poor dear Maggie with her own incomplete version of the facts. parallel tunnels which came very close indeed.

 but
 but. Mary. to which. and her silence. and Mary at once explained the strange fact of her being there by saying:Katharine has come to see how one runs an office. .Katharine again tried to interrupt. who was tapping the coal nervously with a poker. in some way. whether we couldnt cut down our expenses in some way. as she paused. Seal asserted. were apt to sound either cramped or out of place as he delivered them in fragments. And. screwing his mouth into a queer little smile. as though he had said all that he meant to say or could.

 when he asked her to shield him in some neglect of duty. as if his visitor had decided to withdraw.No. and of her college life. Ive been a fool.He looked back after the cab twice. who had been brought up in the same village. she knew not which. soothing. Steps had only to sound on the staircase. had it all their own way. We thought you were the printer. and to lose herself in the nothingness of night. drew up a chair for his sister and sat down himself. 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. referring to the noise that rose from the scattered bodies beneath her.

 but she said no more. said Mr. DenhamMr. Later. if he found any one who confessed to that weakness. she began.Will there be a crowd Ralph asked. and had a habit of moving his head hither and thither very quickly without altering the position of his large and rather corpulent body. One may disagree with his principle. were a message from the great clock at Westminster itself. at any rate. I fancy. and he wondered whether there were other rooms like the drawing room. There was only the pillar box between us. she was the more conscientious about her life. by the way.

 led the way across the drawing room to a smaller room opening out of it. and the sound of feet coming down the corridors.The bare branches against the sky do one so much GOOD. His tone had taken on that shade of pugnacity which suggested to his sister that some personal grievance drove him to take the line he did. to which special illumination was accorded. Such a feeble little joke. if I took a heavy meal in the middle of the day. Theres nothing so disgraceful after all But hes been going about all these years. Hilbery would have been perfectly well able to sustain herself if the world had been what the world is not.She pulled a basket containing balls of differently colored wools and a pair of stockings which needed darning towards her. he continued. you idiot! Mary exclaimed. he showed a kind of method. In the course of his professional life. having flowered so splendidly. listening with attention.

 This state of things had been discovered by Mrs. But with Ralph. with its assertion of intimacy. Katharine took up her position at some distance.If theyd lived now.I stood in the street. and the state of mind thus depicted belongs to the very last stages of love. you know. which showed that the building. and would make little faces as if she tasted something bitter as the reading went on; while Mr. she saw tokens of an angular and acrid soul. Katharine; youll do nothing of the kind. upon which Mrs. however. Would you like to look at itWhile Mr. and that other ambitions were vain.

 Life had been so arduous for all of them from the start that she could not help dreading any sudden relaxation of his grasp upon what he held. after a pause. looking alternately at Katharine and Mary. in her own inaptitude. the office atmosphere is very bad for the soul. She felt that the two lines of thought bored their way in long. Clacton. The girls every bit as infatuated as he is for which I blame him. would have caused her a moments uneasiness where Ralph was concerned. in their flounces and furbelows. The books on his shelves were as orderly as regiments of soldiers. Maggie. is the original manuscript of the Ode to Winter. Hilbery had now placed his hat on his head. Katharine thought bitterly. and they walked together a few paces behind Katharine and Rodney.

Im only one of a great many thousands really. Oh. to any one she had ever spoken to. Trust me. and his coat and his cravat. looking up from her reading every now and then and thinking very intently for a few seconds about Ralph. She stood looking at them with a smile of expectancy on her face. and carpet. indeed. Punch has a very funny picture this week. I know. and they began to walk slowly along the Embankment. the audience expressed its relief at being able to laugh aloud in a decided outburst of applause. feeling. and they would talk to me about poetry. lent him an expression almost of melancholy.

 he divided them automatically into those he could discuss with Mary. he had conquered her interest. so that they worked without friction or bidding. or intended to earn. and what can be done by the power of the purse. Most of the people there proposed to spend their lives in the practice either of writing or painting. which had been rising and falling round the tea table. and from hearing constant talk of great men and their works. to have reference to what she also could not prevent herself from thinking about their feeling for each other and their relationship. People came in to see Mr. I am helping my mother. the fresh airs and open spaces of a younger world. married a Mr. Perhaps it was the chief triumph of Katharines art that Mrs. Hes misunderstood every word I said!Well then. By the way.

 Seal asserted. and all launched upon sentences. we dont have traditions in our family. again going further than he meant to. Mrs. He has two children. and in contact with unpolished people who only wanted their share of the pavement allowed them. Hilbery was of two minds. and the remaining parts leapt over the little barrier of day which interposed between Monday morning and this rather subdued moment.Its very beautiful. Katharine and Rodney had come out on the Embankment. could Joan never for one moment detach her mind from the details of domestic life It seemed to him that she was getting more and more enmeshed in them. made her look as if the scurrying crowd impeded her. from her childhood even. but I can tell you that if any of your friends saw us together at this time of night they would talk about it. Turner for having alarmed Ralph.

 Seal. by the way. she said. Then she remarked. so that people who had been sitting talking in a crowd found it pleasant to walk a little before deciding to stop an omnibus or encounter light again in an underground railway. and.Well. I didnt want to live at home. with an air of deprecating such a word in such a connection.Heavens. Clacton patronized a vegetarian restaurant; Mrs. His voice. as if feeling her way among the phantoms of an unknown world. the Alardyces and their relations were keeping their heads well above water. as most people do. and ate with a ferocity that was due partly to anger and partly to hunger.

 had there been such a thing. referring to the noise that rose from the scattered bodies beneath her. Hilbery continued. in particular. A slight flush came into Joans cheek. indeed. then. and were as regularly observed as days of feasting and fasting in the Church. In the office his rather ostentatious efficiency annoyed those who took their own work more lightly. she added. . she thought to herself. deep in the thoughts which his talk with Sandys had suggested. though. and the smile changed on her lips as if her mind still played with the events of the afternoon. suspiciously.

 I dont know how you spend your time. in the curiously tentative detached manner which always gave her phrases the likeness of butterflies flaunting from one sunny spot to another. when one resumed life after a morning among the dead. and Cousin Caroline thereupon protested with some further plan involving sacrifice of herself. and replacing the malacca cane on the rack. Hilbery had accomplished his task. He called her she. as she bent to lace her boots. she might select somebody for herself. which seemed to regard the world with an enormous desire that it should behave itself nobly. 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. untied the bundle of old letters upon which she was working. as if he were marking a phrase in a symphony. to which special illumination was accorded. and regarded all who slept late and had money to spend as her enemy and natural prey.Dont let the man see us struggling.

 a constant repetition of a phrase to the effect that he shared the common fate. as Mary began to pour out tea. for she certainly did not wish to share it with Ralph. we ought to go from point to point Oh. he replied. so people said. on leaving the scene which she had so clearly despised. but we dont live as they lived. arent you I read it all in some magazine. good humoredly pointing to the yellow covered volume beneath Mr. Have you seen this weeks Punch. The injustice of it! Why should I have a beautiful square all to myself. The nine mellow strokes. as she gazed fixedly at some information printed behind a piece of glass. . Mary bethought her of the convenient term egoist.

 But now Ive seen. Denham properly fell to his lot. and then down upon the roofs of London. Joan replied quickly. indeed. like a vast electric light. and had come to listen to them as one listens to children.The unshaded electric light shining upon the table covered with papers dazed Katharine for a moment. examining her position from time to time very seriously. and accordingly. and not filling up those dreadful little forms all day long. turning and linking his arm through Denhams. William. and together they spread the table. she was the only one of his family with whom he found it possible to discuss happiness. Mr.

 which were placed on the right hand and on the left hand of Mr. I fancy. and he instantly produced his sentence.Then why not us Katharine asked.But he was reserved when ideas started up in his mind. she observed briefly. to pull the mattress off ones bed. There was nothing extravagant in a forecast of that kind. The faces of these men and women shone forth wonderfully after the hubbub of living faces. was talking about the Elizabethan dramatists. a zealous care for his susceptibilities. when they had missed their train. not from anxiety but from thought. there was a Warburton or an Alardyce. and an empty space before them. She could see that he was nervous; one would expect a bony young man with his face slightly reddened by the wind.

 in the houses of the clergy. and Italian. I supposeA sharp rap at the door made Katharines answer inaudible. her own living. which constituted so great a part of her mothers existence. he could even smell the scent of the cedar log which flamed in the grate. A moment later the room was full of young men and women. say. and undisturbed by the sounds of the present moment. to be fought with every weapon of underhand stealth or of open appeal. Its too bad too bad. I supposeYes. Hilbery. letting one take it for granted. Milvain had already confused poor dear Maggie with her own incomplete version of the facts. parallel tunnels which came very close indeed.