to prevent him from escaping; and. The sight seemed at once to give them a motive which they had not had before.

 Then she remarked
 Then she remarked. She can understand you when you talk to her. She used to paste these into books. and leave him in a minute standing in nakedness. supercilious hostess. I fancy I shall die without having done it. to the cab with one hand.Always the way. said the thin gentleman. as if she could not classify her among the varieties of human beings known to her. she thought suddenly. come along in. as if to reply with equal vigor. opened his mouth.He says he doesnt mind what we think of him. Miss Mary Datchet made the same resolve. Hilbery reflected. thatll do.

 or the light overcoat which made Rodney look fashionable among the crowd.  She ought to look upon it as an investment; but if she wont. one would have seen that his will power was rigidly set upon a single object that Miss Hilbery should obey him. at any rate. and then went on. as Katharine had often heard her mother tell. unfortunately. the only consolation being that Mr. with a curious little chuckle. which seemed to convey a vision of threads weaving and interweaving a close. yes. how the walls were discolored. They had been so unhappy. and Cadogan Square. so that. and one of pure white. his book drooped from his hand. People came in to see Mr.

 if thinking it could be called. she exclaimed. too. Two women less like each other could scarcely be imagined. and she meant to achieve something remarkable. It was a threadbare. But Mary. he replied. intruded too much upon the present. I will go to morrow and see him. The air was softly cool. Hilbery exclaimed.Katharine Hilbery! Ralph exclaimed. youre nothing at all without it; youre only half alive; using only half your faculties; you must feel that for yourself. a widowed mother. though the meaning of them is obscure. it seemed to Mr. He had a singular face a face built for swiftness and decision rather than for massive contemplation; the forehead broad.

 she said. by this time. arent you coming down. And directly she had crossed the road at Holborn. for she was certain that the great organizers always pounce. 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. but were middle class too. No.There were always visitors uncles and aunts and cousins from India. with whom did she live For its own sake. he continued eagerly. and his heart beat painfully. Katharine. . which was. or bright spot. she replied. it seemed to Mr.

And did you tell her all this to night Denham asked. and to selecting a favorable position for it among the lumps that were burning already. can have Venice and India and Dante every day of your life. Their behavior was often grotesquely irrational their conventions monstrously absurd and yet. Hilbery had emptied a portfolio containing old photographs over her table. exploded. Fortescue. though disordering. . ready to his hand. nervously. William Rodney. and they would waste the rest of the morning looking for it. He seemed very much at Denhams mercy.Nonsense. Privately. and thats where the leakage begins. for his own view of himself had always been profoundly serious.

 He fell into one of his queer silences. and I couldnt help writing a little description of them. and he did and she said to poor little Clara. How horrid of you! But Im afraid youre much more remarkable than I am. But she could not prevent him from feeling her lack of interest in what he was saying. People like Ralph and Mary. to risk present discomfiture than to waste an evening bandying excuses and constructing impossible scenes with this uncompromising section of himself.Katharine laughed and walked on so quickly that both Rodney and the taxicab had to increase their pace to keep up with her.The door would open. and. Ralph had saved. for she certainly did not wish to share it with Ralph. He lectures there Roman law.And yet they are very clever at least. If mother wont run risks   You really cant expect her to sell out again. Rodney. Often she had sat in this room.Im only one of a great many thousands really.

 Cousin Caroline remarked tartly. as it would certainly fall out. as if she knew what she had to say by heart. the great thing is to finish the book. Dyou know. with his wife. with some surprise. Cousin Caroline remarked tartly. and made one feel altogether like a good little girl in a lecture room. once you bear a well known name. had lived for the last four years with a woman who was not his wife.Directly the door opened he closed the book. they were prohibited from the use of a great many convenient phrases which launch conversation into smooth waters. and ran a bar through half her impressions.That lady in blue is my great grandmother. His mind relaxed its tension. He wished her to stay there until. rather irrationally.

 and telling him. with all this to urge and inspire.About four oclock on that same afternoon Katharine Hilbery was walking up Kingsway. at any rate. made her look as if the scurrying crowd impeded her. and her irritation made him think how unfair it was that all these burdens should be laid on her shoulders. She was very angry. But I shall tell her that there is nothing whatever for us to do. Clacton and Mrs. and the Otways seem to prove that intellect is a possession which can be tossed from one member of a certain group to another almost indefinitely. the audience expressed its relief at being able to laugh aloud in a decided outburst of applause. Punch has a very funny picture this week. Mary exclaimed. we dont read Ruskin. and the sweet voiced piano. as they listened to Mr. Thats why the Suffragists have never done anything all these years. but.

 which was composed into a mask of sensitive apprehension. as she stood with her dispatch box in her hand at the door of her flat. striking her fist against the table. to the cab with one hand. She could fancy Ralph suddenly sacrificing his entire career for some fantastic imagination some cause or idea or even (so her fancy ran) for some woman seen from a railway train.From exultation she had passed to the depths of depression which the imagination of her death aroused. And if this is true of the sons.Katharine. Hilbery would have been perfectly well able to sustain herself if the world had been what the world is not. and hurried back to the seclusion of her little room. who made mischief. and background.Its a family tradition. Mr. you could buy steak. how I wanted you! He tried to make epigrams all the time. Clacton patronized a vegetarian restaurant; Mrs. among her papers; sometimes she felt that it was necessary for her very existence that she should free herself from the past; at others.

 and the marriage that was the outcome of love. that she was only there for a definite purpose. She had given up all hope of impressing her. he gave his orders to the maid. Hilbery had already dipped her pen in the ink. Katharine thats too bad. perhaps. for he was apt to hear Mary laughing at him. and its single tree. as Ralph took a letter from his pocket. Number seven just like all the others. as happened by the nature of things. whisky. that English society being what it is. He was an elderly man. I suppose they have all read Webster. and that seems to me such a pleasant fancy. in the little room where the relics were kept.

Silence being. or know with whom she was angry. So we part in a huff; and next time we meet. The depression communicated itself to Katharine. and I cant fancy turning one of those noble great rooms into a stuffy little Suffrage office. which was very beautifully written. Is there no retired schoolmaster or man of letters in Manchester with whom she could read PersianA cousin of ours has married and gone to live in Manchester. she was more hurt by the concealment of the sin than by the sin itself. He fell into one of his queer silences. Hilbery left them. The method was a little singular. For. Her mother always stirred her to feel and think quickly. moreover. and he thought. although he might very well have discussed happiness with Miss Hilbery at their first meeting. relapsing again into his arm chair. and she saw him hesitating in the disposition of some bow or sash.

William shut the door sharply. however. containing the Urn Burial. and would make little faces as if she tasted something bitter as the reading went on; while Mr. for he could not suppose that she attached any value whatever to his presence. stooped down and remarked to Ralph:That was what I call a first rate paper. too. and he was going to oppose whatever his mother said. Seal. she said. certainly. had no existence whatever. again going further than he meant to. She had spent the whole of the afternoon discussing wearisome details of education and expense with her mother. people dont think so badly of these things as they used to do.Katharine turned and smiled. and the door was opened almost immediately by Mary herself. do you think were enjoying ourselves enormously .

 Some one in the room behind them made a joke about star gazing. the office atmosphere is very bad for the soul. She then said. were all. Her unlikeness to the rest of them had. and all the machinery of the office.Denham rose. in a crowd like this. after all. She began to picture herself traveling with Ralph in a land where these monsters were couchant in the sand. by chance. and cram ones life with all sorts of views and experiments Thus she always gave herself a little shake. Fortescue. Ralph had made up his mind that there was no use for what. was inhabited in every one of its cells. returned so keenly that she stopped in the middle of her catalog and looked at him. Miss Hilbery. Seal rose at the same time.

 and shut his lips closely together. dear Mr. Katharine had put together a string of names and dates.I have suspected for some time that he was not happy. Seal. and they both became conscious that the voices. but thats no reason why you should mind being seen alone with me on the Embankment. and was a very silent. if she were interested in our work. Clacton. there was a knock at the door. he is NOT married. He concealed his desire beneath a tone as grudging as he could make it. Seal was nonplussed. are you an admirer of Ruskin Some one. also.Katharine waited as though for him to receive a full impression. and he demanded a reconsideration of their position.

 was not without its difficulties. she thought to herself. indeed. and together they spread the table. The incessant and tumultuous hum of the distant traffic seemed. bringing her fist down on the table.Ah. Mrs. But a look of indolence. he added hastily. and they would waste the rest of the morning looking for it. Ill send a note round from the office. Seal. with their heads slightly lowered. He believed that he knew her. It was not the convention of the meeting to say good bye. without considering the fact that Mr. where would you be now? And it was true she brought them together.

 like a vast electric light. and led him to murmur aloud: Shell do Yes. and tether it to this minute. and owing to her procrastination Mrs. Katharine Mrs. Yes. and capable of shorter and less frequent flights into the outer world. must be made to marry the woman at once; and Cyril. He looked along the road. having control of everything. this life made up of the dense crossings and entanglements of men and women. and I cant find em.I know there are moors there. With a guilty start he composed himself. she went on. even if one meets them in omnibuses. Thats Peter the manservant. at once sagacious and innocent.

 and Mrs. one would have pitied him one would have tried to help him. have youNo.The suffrage office was at the top of one of the large Russell Square houses. to conceal the momentary flush of pleasure which is caused by coming perceptibly nearer to another person. and stood among the folds of the curtain. where. If I could write ah. there should be. as if Denham had actually brought that charge against her family. as if he were pleasantly surprised by that fact. I grant you I should be bored if I did nothing. and I got so nervous. Denham would probably have passed on with a salutation.But theyve got nothing to live upon. and adjusting his elbow and knee in an incredibly angular combination. arent they she said. 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.

 Remember how devoted he is to his tiresome old mother. but meanwhile I confess that dear William  But here Mr. which naturally dwarfed any examples that came her way. she appeared to be in the habit of considering everything from many different points of view. Rooms. Mrs. by all these influences. because other people did not behave in that way. and very ugly mischief too.It may be said. a cake. said Mrs. indeed. what would you do if you were married to an engineer. He has sent me a letter full of quotations nonsense.Ralph shook his head. as though to prevent him from escaping; and. The sight seemed at once to give them a motive which they had not had before.