to her nature; that she was therefore playing a part; and that the part was one of complete disassociation from.

a kind of artless self-confidence
a kind of artless self-confidence. I prescribe a copious toddy dispensed by my own learned hand.????Then I have no fears for you.The morning. Usually she came to recover from the season; this year she was sent early to gather strength for the marriage. An exceed-ingly gloomy gray in color.Charles had already visited what was perhaps the most famous shop in the Lyme of those days??the Old Fossil Shop.??*[* Omphalos: an attempt to untie the geological knot is now forgot-ten; which is a pity.????I was about to return. He did not look back. I should like to see that palace of piety burned to the ground and its owner with it. a kind of Mayfair equivalent of Mrs. Sarah stood shyly.??Science eventually regained its hegemony. but he had meant to walk quickly to it. Charles adamantly refused to hunt the fox.

Mr. He even knew of Sam Weller.Five uneventful days passed after the last I have described. wanted children; but the payment she vaguely divined she would have to make for them seemed excessive. and in places where a man with a broken leg could shout all week and not be heard. more like a man??s riding coat than any woman??s coat that had been in fashion those past forty years.??A thousand apologies. His calm exterior she took for the terrible silence of a recent battlefield. There was a small scatter of respecta-ble houses in Ware Valley.??Then let us hear no more of this foolishness.. risible to the foreigner??a year or two previously. she had acuity in practical matters. He was being shaved. He let the lather stay where it was. And although I still don??t understand why you should have honored me by interesting me in your .

??I was introduced the other day to a specimen of the local flora that inclines me partly to agree with you. Doctor Grogan was not financially very dependent on Mrs.. already suspected but not faced. The culprit was summoned.The men??s voices sounded louder. But whether it was because she had slipped. however.In her room that afternoon she unbuttoned her dress and stood before her mirror in her chemise and petticoats.????It??s the ??oomiliation. It was not . For a few moments she became lost in a highly narcissistic self-contemplation. You cannot know that the sweeter they are the more intolerable the pain is. especially from the back. if her God was watching. It has also.

over the port. . who still kept traces of the accent of their province; and no one thought any the worse of them. And I have a long nose for bigots . He noted that mouth. adrift in the slow entire of Victorian time. They found themselves. Already Buffon. with frequent turns towards the sea. Mrs. I must point out that his relationship with Sam did show a kind of affection. People have been lost in it for hours.????It??s the ??oomiliation. like squadrons of reserve moons. She must have heard the sound of his nailed boots on the flint that had worn through the chalk. a man of a very different political complexion.

??Sweet child. in spite of Mrs. and with a kind of despair beneath the timidity.Oh. Her name is Sarah Woodruff. Very soon he marched firmly away up the steeper path.When the next morning came and Charles took up his un-gentle probing of Sam??s Cockney heart.. its black feathers gleaming. Talbot is a somewhat eccentric lady. Mary was the niece of a cousin of Mrs. finally escorted the ladies back to their house. He lavished if not great affection. Talbot??s patent laxity of standard and foolish sentimen-tality finally helped Sarah with Mrs. Then he looked up in surprise at her unsmiling face. So that they should know I have suffered.

of women lying asleep on sunlit ledges.Charles was about to climb back to the path. Why Mrs. He wondered why he had ever thought she was not indeed slightly crazed. The relations of one??s dependents can become so very tiresome. and the door opened to reveal Mary bearing a vase with a positive fountain of spring flowers. the even more distin-guished Signer Ritornello (or some such name. He was detected. where propriety seemed unknown and the worship of sin as normal as the worship of virtue is in a nobler building. The path was narrow and she had the right of way. It was. But Charles politely refused all attempts to get him to stand for Parliament. But it charmed her; and so did the demeanor of the girl as she read ??O that my ways were directed to keep Thy statutes!??There remained a brief interrogation.. a tiny Piraeus to a microscopic Athens. Sam stood stropping his razor. and nodded??very vehemently. and kissed her. abstaining) was greeted with smiles from the average man. She first turned rather sulkily to her entry of that morning. Ernestina did her best to be angry with her; on the impossibility of having dinner at five; on the subject of the funereal furniture that choked the other rooms; on the subject of her aunt??s oversolicitude for her fair name (she would not believe that the bridegroom and bride-to-be might wish to sit alone. momentarily dropped. were an agree-able compensation for all the boredom inflicted at other times. Mr. It was not strange because it was more real. so that she faced the sea; and so. She is asleep. but Sam did most of the talking. In all except his origins he was impeccably a gentleman; and he had married discreetly above him.

There was first of all a very material dispute to arbitrate upon??Ernestina??s folly in wearing grenadine when it was still merino weather. Mr.????She speaks French??? Mrs. and that the heels of her shoes were mudstained.??Once again they walked on. and sincerely. very interestingly to a shrewd observer. Besides. prim-roses rush out in January; and March mimics June. ??Then no doubt it was Sam. ??Now this girl??what is her name??? Mary???this charming Miss Mary may be great fun to tease and be teased by??let me finish??but I am told she is a gentle trusting creature at heart. A despair whose pains were made doubly worse by the other pains I had to take to conceal it. since only the servants lived there??and the other was Immorality. the cadmium-yellow flowers so dense they almost hid the green. Aunt Tranter backed him up. and Mary she saw every day.??Charles had known women??frequently Ernestina herself?? contradict him playfully. The dead man??s clothes still hung in his wardrobe. and she must have known how little consis-tent each telling was with the previous; yet she laughed most??and at times so immoderately that I dread to think what might have happened had the pillar of the community up the hill chanced to hear. None like you. And his advice would have resembled mine. a faint opacity in his suitably solemn eyes.??He stepped aside and she walked out again onto the cropped turf. and then again from five to ten. like Ernestina??s. who continued to give the figure above a dooming stare.And let us start happily. The old man??s younger son. ??Sometimes I almost pity them.

as a clergyman does whose advice is sought on a spiritual problem. Without quite knowing why. Poulteney??s presence that was not directly connected with her duties. I find this new reality (or unreality) more valid; and I would have you share my own sense that I do not fully control these crea-tures of my mind. no less. In a way. Mr. Fairley.????I think I might well join you. Where you and I flinch back. I flatter myself . seemingly across a plain. Sarah??s saving of Millie??and other more discreet interventions??made her popular and respected downstairs; and perhaps Mrs. You will recall the French barque??I think she hailed from Saint Malo??that was driven ashore under Stonebarrow in the dreadful gale of last December? And you will no doubt recall that three of the crew were saved and were taken in by the people of Charmouth? Two were simple sailors. by drawing from those pouched.She remained looking out to sea. at least in Great Britain. a tiny Piraeus to a microscopic Athens. a museum of objects created in the first fine rejection of all things decadent. in spite of Charles??s express prohibition. my beloved!??Then faintly o??er her lips a wan smile moved. without warning her.??But I??m intrigued.??The doctor rather crossly turned to replace the lamp on its table. Ernestina ran into her mother??s opened arms.. It did not please Mrs. bathed in an eternal moonlight. there walks the French Lieutenant??s Whore??oh yes.

But whether it was because she had slipped. he soon held a very concrete example of it in his hand. I am not quite sure of her age. a cook and two maids. He murmured.Mrs.000 years. and she must have known how little consis-tent each telling was with the previous; yet she laughed most??and at times so immoderately that I dread to think what might have happened had the pillar of the community up the hill chanced to hear. Poulteney??s presence.Sam could. for this was one of the last Great Bustards shot on Salisbury Plain.????What! From a mere milkmaid? Impossible.??And then. kind Mrs. Charles stares. a little recovered. Nothing of course took the place of good blood; but it had become generally accepted that good money and good brains could produce artificially a passable enough facsimile of acceptable social standing.. very slightly built; and all his movements were neat and trim. You must not think I speak of mere envy. I was afraid lest you had been taken ill. since it lies well apart from the main town. for the doctor and she were old friends. which was most tiresome. It was not only that she ceased abruptly to be the tacit favorite of the household when the young lady from London arrived; but the young lady from London came also with trunkfuls of the latest London and Paris fashions. He was intrigued to see how the wild animal would behave in these barred surroundings; and was soon disappointed to see that it was with an apparent utter meekness. wild-voiced beneath the air??s blue peace. since only the servants lived there??and the other was Immorality.Sam??s had not been the only dark face in Lyme that morn-ing.

in terms of our own time. if you had turned northward and landward in 1867. and in her barouche only to the houses of her equals. or to pull the bell when it was decided that the ladies would like hot chocolate. to the top. ma??m. superior to most. But to a less tax-paying. Tranter. Very wicked. and endowed in the first field with a miracu-lous sixth sense as regards dust. and presumed that a flint had indeed dropped from the chalk face above. You are a cunning. reproachful glance; for a wild moment he thought he was being accused himself??then realized. kind Mrs. then. Nor were hers the sobbing. he was using damp powder. for fame. Sam. I do not like them so close. her fat arms shiny with suds... never serious with him; without exactly saying so she gave him the impression that she liked him because he was fun?? but of course she knew he would never marry. Ernestina began to cry again; then dried her eyes. a biased logic when she came across them; but she also saw through people in subtler ways. If gangrene had inter-vened. Or indeed.

. ??I fancy that??s one bag of fundamentalist wind that will think twice before blowing on this part of the Dorset littoral again. The world is only too literally too much with us now. with an expression on his face that sug-gested that at any moment he might change his mind and try it on his own throat; or perhaps even on his smiling master??s. to a young lady familiar with the best that London can offer it was worse than nil. She. and not to the Ancient Borough of Lyme.Incomprehensible? But some vices were then so unnatural that they did not exist.. And he could no more have avoided his fate than a plump mouse dropping between the claws of a hungry cat??several dozen hungry cats. She seemed totally indifferent to fashion; and survived in spite of it. It is that . Convenience; and they were accordingly long ago pulled down.Under this swarm of waspish self-inquiries he began to feel sorry for himself??a brilliant man trapped. that is. and the rare trees stayed unmolested. almost. There even came. The husband was evidently a taciturn man. supporting himself on his hands. The last five years had seen a great emancipation in women??s fashions.??Very well. And afraid. free as a god. and an inferior who depended on her for many of the pleasures of his table. and one not of one??s sex . He looked up at the doctor??s severe eyes. in chess terms. and quite inaccurate-ly.

I believe you. that there was a physical pleasure in love.. There is One Above who has a prior claim. But by then she had already acted; gathering up her skirt she walked swiftly over the grass to the east. He told me foolish things about myself. silly Tina. She felt he must be hiding something??a tragic French countess. sir. Blind. ??I woulden touch ??er with a bargepole! Bloomin?? milkmaid. He declared himself without political conviction. delighted. He was aggressively contemptuous of anything that did not emanate from the West End of London. which the fixity of her stare at him aggravated.??Their eyes met and held for a long moment. It was as if. so full of smiles and caresses. at least in London. one that obliged Charles to put his arm round Ernestina??s waist to support her.??Lyell. whatever sins I have committed. The Lyme Assembly Rooms were perhaps not much. I feared you might. Victorias. Sarah seemed almost to assume some sort of equality of intellect with him; and in precisely the circumstances where she should have been most deferential if she wished to encompass her end.Fairley. a correspond-ing twinkle in his eyes.Mary was not faultless; and one of her faults was a certain envy of Ernestina.

a mere trace remained of one of the five sets of converging pinpricked lines that decorate the perfect shell. Tranter??s defense.??I feel like an Irish navigator transported into a queen??s boudoir. a man of a very different political complexion. he found incomprehen-sible. television. in modern politi-cal history? Where the highest are indecipherable. by way of compensation for so much else in her expected behavior. I fear I addressed you in a most impolite manner. because. But as one day passed.?? Mrs. Mr. By that time Sarah had been earning her own living for a year??at first with a family in Dorchester. a broad. and disap-probation of. She was Sheridan??s granddaughter for one thing; she had been. for she is one of the more celebrated younger English film actresses. should have left earlier.??She has read the last line most significantly. its black feathers gleaming. and caught her eyes between her fingers. and where Millie had now been put to bed.. sir. your romanced autobiography. which Mrs. She would guess.?? He felt himself in suspension between the two worlds.

??Oh Charles . which curved down a broad combe called Ware Valley until it joined. ??Of course not. Fairley did not know him. exactly a year before the time of which I write; and it had to do with the great secret of Mrs.??That there bag o?? soot will be delivered as bordered. It is true that to explain his obscure feeling of malaise. That ??divilish bit better?? will be the ruin of this country. It was plain their intention had been to turn up the path on which he stood. Poulteney and advised Sarah to take the post. and an inferior who depended on her for many of the pleasures of his table. With certain old-established visitors. low voice. I know he was a Christian. but duty is peremptory and absolute. A tiny wave of the previous day??s ennui washed back over him. I??ave haccepted them.??Well. as the door closed in their smiling faces. Miss Woodruff. Poulteney was not a stupid woman; indeed.It was an evening that Charles would normally have en-joyed; not least perhaps because the doctor permitted himself little freedoms of language and fact in some of his tales. besides.??But if I believed that someone cared for me sufficiently to share. When I was in Dorchester.????Doan believe ??ee. mum. not an object of employment..

But you must remember that she is not alady born.??But she was still looking up at him then; and his words tailed off into silence. my beloved!??Then faintly o??er her lips a wan smile moved. and disap-probation of. or more discriminating. But a message awaited me. his pipe lay beside his favorite chair. we all suffer from at times. She would. To this distin-guished local memory Charles had paid his homage??and his cash. pleasantly dwarfed as he made his way among them towards the almost vertical chalk faces he could see higher up the slope.?? There was another silence.?? Mary spoke in a dialect notorious for its contempt of pro-nouns and suffixes. a hedge-prostitute. you understand.??There was a silence then. She confessed that she had forgotten; Mrs. No doubt he hoped to practice some abomination upon the poor creature in Weymouth.????Tragedy?????A nickname.??I know a secluded place nearby.So she entered upon her good deed. and overcome by an equally strange feeling??not sexual. Grogan??s little remark about the comparative priority to be accorded the dead and the living had germinated. and sincerely. a rich warmth. For the first time she did not look through him. Smithson. She moderated her tone. Us izzen ??lowed to look at a man an?? we??m courtin??.

tender. there . she went on. perhaps remembering the black night of the soul his first essay in that field had caused. more like a man??s riding coat than any woman??s coat that had been in fashion those past forty years. In neither field did anything untoward escape her eagle eye. it was a timid look. His flesh was torn from his hip to his knee.??She said nothing. and means something like ??We make our destinies by our choice of gods.????Doan believe ??ee. of course. ??A young person. She frowned and stared at her deep-piled carpet.????At the North Pole.????You fear he will never return?????I know he will never return. On the far side of this shoulder the land flattened for a few yards. Poulteney had been a total. . He had not traveled abroad those last two years; and he had realized that previously traveling had been a substitute for not having a wife. Charles. born in a gin palace??????Next door to one. Sam? In twenty-four hours???Sam began to rub the washstand with the towel that was intended for Charles??s cheeks. But you must surely realize that any greater intimacy . With those that secretly wanted to be bullied. an unsuccessful appeal to knowl-edge is more often than not a successful appeal to disappro-val.??????From what you said??????This book is about the living. He was slim. It became clear to him that the girl??s silent meekness ran contrary to her nature; that she was therefore playing a part; and that the part was one of complete disassociation from.