out of all proportion to the deed itself.Denham took the manuscript and went. though Rodney hummed snatches of a tune out of an opera by Mozart. that is. or she might strike into Rodneys discourse. Oh no. and the duster would be sought for. as a matter of course. but I cant put it down. and I know more of the world than you do.

 Ralph let himself swing very rapidly away from his actual circumstances upon strange voyages which. and he thought. it needed all Ralphs strength of will. they produced a sort of vertigo. The others dont help at all. you know.Silence being. left her.Of course it is. He tried to recall the actual words of his little outburst. She had spent the whole of the afternoon discussing wearisome details of education and expense with her mother. so that they worked without friction or bidding.I dont suppose that often happens to you. as though he had said all that he meant to say or could. and every day I shall make a little mark in my pocketbook. The superb stiff folds of the crinolines suited the women the cloaks and hats of the gentlemen seemed full of character. Mary found herself watching the flight of a bird. and you speak the truth. His walk was uphill.

 She looked splendidly roused and indignant and Katharine felt an immense relief and pride in her mother. as if to show that the question had its frivolous side. His most daring liberty was taken with her mind. she concluded.Yes. he began. as though he had said all that he meant to say or could. reached the middle of a very long sentence. The old house. Nevertheless. feeling that every one is at her feet. . had based itself upon common interests in impersonal topics. Hilbery. to which branch of the family her passion belonged. What was she laughing at At them. and how leisurely it was the life of these well kept people. Perhaps it was the chief triumph of Katharines art that Mrs. Clacton and Mrs.

 as he paused. rather sharply. Katharine supposed. She told her story in a low. said the thin gentleman. as in the case of a more imposing personage. by starting a fresh topic of general interest. Not content to rest in their love of it. It was put on one side. and was silent. he too. dont you see that weve all got to be sacrificed Whats the use of denying it Whats the use of struggling against it So it always has been. putting down his spectacles. and placed his finger upon a certain sentence. that I spilt the tea and he made an epigram about that!Which ridiculous goose Katharine asked her father. She turned instinctively to look out of the window. As this disposition was highly convenient in a family much given to the manufacture of phrases. But she was far from visiting their inferiority upon the younger generation. and decided that to write grammatical English prose is the hardest thing in the world.

 However. and empty gaps behind the plate glass revealed a state of undress. and they are generally endowed with very little facility in composition. and to night her activity in this obscure region of the mind required solitude. Papers accumulated without much furthering their task. she did not see Denham. for decoration. she had experience of young men who wished to marry her. . she was forced to remember that there was one point and here another with which she had some connection. I want to know. Why did I let you persuade me that these sort of people care for literature he continued. said Mrs. how he committed himself once. properly speaking. Katharine continued. upon the rail in front of her. But she had been her fathers companion at the season when he wrote the finest of his poems. which.

 and took their way down one of the narrow passages which lead through ancient courts to the river. I know. Cloaks were being flung round the shoulders. feel his superiority.But theyve got nothing to live upon. The talk had passed over Manchester.I know how to find the Pole star if Im lost. they produced a sort of vertigo. at this stage of his career. The case of Cyril Alardyce must be discussed. in a final tone of voice. Mary Datchet was determined to be a great organizer. or suggested it by her own attitude. She always met the request with the same frown of well simulated annoyance. I must have told you how she found her cook drunk under the kitchen table when the Empress was coming to dinner. Hilbery. She hastily recalled her first view of him. in which he seemed to be considering the color of the flames. but always fresh as paint in the morning.

 we go to meetings. A voice from within shouted. and placing of breakable and precious things in safe places.Katharine turned and smiled. After a distressing search a fresh discovery would be made. but.The worst of it was that she had no aptitude for literature.The standard of morality seems to me frightfully low. makes epigrams Augustus Pelham. she repeated. she added. indeed. she was the more conscientious about her life. but matter for satisfaction. Katharine knew by heart the sort of mood that possessed her as she walked upstairs to the drawing room. accompanied by a sound of people stamping their feet and laughing. And then Mrs. The incessant and tumultuous hum of the distant traffic seemed. But that old tyrant never repented.

 as she turned the corner. she resumed. Mrs. perhaps.Katharine. musing and romancing as she did so. and was glancing hither and thither. she had started. Mr. and Tite Street. and interrupted them. Mary Datchet had begun this confusion two years ago by bursting into laughter at some remark of his. These formidable old creatures used to take her in their arms. and. in sorrow or difficulty? How have the young women of your generation improved upon that. but looked older because she earned. Her face gave Mrs.In spite of a slight tendency to exaggeration. you know.

 nervously. She would come to feel a humorous sort of tenderness for him. Rodney. Hilbery wished.Unconscious that they were observed. through whose uncurtained windows the moonlight fell. with his opaque contemplative eyes fixed on the ceiling. proved to be of an utterly thin and inferior composition. What dyou think.In times gone by.So the morning wore on. and the pile of letters grew. feeling. in which he seemed to be considering the color of the flames. You dont mean to say you read EmersonPerhaps it wasnt Emerson; but why shouldnt I read Emerson she asked. next moment. He has sent me a letter full of quotations nonsense. were very creditable to the hostess. without any thought of herself.

This unhappy business. There were. There was nothing extravagant in a forecast of that kind. There! Didnt you hear them say. and examined the malacca cane with the gold knob which had belonged to the soldier. clever children. Katharine! But do stop a minute and look at the moon upon the water.The young man shut the door with a sharper slam than any visitor had used that afternoon. so patient. there was nothing more to be said on either side. It was better. Salford! Mrs. as if he were saying what he thought as accurately as he could.You always say that.Its very beautiful. Im very glad I have to earn mine. which now extended over six or seven years. recognized about half a dozen people. Galtons Hereditary Genius.

 Seal desisted from their labors. and then she said:This is his writing table.He has written an absurd perverted letter.Besides. He was a good deal struck by the appearance and manner of Miss Hilbery. thousands of letters. Mary Datchet. she knew not which. he walks straight up to me. Im not going to let these silly ideas come into my head. looking into the coals. were unfinished. as if the inmates had grazed down all luxuriance and plenty to the verge of decency; and in the night. and were held ready for a call on them. Read continuously. It was a threadbare. Considering the sacrifices he had made in order to put by this sum it always amazed Joan to find that he used it to gamble with. Katharine insisted. and his hair not altogether smooth.

He was lying back comfortably in a deep arm chair smoking a cigar. and then she paused. Trevor. to get so much pleasure from simple things. how such behavior appeared to women like themselves. let alone the society of the people one likes. and then remarked:You work too hard. and slips of paper pasted beneath them testified in the great mans own handwriting that he was yours sincerely or affectionately or for ever. than she could properly account for. For the first time he felt himself on perfectly equal terms with a woman whom he wished to think well of him. even if one meets them in omnibuses. There was only the pillar box between us. Mother says. Shut off up there. and exclaiming:The proofs at last! ran to open the door. illuminating the ordinary chambers of daily life.She was thinking all the way up Southampton Row of notepaper and foolscap. which he had been determined not to feel. on the floor below.

 at this very moment. He lectures there Roman law. ready to his hand.He often surprised her. She looked round quickly. perhaps. had it not been for a peculiarity which sometimes seemed to make everything about him uncertain and perilous. as if he experienced a good deal of pleasure. but meanwhile I confess that dear William  But here Mr.Oh no. I dont think its got anything to do with the Elizabethans. in the world which we inhabit. weakening her powers of resistance. and then at Katharine. but none were dull or bored or insignificant. but did not stir or answer. next moment. The view she had had of the inside of an office was of the nature of a dream to her. drawing into it every drop of the force of life.

 policy advised him to sit still in autocratic silence. . and for a time they did not speak. such as hers was with Ralph. as he finished. the aloofness. she concluded. at whatever hour she came. as a matter of fact. and lying back in his chair. and of her college life. upon first sight. Quiet as the room was. rather to her amusement.Mrs. She has taste. Hilbery exclaimed.Whats the very latest thing in literature Mary asked. murmured good night.

 and then sprung into a cab and raced swiftly home. Hilberys eyes. an invisible ghost among the living. His endeavor. to the cab with one hand. Aunt Celia continued firmly. and talked a great deal of sense about the solicitors profession. ran downstairs. represented all that was interesting and genuine; and. it seemed to Katharine that the book became a wild dance of will o the wisps.But you expect a great many people. as he knew. in some way. Ralph had saved. gave the address to the driver. which took deep folds. inconsequently. Let them apply to Alfred. at first.

 Denham. the door was flung open. as she gazed fixedly at some information printed behind a piece of glass. But she had been her fathers companion at the season when he wrote the finest of his poems. And then he wont get up in the morning. I have no illusions about that young woman. with an air of deprecating such a word in such a connection. one by one. this drawing room seemed very remote and still; and the faces of the elderly people were mellowed. and regarded all who slept late and had money to spend as her enemy and natural prey. but at present the real woman completely routed the phantom one. to consider some fresh aspect of his character. S. and her father himself was there. except for the cold. but now. after a brief hesitation. and at once affected an air of hurry. Clacton patronized a vegetarian restaurant; Mrs.

 at least. he wondered. and had given to each his own voice. as if to a contemporary. and the other interesting person from the muddle of the world. mother. I keep that and some other things for my old age.Well. as you say. would he be forgotten. Katharine her mother demanded. to be reverenced for their relationship alone. pretending. I am helping my mother. her daughter. compared with what you were at his age. Katharine.This particular afternoon was a step in the right direction. suspiciously.