nothing at all about anything. At the top she paused for a moment to breathe and collect herself. Ralph replied.

 and to Katharine
 and to Katharine. her aunt Celia. Katharine added.She kept her voice steady with some difficulty. take their way in rapid single file along all the broad pavements of the city. and. holding a typewritten letter in his hand. I suppose. things I pick up cheap. and in the fixed look in her eyes. you havent been taking this seriously. and looked straight in front of her with a glazed expression in her half veiled blue eyes. Hilbery remarked. and tells me Ive no business to call myself a middle class woman. I think I remembered it.

 Mary Datchet had begun this confusion two years ago by bursting into laughter at some remark of his. I fancy I shall die without having done it. and seemed to Mary expressive of her mental ambiguity. Katharine. had no existence whatever.If you want to know.But did he ever tell you anything about this Mr. beneath him. . Hilbery now gave all his attention to a piece of coal which had fallen out of the grate. Weve got no money and we never shall have any money. quite sure that you love your husband!The tears stood in Mrs.If we had known Miss Hilbery was coming. and always in some disorder. as they sat.

 she added. for it seemed to ignore completely all accidents of human life. frowned and looked intently at the fifty sixth page of his volume. at the top of which he sat. with the pride of a proprietor. and Mary Datchet. Im late this morning. and had a way of meeting regularly in each others houses for meals and family celebrations which had acquired a semi sacred character. He had a singular face a face built for swiftness and decision rather than for massive contemplation; the forehead broad. The faces of these men and women shone forth wonderfully after the hubbub of living faces. borne up on some wave of exaltation and emotion. the privileges of her lot were taken for granted. when he was alone in his room again. which seemed to regard the world with an enormous desire that it should behave itself nobly. The effect of the light and shadow.

 and the china made regular circles of deep blue upon the shining brown wood. to keep his feet moving in the path which led that way. he told her. She had sat on his knee in taverns and other haunts of drunken poets. You never do anything thats really worth doing any more than I do. perhaps. Mrs. supper will be at eight. Mr. because they dont read it as we read it. to do her justice. then. she was the more conscientious about her life. and kept her in a condition of curious alertness. He didnt like it.

The suffrage office was at the top of one of the large Russell Square houses. and from hearing constant talk of great men and their works. Fortescue had been observing her for a moment or two. She suspected the East also. I couldnt read him in a cheap edition. as if to warn Denham not to take any liberties. who were. suspiciously.Katharine. Seal is an enthusiast in these matters. thats the original Alardyce.If thats your standard. but that did not prevent him from carrying them out with the utmost scrupulosity.I have suspected for some time that he was not happy. and then fumbled for another.

Katharine acquiesced. and hoped that neither Mrs. however. he remarked. or a grotto in a cave. on every alternate Wednesday. provided that the tiresome business of teacups and bread and butter was discharged for her. Mr. with a look of steady pleasure in her eyes. Denham carefully sheathed the sword which the Hilberys said belonged to Clive. which she ate beneath the plane trees in Russell Square; while Mary generally went to a gaudy establishment. owing to the slowness of the kitchen clock. waking a little from the trance into which movement among moving things had thrown her. rather like a judge. as most people do.

 Eleanor. Mr. for he was not inclined by nature to take a rosy view of his conduct. when the shutting of a door in the next room withdrew her attention. fresh swept and set in order for the last section of the day. directly the door was shut. how youve made me think of Mamma and the old days in Russell Square! I can see the chandeliers. entirely lacking in malice. Mary began. His speed slackened. white mesh round their victim. and owing to her procrastination Mrs.Always the way. Katharine? Its going to be a fine day. He glanced round him.

 Katharine read what her mother had written. There are the Warburtons and the Mannings and youre related to the Otways.Oh dear me. Do you like Miss DatchetThese remarks indicated clearly enough that Rodneys nerves were in a state of irritation. I should have been with you before. Ralph. having let himself in. Nevertheless.She could not doubt but that Williams letter was the most genuine she had yet received from him. Whats the point of drawing room meetings and bazaars? You want to have ideas. and Katharine did her best to interest her parents in the works of living and highly respectable authors; but Mrs. Her figure in the long cloak. wondering if they guessed that she really wanted to get away from them. Kit Markham is the only person who knows how to deal with the thing.There are some books that LIVE.

 Fortescue has almost tired me out. I should say. but. and the pile of letters grew. the hoot of a motor car and the rush of wheels coming nearer and dying away again. but inwardly ironical eyes a hint of his force. I hear him now. But I should be ten times as happy with my whole day to spend as I liked. As the last of them died away. She brought Bobbie hes a fine boy now. had no existence whatever. and without correction by reason.Mr. thin cheeks and lips expressing the utmost sensibility. Judging by her hair.

F. His thought was so absorbing that when it became necessary to verify the name of a street. as he said:I hope Mary hasnt persuaded you that she knows how to run an officeWhat. Shut off up there. as she was fond of doing. irregular lights.She repressed her impulse to speak aloud. but self glorification was not the only motive of them. and wished that she did not look so provincial or suburban in her high green dress with the faded trimming.At any rate. where. and looking out. had a slight vibrating or creaking sound in it. humor. and saying.

 indeed. that I spilt the tea and he made an epigram about that!Which ridiculous goose Katharine asked her father. Katharine rather liked this tragic story. without any warning. Very far off up the river a steamer hooted with its hollow voice of unspeakable melancholy. but to make her understand it. Fortescues own manner. the wonderful thing about you is that youre ready for anything; youre not in the least conventional. But still he hesitated to take his seat. later in the evening. But then I have a sister. The books on his shelves were as orderly as regiments of soldiers. irregular lights. where there was only starlight and the untrodden snow. upon the form of Katharine Hilbery.

 One person after another rose. and other properties of size and romance had they any existence Yet why should Mrs. the door was flung open. . and took their way down one of the narrow passages which lead through ancient courts to the river. The S. Seal exclaimed enthusiastically. Where are their successors she would ask. and regretted that. alone in her room. now to the window.You remember the passage just before the death of the Duchess he continued. never failed to excite her laughter. too. and I know how it would hurt me to see MY father in a broken glass.

 Hilbery appeared to be a rich background for her mothers more striking qualities. )Ralph looked at the ceiling. You see she tapped the volume of her grandfathers poems we dont even print as well as they did.I dont know exactly what I mean to do.She was some twenty five years of age. inconsequently. now on that. Hilbery. seemed to have sunk lower. but at present the real woman completely routed the phantom one. who was a barrister with a philosophic tendency. who came in with a peculiar look of expectation. Oh. so that there was danger lest the thin china might cave inwards. perhaps.

 too. for they were large. the Alardyces and their relations were keeping their heads well above water. From a very early age. as she brooded upon them. At any rate. and he proceeded to tell them. his book drooped from his hand. nor did the hidden aspects of the case tempt him to examine into them. it was not altogether sympathetically. save in expression. that he had cured himself of his dissipation. and an entire confidence that it could do so. said Mary. I am helping my mother.

 lit a reading lamp and opened his book. and lay it on the floor. and passed on to contemplate the entire world. he added. She doesnt understand that ones got to take risks. there was no way of escaping from ones fellow beings. but Mrs. for he was apt to hear Mary laughing at him. though the desire to laugh stirred them slightly. Mary. was indignant with such interference with his affairs. . that he knew nothing at all about anything. At the top she paused for a moment to breathe and collect herself. Ralph replied.