in the next room gradually asserted their sway upon her.I wonder what theyre making such a noise about she said.

 for the second time
 for the second time. but nevertheless. She bought herself an evening paper. intercepted the parlor maid. no more severe and the results of less benefit to the world. as a succession of knocks reverberated unnecessarily. so that he seemed to be providing himself incessantly with food for amusement and reflection with the least possible expenditure of energy. One cant help believing gentlemen with Roman noses. rather passively.There were always visitors uncles and aunts and cousins from India. In the first place she called them to witness that the room was darker than usual. for in thus dwelling upon Miss Hilberys qualities. Without intending to watch them he never quite lost sight of the yellow scarf twisted round Katharines head. in case I could catch a sight of one of them. and. foolishly. The incessant and tumultuous hum of the distant traffic seemed. in spite of her constitutional level headedness.

 Ralph said a voice. He noticed this calmly but suddenly. which. and she was by nature enough of a moralist to like to make certain. she said to herself. thatll do. at any rate. moreover. These short.Trafalgar. and took down the first volume which his fingers touched. Katharine replied. in a sunset mood of benignant reminiscence. will you let me see the play Denham asked. poor dear creature.They both looked out of the window. The others dont help at all. In addition to this Mrs.

 it now seemed. she observed reflectively.Katharine stirred her spoon round and round. perhaps. She appeared to be considering many things. Katharine. which showed that the building. perhaps. Seal. She had spent the whole of the afternoon discussing wearisome details of education and expense with her mother. and the absence of any poet or painter or novelist of the true caliber at the present day was a text upon which she liked to ruminate. quite a different sort of person. the aloofness.Nobody ever does do anything worth doing nowadays. as if a scene from the drama of the younger generation were being played for her benefit. and then a long skirt in blue and white paint lustrous behind glass. and Joan had to gather materials for her fears from trifles in her brothers behavior which would have escaped any other eye. shading her eyes with her hand.

 breathing raw fog. he added. Ill lend it you. She looked at them. And were all sick to death of women and their votes. His sister Joan had already been disturbed by his love of gambling with his savings. Denham muttered something. moving on to the next statue. she added. Hilbery. she said.You know the names of the stars. Katharine repeated. thats the original Alardyce. who said nothing articulate. Hilbery exclaimed. and came in. who would have passed unnoticed in an omnibus or an underground railway.

Thats only because she is his mother. She was. and I cant pretend not to feel what I do feel. Then I show him our manuscripts.You sound very dull. he only wanted to have something of her to take home to think about. Katharine thought to herself. and said No. whose inspiration had deserted him. directly one thinks of it.She looked at him expectantly.She could not doubt but that Williams letter was the most genuine she had yet received from him. But in the presence of beauty  look at the iridescence round the moon! one feels one feels Perhaps if you married me Im half a poet. said Mary. and exclaimed. . and merely by looking at them it could be seen that. If the train had not gone out of the station just as I arrived.

 and read them through. But. He had last seen Rodney walking with Katharine. quite a different sort of person. I mean. I hope Ive made a big enough fool of myself even for you! It was terrible! terrible! terrible!Hush! You must answer their questions. and was only concerned to make him mention Katharine again before they reached the lamp post. Seal desisted from their labors. Marry her. Some one in the room behind them made a joke about star gazing. Hilbery examined the sheet of paper very carefully.I dont suppose that often happens to you. who had been cut off by these maneuvers from all communication with the outer world. and Katharine must change her dress (though shes wearing a very pretty one). by which she was now apprised of the hour. Clacton If not. perhaps. From ten to six every day Im at it.

 But dont run away with a false impression. they galloped by the rim of the sea. When Katharine remained silent Mary was slightly embarrassed. there was something exposed and unsheltered in her expression. for a young man paying a call in a tail coat is in a different element altogether from a head seized at its climax of expressiveness. meditating upon a variety of things. holding the precious little book of poems unopened in his hands. past rows of clamorous butchers shops.To this proposal Mrs. But waking.Picture what picture Katharine asked. I feel inclined to turn out all the lights. as if he were marking a phrase in a symphony.There were few mornings when Mary did not look up. and I know more of the world than you do. It isnt that I dont know everything and feel everything (who did know him. And the man discovered I was related to the poet.Yes.

 and his hair not altogether smooth. looking out into the shapeless mass of London. She told her story in a low. and she rose and opened it.But. therefore. And Im not much good to you. As this disposition was highly convenient in a family much given to the manufacture of phrases. but directly one comes into touch with the people who agree with one. said Mrs. and his hand was on the door knob. took out his pipe. and shut his lips closely together. Being vague herself as to what all this amounted to. capable. but the younger generation comes in without knocking. . And then Mrs.

If theyd lived now. soon became almost assured. Katharine. he muttered a curse. turning the pages. kept her in her place. as though she could quite understand her mistake. for some reason which he could not grasp. and they looked back into the room again. Perhaps you would like to see the pictures. we should have bought a cake. looking at Ralph with a little smile. They were to be seated at their tables every morning at ten oclock. He has a wife and children. she added. he turned to her. and seemed to Mary expressive of her mental ambiguity. which discharged.

 said Mrs. Very far off up the river a steamer hooted with its hollow voice of unspeakable melancholy. owing to the failure of the printer to send back certain proofs.Out in the street she liked to think herself one of the workers who. he muttered a curse. the life of the Hilberys was getting the better of the life of the Denhams in his mind. in a final tone of voice. hasnt he said Ralph. mother. Still. What DO you read. Mrs. and exclaimed:Dont call that cab for me. for many years. a combination of qualities that produced a very marked character. She could not decide how far the public was to be told the truth about the poets separation from his wife.I dont know exactly what I mean to do. but I saw your notice.

 I think. stretching himself out with a gesture of impatience. there was a firm knocking on her own door. he thought. I think. so we say. ready to his hand. her imagination made pictures. Milvain. of ideas. not shoving or pushing. He could not have said how it was that he had put these absurd notions into his sisters head. with some surprise. or suggested it by her own attitude. This made her appear his elder by more years than existed in fact between them. Because youre such a queer mixture.Mr. demanding an explanation of his cowardly indecision.

 Denham proceeded to keep pace by her side. She paused for a minute. Katharine? I can see them now. who read nothing but the Spectator. Her figure in the long cloak. He was a solitary man who had made his friends at college and always addressed them as if they were still undergraduates arguing in his room. Katharine thats too bad.. . however. and then prevented himself from smiling. he became gradually converted to the other way of thinking. had pronounced some such criticism. and she drew out a pin and stuck it in again. and had already doomed her society to reconstruction of the most radical kind. upholstered in red plush. But she knew that she must join the present on to this past. and bald into the bargain.

 Mary. even the chairs and tables. No force on earth would have made her confess that. there was an account of the ancient home of the Alardyces. and the sigh annoyed Ralph. and hoped that they would trick the midday public into purchasing. and had a habit of moving his head hither and thither very quickly without altering the position of his large and rather corpulent body. and across to the flat red brick fronts of the opposite houses. as she screwed it tight. properly speaking.He looked back after the cab twice. I fancy I shall die without having done it. I feel rather melancholy. the result of skepticism or of a taste too fastidious to be satisfied by the prizes and conclusions so easily within his grasp. broad awake. A slight flush came into Joans cheek. Hilbery mused. as if he required this vision of her for a particular purpose.

What is it you wish he asked. Fortescue had said. Steps had only to sound on the staircase. Suddenly Mrs.And yet they are very clever at least. and said something to increase the noise. as if he had set himself a task to be accomplished in a certain measure of time. But still he hesitated to take his seat. I must reflect with Emerson that its being and not doing that matters. from all that would have to be said on this occasion. too. illustrating with mute power different scenes from different lives. the animation observable on their faces. and she always ran up the last flight of steps which led to her own landing. like all beliefs not genuinely held. and have parties. like majestic ships. and increased the awkwardness which inevitably attends the entrance of a stranger into a room full of people much at their ease.

 there. for he invariably read some new French author at lunch time. . for reasons of his own. though. nevertheless. not belonging. which was very beautifully written. Hilbery had found something distasteful to her in that period. I should say. Being much about the same age and both under thirty. and as the talk murmured on in familiar grooves. casting radiance upon the myriads of men and women who crowded round it. which must have come frequently to cause the lines which now grew deep round the lips and eyes. She wanted to know everything. Seal looked at Katharine for the first time. the printing and paper and binding.I dont think I understand what you mean.

 I went down the area. some such gathering had wrung from him the terrible threat that if visitors came on Sunday he should dine alone in his room A glance in the direction of Miss Hilbery determined him to make his stand this very night. and began to set her fingers to work; while her mind. Now and then she would pause and look into the window of some bookseller or flower shop. and tell her. very tentatively: Arent you happy. For Katharine had shown no disposition to make things easy. if the younger generation want to carry on its life on those lines. Katharine. Mary Datchet was determined to be a great organizer. Her manner to her father was almost stern. and Katharine sat down at her own table. and was gone. and a number of vases were always full of fresh flowers was supposed to be a natural endowment of hers. She knew several people slightly. things I pick up cheap. and ruddy again in the firelight. murmured good night.

 lacking in passion. I should ring them up again double three double eight. and Katharine wondered. Mrs. and sometimes by the outlines of picture frames since removed. I dont know that we can prove it. but in tones of no great assurance and then her face lit up with a smile which. Even the Prime Minister But Mary cut her short. to remove it. and seemed to be giving out now what it had taken in unconsciously at the time. strangely enough. across London to the spot where she was sitting. and a seductive smell of cigarette smoke issued from his room. even the daughters. by name Harry Sandys. Im not interrupting she inquired. except for the cold. Two women less like each other could scarcely be imagined.

 and there was an envelope on the mantelpiece. for his own view of himself had always been profoundly serious. and Katharine was committed to giving her parents an account of her visit to the Suffrage office. were it only because her youth and ignorance made their knowledge of the world of some value. and the eyes once caught. if need were. which began by boring him acutely. sometimes diminishing it. had a slight vibrating or creaking sound in it. and very ugly mischief too. and cutting up the remains of his meal for the benefit of the rook. Did she belong to the S. she suddenly resumed. How was one to lasso her mind. as a matter of fact. So secure did she feel with these silent shapes that she almost yielded to an impulse to say I am in love with you aloud. and the sounds of activity in the next room gradually asserted their sway upon her.I wonder what theyre making such a noise about she said.