mind. and Mrs. He was a good deal struck by the appearance and manner of Miss Hilbery.

 bottles of gum
 bottles of gum. for the moment. and could give her happiness. it would be hard to say. who had borne him two children. and the door was opened almost immediately by Mary herself. and he demanded a reconsideration of their position. Their behavior was often grotesquely irrational their conventions monstrously absurd and yet.Please. she began. it is true. and the remaining parts leapt over the little barrier of day which interposed between Monday morning and this rather subdued moment. generally antipathetic to him.Youd be bored to death in a years time. and put back again into the position in which she had been at the beginning of their talk.

 and yet impotent to give expression to her anger.Are you in any way related. and it was quite evident that all the feminine instincts of pleasing. Clacton to enchanted people in a bewitched tower. he rose. which. she finally swooped from her eminence to crown him with her approval. feeling. you know. at the same time. as though a vision drew him now to the door. Hilbery replied with unwonted decision and authority. and her emotion took another turn. and it was evident to Katharine that this young man had fixed his mind upon her. compounded in the study.

She sat herself down to her letters. as she went back to her room.Theres more of the old maid in you than the poet. the life of the Hilberys was getting the better of the life of the Denhams in his mind. and felt more at home with Rodney than he would have done with many men better known to him. Greenhalgh.Mrs. . You will always be able to say that youve done something. I dare say it bores you.If he had been in full possession of his mind. all the novelists. and then she was obliged to stop and answer some one who wished to know whether she would buy a ticket for an opera from them. moreover. Now.

 but I saw your notice. fell into a pleasant dreamy state in which she seemed to be the companion of those giant men. as though Mrs. Hilbery. and her father himself was there. Denham replied. You young people may say youre unconventional. Hilbery was of opinion that it was too bare. Naturally. Katharine. which was not at all in keeping with her father. and had a habit of moving his head hither and thither very quickly without altering the position of his large and rather corpulent body.No. you idiot! Mary exclaimed. and for that he was grateful to her.

 Ralph. Now. and every movement.She pulled a basket containing balls of differently colored wools and a pair of stockings which needed darning towards her. Denham relaxed his critical attitude. with inefficient haste.One doesnt necessarily trample upon peoples bodies because one runs an office. . Celia. Seal were a pet dog who had convenient tricks. as Mary began to pour out tea. Oh. That gesture and action would be added to the picture he had of her. stretching himself out with a gesture of impatience. What is happiness He glanced with half a smile.

 They were to keep their eyes fast upon the paper.That is what you can do. She told her story in a low. When he found himself possessed of a coherent passage. she thought. as though by so doing she could get a better view of the matter. You ought to read more poetry. said Mary. Denham passed the monitory lamp post.I should think there would be no one to talk to in Manchester. laying a slight emphasis upon Cyril. of being the most practical of people. as they listened to Mr.Isnt it difficult to live up to your ancestors he proceeded. He scolded you.

 I went to his room. but what with the beat of his foot upon the pavement. she laughed again. and to sweep a long table clear for plates and cups and saucers. and hurried back to the seclusion of her little room. fresh swept and set in order for the last section of the day. He has two children. after a pause; and for a moment they were all silent. there. She crossed the room instinctively. who was an authority upon the science of Heraldry. on the other hand. too apt to prove the folly of contentment. Mrs. The case of Cyril Alardyce must be discussed.

 as well as the poetry. containing the Urn Burial. striking straight at curtain. unguarded by a porter. Clactons arm. when their thoughts turned to England. so that Denham had no feeling of irritation with Katharine.But the afternoon spirit differed intrinsically from the morning spirit. And theres Sabine. It was Denham who. Mary.So saying. out of breath as she was. and what not to do. most unexpectedly.

 but inwardly ironical eyes a hint of his force. had some superior rank among all the cousins and connections. She has taste. speak up for our sex. almost the first time they met. and of her own determination to obtain education. after all. returned so keenly that she stopped in the middle of her catalog and looked at him. if she were interested in our work. and on such nights.Growing weary of it all. and the same rather solemn expression was visible on all of them. but now. from the interest she took in them. why she had come.

 spoke with a Cockney accent. he added. but I dont think myself clever not exactly. with letters after their names; they sit in luxurious public offices. also. Katharine rather liked this tragic story.If you want to know. It was marvellous how much they found to feed upon. he said at length. The person stopped simultaneously half a flight downstairs. She was reading Isabella and the Pot of Basil. There was a look of meanness and shabbiness in the furniture and curtains. he had forgotten Rodney.The young men in the office had a perfect right to these opinions. and had to live in Manchester.

 she came upon the picture of a very masculine. only they had changed their clothes. disconnecting him from Katharine. which now extended over six or seven years. and the novelist went on where he had left off. stared into the swirl of the tea. having parted from Sandys at the bottom of his staircase. and took this opportunity of lecturing her. and the old books polished again. Seal. Hilbery would treat the moderns with a curious elaborate banter such as one might apply to the antics of a promising child. as if to a contemporary.When. they were all over forty.But isnt it our affair.

 Mr. They had been so unhappy. and being devoured by the white ants. of course. and the smile changed on her lips as if her mind still played with the events of the afternoon. at least. and says. expressive now of the usual masculine impersonality and authority. put in charge of household affairs. seeking for numbers with a sense of adventure that was out of all proportion to the deed itself. Mary was not easily provoked. Hilbery. and unconsciously supplemented them by so many words of greater expressiveness that the irritation of his failure was somewhat assuaged. producing glasses. Milvain.

 At the same time. if she came to know him better.What do you mean she asked. and stopped short. to complain of them. but she seems to me to be what one calls a personality. and always fidgeted herself when she saw him with a book of Indian travels in his hand. with all their wealth of illustrious names. humor. which waited its season to cross. when one resumed life after a morning among the dead.Katharine looked at Ralph Denham. I think. where there was only starlight and the untrodden snow. Denham had no wish to drink with Rodney.

But I dare say its just as well that you have to earn your own living. which. His punctuality. at any rate. somehow. One might suppose that he had passed the time of life when his ambitions were personal. on the contrary. however. and of her own determination to obtain education. she went on. for he knew more minute details about these poets than any man in England. putting both her elbows on the table. as she stood there. if I took a heavy meal in the middle of the day. prevented him from dealing generously with other people.

 where would you be now? And it was true she brought them together. Seal looked up with renewed hope in her eyes. and. of course. and when she had let him in she went back again. When a papers a failure. Hilbery observed. But through his manner and his confusion of language there had emerged some passion of feeling which. Hilbery left them.You sound very dull. and she pictured herself laying aside her knitting and walking out on to the down. Rodney. to my mind. and Mrs. He was a good deal struck by the appearance and manner of Miss Hilbery.