diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 01:45:52 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 01:45:52 -0700 |
| commit | eb588e84060946308ba236946b57bde21c6ba309 (patch) | |
| tree | 354b6dc842ab0ce3d5682cda7299ee4661de231d /old | |
Diffstat (limited to 'old')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/21771-h.htm.2021-01-25 | 3188 |
1 files changed, 3188 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/old/21771-h.htm.2021-01-25 b/old/21771-h.htm.2021-01-25 new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b91e867 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/21771-h.htm.2021-01-25 @@ -0,0 +1,3188 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + Georgina's Reasons, by Henry James + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Georgina's Reasons, by Henry James + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Georgina's Reasons + +Author: Henry James + +Release Date: June 8, 2007 [EBook #21771] +Last Updated: September 18, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GEORGINA'S REASONS *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + GEORGINA’S REASONS + </h1> + <h2> + By Henry James <br /> <br /> <br /> 1885 + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + Contents + </h2> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PART"> PART I. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> I. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> II. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PART2"> PART II. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> III. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> IV. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PART3"> PART III. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> V. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> VI. </a> + </p> + <a name="link2H_PART" id="link2H_PART"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + PART I. + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + I. + </h2> + <p> + She was certainly a singular girl, and if he felt at the end that he did + n’t know her nor understand her, it is not surprising that he should have + felt it at the beginning. But he felt at the beginning what he did not + feel at the end, that her singularity took the form of a charm which—once + circumstances had made them so intimate—it was impossible to resist + or conjure away. He had a strange impression (it amounted at times to a + positive distress, and shot through the sense of pleasure—morally + speaking—with the acuteness of a sudden twinge of neuralgia) that it + would be better for each of them that they should break off short and + never see each other again. In later years he called this feeling a + foreboding, and remembered two or three occasions when he had been on the + point of expressing it to Georgina. Of course, in fact, he never expressed + it; there were plenty of good reasons for that. Happy love is not disposed + to assume disagreeable duties, and Raymond Benyon’s love was happy, in + spite of grave presentiments, in spite of the singularity of his mistress + and the insufferable rudeness of her parents. She was a tall, fair girl, + with a beautiful cold eye and a smile of which the perfect sweetness, + proceeding from the lips, was full of compensation; she had auburn hair of + a hue that could be qualified as nothing less than gorgeous, and she + seemed to move through life with a stately grace, as she would have walked + through an old-fashioned minuet. Gentlemen connected with the navy have + the advantage of seeing many types of women; they are able to compare the + ladies of New York with those of Valparaiso, and those of Halifax with + those of the Cape of Good Hope. Eaymond Benyon had had these advantages, + and being very fond of women he had learnt his lesson; he was in a + position to appreciate Georgina Gressie’s fine points. She looked like a + duchess,—I don’t mean that in foreign ports Benyon had associated + with duchesses,—and she took everything so seriously. That was + flattering for the young man, who was only a lieutenant, detailed for duty + at the Brooklyn navy-yard, without a penny in the world but his pay, with + a set of plain, numerous, seafaring, God-fearing relations in New + Hampshire, a considerable appearance of talent, a feverish, disguised + ambition, and a slight impediment in his speech. + </p> + <p> + He was a spare, tough young man, his dark hair was straight and fine, and + his face, a trifle pale, was smooth and carefully drawn. He stammered a + little, blushing when he did so, at long intervals. I scarcely know how he + appeared on shipboard, but on shore, in his civilian’s garb, which was of + the neatest, he had as little as possible an aroma of winds and waves. He + was neither salt nor brown, nor red, nor particularly “hearty.” He never + twitched up his trousers, nor, so far as one could see, did he, with his + modest, attentive manner, carry himself as one accustomed to command. Of + course, as a subaltern, he had more to do in the way of obeying. He looked + as if he followed some sedentary calling, and was, indeed, supposed to be + decidedly intellectual. He was a lamb with women, to whose charms he was, + as I have hinted, susceptible; but with men he was different, and, I + believe, as much of a wolf as was necessary. He had a manner of adoring + the handsome, insolent queen of his affections (I will explain in a moment + why I call her insolent); indeed, he looked up to her literally as well as + sentimentally; for she was the least bit the taller of the two. He had met + her the summer before, on the piazza of a hotel at Fort Hamilton, to + which, with a brother officer, in a dusty buggy, he had driven over from + Brooklyn to spend a tremendously hot Sunday,—the kind of day when + the navy-yard was loathsome; and the acquaintance had been renewed by his + calling in Twelfth Street on New-Year’s Day,—a considerable time to + wait for a pretext, but which proved the impression had not been + transitory. The acquaintance ripened, thanks to a zealous cultivation (on + his part) of occasions which Providence, it must be confessed, placed at + his disposal none too liberally; so that now Georgina took up all his + thoughts and a considerable part of his time. He was in love with her, + beyond a doubt; but he could not flatter himself that she was in love with + him, though she appeared willing (what was so strange) to quarrel with her + family about him. He did n’t see how she could really care for him,—she + seemed marked out by nature for so much greater a fortune; and he used to + say to her, “Ah, you don’t—there’s no use talking, you don’t—really + care for me at all!” To which she answered, “Really? You are very + particular. It seems to me it’s real enough if I let you touch one of my + fingertips! “That was one of her ways of being insolent Another was simply + her manner of looking at him, or at other people (when they spoke to her), + with her hard, divine blue eye,—looking quietly, amusedly, with the + air of considering (wholly from her own point of view) what they might + have said, and then turning her head or her back, while, without taking + the trouble to answer them, she broke into a short, liquid, irrelevant + laugh. This may seem to contradict what I said just now about her taking + the young lieutenant in the navy seriously. What I mean is that she + appeared to take him more seriously than she took anything else. She said + to him once, “At any rate you have the merit of not being a shop-keeper;” + and it was by this epithet she was pleased to designate most of the young + men who at that time flourished in the best society of New York. Even if + she had rather a free way of expressing general indifference, a young lady + is supposed to be serious enough when she consents to marry you. For the + rest, as regards a certain haughtiness that might be observed in Geoigina + Gressie, my story will probably throw sufficient light upon it She + remarked to Benyon once that it was none of his business why she liked + him, but that, to please herself, she did n’t mind telling him she thought + the great Napoleon, before he was celebrated, before he had command of the + army of Italy, must have looked something like him; and she sketched in a + few words the sort of figure she imagined the incipient Bonaparte to have + been,—short, lean, pale, poor, intellectual, and with a tremendous + future under his hat Benyon asked himself whether <i>he</i> had a + tremendous future, and what in the world Geoigina expected of him in the + coming years. He was flattered at the comparison, he was ambitious enough + not to be frightened at it, and he guessed that she perceived a certain + analogy between herself and the Empress Josephine. She would make a very + good empress. That was true; Georgina was remarkably imperial. This may + not at first seem to make it more clear why she should take into her favor + an aspirant who, on the face of the matter, was not original, and whose + Corsica was a flat New England seaport; but it afterward became plain that + he owed his brief happiness—it was very brief—to her father’s + opposition; her father’s and her mother’s, and even her uncles’ and her + aunts’. In those days, in New York, the different members of a family took + an interest in its alliances, and the house of Gressie looked askance at + an engagement between the most beautiful of its daughters and a young man + who was not in a paying business. Georgina declared that they were + meddlesome and vulgar,—she could sacrifice her own people, in that + way, without a scruple,—and Benyon’s position improved from the + moment that Mr. Gressie—ill-advised Mr. Gressie—ordered the + girl to have nothing to do with him. Georgina was imperial in this—that + she wouldn’t put up with an order. When, in the house in Twelfth Street, + it began to be talked about that she had better be sent to Europe with + some eligible friend, Mrs. Portico, for instance, who was always planning + to go, and who wanted as a companion some young mind, fresh from manuals + and extracts, to serve as a fountain of history and geography,—when + this scheme for getting Georgina out of the way began to be aired, she + immediately said to Raymond Benyon, “Oh, yes, I ‘ll marry you!” She said + it in such an off-hand way that, deeply as he desired her, he was almost + tempted to answer, “But, my dear, have you really thought about it?” + </p> + <p> + This little drama went on, in New York, in the ancient days, when Twelfth + Street had but lately ceased to be suburban, when the squares had wooden + palings, which were not often painted; when there were poplars in + important thoroughfares and pigs in the lateral ways; when the theatres + were miles distant from Madison Square, and the battered rotunda of Castle + Garden echoed with expensive vocal music; when “the park” meant the + grass-plats of the city hall, and the Bloomingdale road was an eligible + drive; when Hoboken, of a summer afternoon, was a genteel resort, and the + handsomest house in town was on the corner of the Fifth Avenue and + Fifteenth Street. This will strike the modern reader, I fear, as rather a + primitive epoch; but I am not sure that the strength of human passions is + in proportion to the elongation of a city. Several of them, at any rate, + the most robust and most familiar,—love, ambition, jealousy, + resentment, greed,—subsisted in considerable force in the little + circle at which we have glanced, where a view by no means favorable was + taken of Raymond Benyon’s attentions to Miss Gressie. Unanimity was a + family trait among these people (Georgina was an exception), especially in + regard to the important concerns of life, such as marriages and closing + scenes. The Gressies hung together; they were accustomed to do well for + themselves and for each other. They did everything well: got themselves + born well (they thought it excellent to be born a Gressie), lived well, + married well, died well, and managed to be well spoken of afterward. In + deference to this last-mentioned habit, I must be careful what I say of + them. They took an interest in each other’s concerns, an interest that + could never be regarded as of a meddlesome nature, inasmuch as they all + thought alike about all their affairs, and interference took the happy + form of congratulation and encouragement. These affairs were invariably + lucky, and, as a general thing, no Gressie had anything to do but feel + that another Gressie had been almost as shrewd and decided as he himself + would have been. The great exception to that, as I have said, was this + case of Georgina, who struck such a false note, a note that startled them + all, when she told her father that she should like to unite herself to a + young man engaged in the least paying business that any Gressie had ever + heard of. Her two sisters had married into the most flourishing firms, and + it was not to be thought of that—with twenty cousins growing up + around her—she should put down the standard of success. Her mother + had told her a fortnight before this that she must request Mr. Benyon to + cease coming to the house; for hitherto his suit had been of the most + public and resolute character. He had been conveyed up town from the + Brooklyn ferry, in the “stage,” on certain evenings, had asked for Miss + Georgina at the door of the house in Twelfth Street, and had sat with her + in the front parlor if her parents happened to occupy the back, or in the + back if the family had disposed itself in the front. Georgina, in her way, + was a dutiful girl, and she immediately repeated her mother’s admonition + to Beuyon. He was not surprised, for though he was aware that he had not, + as yet, a great knowledge of society, he flattered himself he could tell + when—and where—a young man was not wanted. There were houses + in Brooklyn where such an animal was much appreciated, and there the signs + were quite different They had been discouraging—except on Georgina’s + pail—from the first of his calling in Twelfth Street Mr. and Mrs. + Gressie used to look at each other in silence when he came in, and indulge + in strange, perpendicular salutations, without any shaking of hands. + People did that at Portsmouth, N.H., when they were glad to see you; but + in New York there was more luxuriance, and gesture had a different value. + He had never, in Twelfth Street, been asked to “take anything,” though the + house had a delightful suggestion, a positive aroma, of sideboards,—as + if there were mahogany “cellarettes” under every table. The old people, + moreover, had repeatedly expressed surprise at the quantity of leisure + that officers in the navy seemed to enjoy. The only way in which they had + not made themselves offensive was by always remaining in the other room; + though at times even this detachment, to which he owed some delightful + moments, presented itself to Benyon as a form of disapprobation. Of + course, after Mrs. Gressie’s message, his visits were practically at an + end; he would n’t give the girl up, but he would n’t be beholden to her + father for the opportunity to converse with her. Nothing was left for the + tender couple—there was a curious mutual mistrust in their + tenderness—but to meet in the squares, or in the topmost streets, or + in the sidemost avenues, on the afternoons of spring. It was especially + during this phase of their relations that Georgina struck Benyon as + imperial Her whole person seemed to exhale a tranquil, happy consciousness + of having broken a law. She never told him how she arranged the matter at + home, how she found it possible always to keep the appointments (to meet + him out of the house) that she so boldly made, in what degree she + dissimulated to her parents, and how much, in regard to their continued + acquaintance, the old people suspected and accepted. If Mr. and Mrs. + Gressie had forbidden him the house, it was not, apparently, because they + wished her to walk with him in the Tenth Avenue or to sit at his side + under the blossoming lilacs in Stuyvesant Square. He didn’t believe that + she told lies in Twelfth Street; he thought she was too imperial to lie; + and he wondered what she said to her mother when, at the end of nearly a + whole afternoon of vague peregrination with her lover, this bridling, + bristling matron asked her where she had been. Georgina was capable of + simply telling the truth; and yet if she simply told the truth, it was a + wonder that she had not been simply packed off to Europe. + </p> + <p> + Benyon’s ignorance of her pretexts is a proof that this rather oddly-mated + couple never arrived at perfect intimacy,—in spite of a fact which + remains to be related. He thought of this afterwards, and thought how + strange it was that he had not felt more at liberty to ask her what she + did for him, and how she did it, and how much she suffered for him. She + would probably not have admitted that she suffered at all, and she had no + wish to pose for a martyr. Benyon remembered this, as I say, in the after + years, when he tried to explain to himself certain things which simply + puzzled him; it came back to him with the vision, already faded, of shabby + cross-streets, straggling toward rivers, with red sunsets, seen through a + haze of dust, at the end; a vista through which the figures of a young man + and a girl slowly receded and disappeared,—strolling side by side, + with the relaxed pace of desultory talk, but more closely linked as they + passed into the distance, linked by its at last appearing safe to them—in + the Tenth Avenue—that the young lady should take his arm. They were + always approaching that inferior thoroughfare; but he could scarcely have + told you, in those days, what else they were approaching. He had nothing + in the world but his pay, and he felt that this was rather a “mean” income + to offer Miss Gressie. Therefore he did n’t put it forward; what he + offered, instead, was the expression—crude often, and almost + boyishly extravagant—of a delighted admiration of her beauty, the + tenderest tones of his voice, the softest assurances of his eye and the + most insinuating pressure of her hand at those moments when she consented + to place it in his arm. All this was an eloquence which, if necessary, + might have been condensed into a single sentence; but those few words were + scarcely needful, when it was as plain that he expected—in general—she + would marry him, as it was indefinite that he counted upon her for living + on a few hundreds a year. If she had been a different girl he might have + asked her to wait,—might have talked to her of the coming of better + days, of his prospective promotion, of its being wiser, perhaps, that he + should leave the navy and look about for a more lucrative career. With + Georgina it was difficult to go into such questions; she had no taste + whatever for detail. She was delightful as a woman to love, because when a + young man is in love he discovers that; but she could not be called + helpful, for she never suggested anything. That is, she never had done so + till the day she really proposed—for that was the form it took—to + become his wife without more delay. “Oh, yes, I will marry you;” these + words, which I quoted a little way back, were not so much the answer to + something he had said at the moment, as the light conclusion of a report + she had just made, for the first time, of her actual situation in her + father’s house. + </p> + <p> + “I am afraid I shall have to see less of you,” she had begun by saying. + “They watch me so much.” + </p> + <p> + “It is very little already,” he answered. “What is once or twice a week?” + </p> + <p> + “That’s easy for you to say. You are your own master, but you don’t know + what I go through.” + </p> + <p> + “Do they make it very bad for you, dearest? Do they make scenes?” Benyon + asked. + </p> + <p> + “No, of course not. Don’t you know us enough to know how we behave? No + scenes,—that would be a relief. However, I never make them myself, + and I never will—that’s one comfort for you, for the future, if you + want to know. Father and mother keep very quiet, looking at me as if I + were one of the lost, with hard, screwing eyes, like gimlets. To me they + scarcely say anything, but they talk it all over with each other, and try + and decide what is to be done. It’s my belief that father has written to + the people in Washington—what do you call it! the Department—to + have you moved away from Brooklyn,—to have you sent to sea.” + </p> + <p> + “I guess that won’t do much good. They want me in Brooklyn, they don’t + want me at sea.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, they are capable of going to Europe for a year, on purpose to take + me,” Geoigina said. + </p> + <p> + “How can they take you, if you won’t go? And if you should go, what good + would it do, if you were only to find me here when you came back, just the + same as you left me?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, well!” said Georgina, with her lovely smile, “of course they think + that absence would cure me of—cure me of—” And she paused, + with a certain natural modesty, not saying exactly of what. + </p> + <p> + “Cure you of what, darling? Say it, please say it,” the young man + murmured, drawing her hand surreptitiously into his arm. + </p> + <p> + “Of my absurd infatuation!” + </p> + <p> + “And would it, dearest?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, very likely. But I don’t mean to try. I sha’n’t go to Europe,—not + when I don’t want to. But it’s better I should see less of you,—even + that I should appear—a little—to give you up.” + </p> + <p> + “A little? What do you call a little?” + </p> + <p> + Georgina said nothing, for a moment. “Well, that, for instance, you should + n’t hold my hand quite so tight!” And she disengaged this conscious member + from the pressure of his arm. + </p> + <p> + “What good will that do?” Benyon asked, + </p> + <p> + “It will make them think it ‘s all over,—that we have agreed to + part.” + </p> + <p> + “And as we have done nothing of the kind, how will that help us?” + </p> + <p> + They had stopped at the crossing of a street; a heavy dray was lumbering + slowly past them. Georgina, as she stood there, turned her face to her + lover, and rested her eyes for some moments on his own. At last: “Nothing + will help us; I don’t think we are very happy,” she answered, while her + strange, ironical, inconsequent smile played about her beautiful lips. + </p> + <p> + “I don’t understand how you see things. I thought you were going to say + you would marry me!” Benyon rejoined, standing there still, though the + dray had passed. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, yes, I will marry you!” And she moved away, across the street. That + was the manner in which she had said it, and it was very characteristic of + her. When he saw that she really meant it, he wished they were somewhere + else,—he hardly knew where the proper place would be,—so that + he might take her in his arms. Nevertheless, before they separated that + day he had said to her he hoped she remembered they would be very poor, + reminding her how great a change she would find it She answered that she + should n’t mind, and presently she said that if this was all that + prevented them the sooner they were married the better. The next time he + saw her she was quite of the same opinion; but he found, to his surprise, + it was now her conviction that she had better not leave her father’s + house. The ceremony should take place secretly, of course; but they would + wait awhile to let their union be known. + </p> + <p> + “What good will it do us, then?” Raymond Benyon asked. + </p> + <p> + Georgina colored. “Well, if you don’t know, I can’t tell you!” + </p> + <p> + Then it seemed to him that he did know. Yet, at the same time, he could + not see why, once the knot was tied, secrecy should be required. When he + asked what special event they were to wait for, and what should give them + the signal to appear as man and wife, she answered that her parents would + probably forgive her, if they were to discover, not too abruptly, after + six months, that she had taken the great step. Benyon supposed that she + had ceased to care whether they forgave her or not; but he had already + perceived that women are full of inconsistencies. He had believed her + capable of marrying him out of bravado, but the pleasure of defiance was + absent if the marriage was kept to themselves. Now, too, it appeared that + she was not especially anxious to defy,—she was disposed rather to + manage, to cultivate opportunities and reap the fruits of a waiting game. + </p> + <p> + “Leave it to me. Leave it to me. You are only a blundering man,” Georgina + said. “I shall know much better than you the right moment for saying, + ‘Well, you may as well make the best of it, because we have already done + it!’” + </p> + <p> + That might very well be, but Benyon did n’t quite understand, and he was + awkwardly anxious (for a lover) till it came over him afresh that there + was one thing at any rate in his favor, which was simply that the + loveliest girl he had ever seen was ready to throw herself into his arms. + When he said to her, “There is one thing I hate in this plan of yours,—that, + for ever so few weeks, so few days, your father should support my wife,”—when + he made this homely remark, with a little flush of sincerity in his face, + she gave him a specimen of that unanswerable laugh of hers, and declared + that it would serve Mr. Gressie right for being so barbarous and so + horrid. It was Benyon’s view that from the moment she disobeyed her + father, she ought to cease to avail herself of his protection; but I am + bound to add that he was not particularly surprised at finding this a kind + of honor in which her feminine nature was little versed. To make her his + wife first—at the earliest moment—whenever she would, and + trust to fortune, and the new influence he should have, to give him, as + soon thereafter as possible, complete possession of her,—this rather + promptly presented itself to the young man as the course most worthy of a + person of spirit. He would be only a pedant who would take nothing because + he could not get everything at once. They wandered further than usual this + afternoon, and the dusk was thick by the time he brought her back to her + father’s door. It was not his habit to como so near it, but to-day they + had so much to talk about that he actually stood with her for ten minutes + at the foot of the steps. He was keeping her hand in his, and she let it + rest there while she said,—by way of a remark that should sum up all + their reasons and reconcile their differences,— + </p> + <p> + “There’s one great thing it will do, you know; it will make me safe.” + </p> + <p> + “Safe from what?” + </p> + <p> + “From marrying any one else.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, my girl, if you were to do that—!” Benyon exclaimed; but he did + n’t mention the other branch of the contingency. Instead of this, he + looked up at the blind face of the house—there were only dim lights + in two or three windows, and no apparent eyes—and up and down the + empty street, vague in the friendly twilight; after which he drew Georgina + Gressie to his breast and gave her a long, passionate kiss. Yes, + decidedly, he felt, they had better be married. She had run quickly up the + steps, and while she stood there, with her hand on the bell, she almost + hissed at him, under her breath, “Go away, go away; Amanda’s coming!” + Amanda was the parlor-maid, and it was in those terms that the Twelfth + Street Juliet dismissed her Brooklyn Romeo. As he wandered back into the + Fifth Avenue, where the evening air was conscious of a vernal fragrance + from the shrubs in the little precinct of the pretty Gothic church + ornamenting that charming part of the street, he was too absorbed in the + impression of the delightful contact from which the girl had violently + released herself to reflect that the great reason she had mentioned a + moment before was a reason for their marrying, of course, but not in the + least a reason for their not making it public. But, as I said in the + opening lines of this chapter, if he did not understand his mistress’s + motives at the end, he cannot be expected to have understood them at the + beginning. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II. + </h2> + <p> + Mrs. Portico, as we know, was always talking about going to Europe; but + she had not yet—I mean a year after the incident I have just related—put + her hand upon a youthful cicerone. Petticoats, of course, were required; + it was necessary that her companion should be of the sex which sinks most + naturally upon benches, in galleries and cathredrals, and pauses most + frequently upon staircases that ascend to celebrated views. She was a + widow, with a good fortune and several sons, all of whom were in Wall + Street, and none of them capable of the relaxed pace at which she expected + to take her foreign tour. They were all in a state of tension. They went + through life standing. She was a short, broad, high-colored woman, with a + loud voice, and superabundant black hair, arranged in a way peculiar to + herself,—with so many combs and bands that it had the appearance of + a national coiffure. There was an impression in New York, about 1845, that + the style was Danish; some one had said something about having seen it in + Schleswig-Holstein. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Portico had a bold, humorous, slightly flamboyant look; people who + saw her for the first time received an impression that her late husband + had married the daughter of a barkeeper or the proprietress of a + menageria. Her high, hoarse, good-natured voice seemed to connect her in + some way with public life; it was not pretty enough to suggest that she + might have been an actress. These ideas quickly passed away, however, even + if you were not sufficiently initiated to know—as all the Grossies, + for instance, knew so well—that her origin, so far from being + enveloped in mystery, was almost the sort of thing she might have boasted + of. But in spite of the high pitch of her appearance, she didn’t boast of + anything; she was a genial, easy, comical, irreverent person, with a large + charity, a democratic, fraternizing turn of mind, and a contempt for many + worldly standards, which she expressed not in the least in general axioms + (for she had a mortal horror of philosophy), but in violent ejaculations + on particular occasions. She had not a grain of moral timidity, and she + fronted a delicate social problem as sturdily as she would have barred the + way of a gentleman she might have met in her vestibule with the + plate-chest The only thing which prevented her being a bore in orthodox + circles was that she was incapable of discussion. She never lost her + temper, but she lost her vocabulary, and ended quietly by praying that + Heaven would give her an opportunity to <i>show</i> what she believed. + </p> + <p> + She was an old friend of Mr. and Mrs. Gressie, who esteemed her for the + antiquity of her lineage and the frequency of her subscriptions, and to + whom she rendered the service of making them feel liberal,—like + people too sure of their own position to be frightened. She was their + indulgence, their dissipation, their point of contact with dangerous + heresies; so long as they continued to see her they could not be accused + of being narrow-minded,—a matter as to which they were perhaps + vaguely conscious of the necessity of taking their precautions. Mrs. + Portico never asked herself whether she liked the Gressies; she had no + disposition for morbid analysis, she accepted transmitted associations, + and she found, somehow, that her acquaintance with these people helped her + to relieve herself. She was always making scenes in their drawing-room, + scenes half indignant, half jocose, like all her manifestations, to which + it must be confessed that they adapted themselves beautifully. They never + “met” her in the language of controversy; but always collected to watch + her, with smiles and comfortable platitudes, as if they envied her + superior richness of temperament She took an interest in Georgina, who + seemed to her different from the others, with suggestions about her of + being likely not to marry so unrefreshingly as her sisters had done, and + of a high, bold standard of duty. Her sisters had married from duty, but + Mrs. Portico would rather have chopped off one of her large, plump hands + than behave herself so well as that She had, in her daughterless + condition, a certain ideal of a girl that should be beautiful and + romantic, with lustrous eyes, and a little persecuted, so that she, Mrs. + Portico, might get her out of her troubles. She looked to Georgina, to a + considerable degree, to gratify her in this way; but she had really never + understood Geoigina at all She ought to have been shrewd, but she lacked + this refinement, and she never understood anything until after many + disappointments and vexations. It was difficult to startle her, but she + was much startled by a communication that this young lady made her one + fine spring morning. With her florid appearance and her speculative mind, + she was probably the most innocent woman in New York. + </p> + <p> + Georgina came very early,—earlier even than visits were paid in New + York thirty years ago; and instantly, without any preface, looking her + straight in the face, told Mrs. Portico that she was in great trouble and + must appeal to her for assistance. Georgina had in her aspect no symptom + of distress; she was as fresh and beautiful as the April day itself; she + held up her head and smiled, with a sort of familiar bravado, looking like + a young woman who would naturally be on good terms with fortune. It was + not in the least in the tone of a person making a confession or relating a + misadventure that she presently said: “Well, you must know, to begin with—of + course, it will surprise you—that I ‘m married.” + </p> + <p> + “Married, Georgina Grossie!” Mrs. Portico repeated in her most resonant + tones. + </p> + <p> + Georgina got up, walked with her majestic step across the room, and closed + the door. Then she stood there, her back pressed against the mahogany + panels, indicating only by the distance she had placed between herself and + her hostess the consciousness of an irregular position. “I am not Georgina + Gressie! I am Georgina Benyon,—and it has become plain, within a + short time, that the natural consequence will take place.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Portico was altogether bewildered. “The natural consequence?” she + exclaimed, staring. + </p> + <p> + “Of one’s being married, of course,—I suppose you know what that is. + No one must know anything about it. I want you to take me to Europe.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Portico now slowly rose from her place, and approached her visitor, + looking at her from head to foot as she did so, as if to challenge the + truth of her remarkable announcement. She rested her hands on Georgina’s + shoulders a moment, gazing into her blooming face, and then she drew her + closer and kissed her. In this way the girl was conducted back to the + sofa, where, in a conversation of extreme intimacy, she opened Mrs. + Portico’s eyes wider than they had ever been opened before. She was + Raymond Benyon’s wife; they had been married a year, but no one knew + anything about it. She had kept it from every one, and she meant to go on + keeping it. The ceremony had taken place in a little Episcopal church at + Harlem, one Sunday afternoon, after the service. There was no one in that + dusty suburb who knew them; the clergyman, vexed at being detained, and + wanting to go home to tea, had made no trouble; he tied the knot before + they could turn round. It was ridiculous how easy it had been. Raymond had + told him frankly that it must all be under the rose, as the young lady’s + family disapproved of what she was doing. But she was of legal age, and + perfectly free; he could see that for himself. The parson had given a + grunt as he looked at her over his spectacles. It was not very + complimentary; it seemed to say that she was indeed no chicken. Of course + she looked old for a girl; but she was not a girl now, was she? Raymond + had certified his own identity as an officer in the United States Navy (he + had papers, besides his uniform, which he wore), and introduced the + clergyman to a friend he had brought with him, who was also in the navy, a + venerable paymaster. It was he who gave Georgina away, as it were; he was + an old, old man, a regular grandmother, and perfectly safe. He had been + married three times himself. After the ceremony she went back to her + father’s; but she saw Mr. Benyon the next day. After that, she saw him—for + a little while—pretty often. He was always begging her to come to + him altogether; she must do him that justice. But she wouldn’t—she + wouldn’t now—perhaps she would n’t ever. She had her reasons, which + seemed to her very good, but were very difficult to explain. She would + tell Mrs. Portico in plenty of time what they were. But that was not the + question now, whether they were good or bad; the question was for her to + get away from the country for several months,—far away from any one + who had ever known her. She would like to go to some little place in Spain + or Italy, where she should be out of the world until everything was over. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Portico’s heart gave a jump as this serene, handsome, familiar girl, + sitting there with a hand in hers, and pouring forth this extraordinary + tale, spoke of everything being over. There was a glossy coldness in it, + an unnatural lightness, which suggested—poor Mrs. Portico scarcely + knew what. If Georgina was to become a mother, it was to be supposed she + was to remain a mother. She said there was a beautiful place in Italy—Genoa—of + which Raymond had often spoken—and where he had been more than once,—he + admired it so much; could n’t they go there and be quiet for a little + while? She was asking a great favor,—that she knew very well; but if + Mrs. Portico would n’t take her, she would find some one who would. They + had talked of such a journey so often; and, certainly, if Mrs. Portico had + been willing before, she ought to be much more willing now. The girl + declared that she must do something,—go somewhere,—keep, in + one way or another, her situation unperceived. There was no use talking to + her about telling,—she would rather die than tell. No doubt it + seemed strange, but she knew what she was about. No one had guessed + anything yet,—she had succeeded perfectly in doing what she wished,—and + her father and mother believed—as Mrs. Portico had believed,—had + n’t she?—that, any time the last year, Raymond Beuyon was less to + her than he had been before. Well, so he was; yes, he was. He had gone + away—he was off, Heaven knew where—in the Pacific; she was + alone, and now she would remain alone. The family believed it was all + over,—with his going back to his ship, and other things, and they + were right: for it <i>was</i> over, or it would be soon. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Portico, by this time, had grown almost afraid of her young friend; + <i>she</i> had so little fear, she had even, as it were, so little shame. + If the good lady had been accustomed to analyzing things a little more, + she would have said she had so little conscience. She looked at Georgina + with dilated eyes,—her visitor was so much the calmer of the two,—and + exclaimed, and murmured, and sunk back, and sprung forward, and wiped her + forehead with her pocket-handkerchief! There were things she didn’t + understand; that they should all have been so deceived, that they should + have thought Georgina was giving her lover up (they flattered themselves + she was discouraged, or had grown tired of him), when she was really only + making it impossible she should belong to any one else. And with this, her + inconsequence, her capriciousness, her absence of motive, the way she + contradicted herself, her apparent belief that she could hush up such a + situation forever! There was nothing shameful in having married poor Mr. + Benyon, even in a little church at Harlem, and being given away by a + paymaster. It was much more shameful to be in such a state without being + prepared to make the proper explanations. And she must have seen very + little of her husband; she must have given him up—so far as meeting + him went—almost as soon as she had taken him. Had not Mrs. Gressie + herself told Mrs. Portico (in the preceding October, it must have been) + that there now would be no need of sending Georgina away, inasmuch as the + affair with the little navy man—a project in every way so unsuitable—had + quite blown over? + </p> + <p> + “After our marriage I saw him less, I saw him a great deal less,” Georgina + explained; but her explanation only appeared to make the mystery more + dense. + </p> + <p> + “I don’t see, in that case, what on earth you married him for!” + </p> + <p> + “We had to be more careful; I wished to appear to have given him up. Of + course we were really more intimate,—I saw him differently,” + Georgina said, smiling. + </p> + <p> + “I should think so! I can’t for the life of me see why you were n’t + discovered.” + </p> + <p> + “All I can say is we weren’t No doubt it’s remarkable. We managed very + well,—that is, I managed,—he did n’t want to manage at all. + And then, father and mother are incredibly stupid!” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Portico exhaled a comprehensive moan, feeling glad, on the whole, + that she had n’t a daughter, while Georgina went on to furnish a few more + details. Raymond Benyon, in the summer, had been ordered from Brooklyn to + Charlestown, near Boston, where, as Mrs. Portico perhaps knew, there was + another navy-yard, in which there was a temporary press of work, requiring + more oversight He had remained there several months, during which he had + written to her urgently to come to him, and during which, as well, he had + received notice that he was to rejoin his ship a little later. Before + doing so he came back to Brooklyn for a few weeks to wind up his work + there, and then she had seen him—well, pretty often. That was the + best time of all the year that had elapsed since their marriage. It was a + wonder at home that nothing had then been guessed; because she had really + been reckless, and Benyon had even tried to force on a disclosure. But + they <i>were</i> stupid, that was very certain. He had besought her again + and again to put an end to their false position, but she did n’t want it + any more than she had wanted it before. They had rather a bad parting; in + fact, for a pair of lovers, it was a very queer parting indeed. He did n’t + know, now, the thing she had come to tell Mrs. Portico. She had not + written to him. He was on a very long cruise. It might be two years before + he returned to the United States. “I don’t care how long he stays away,” + Georgina said, very simply. + </p> + <p> + “You haven’t mentioned why you married him. Perhaps you don’t remember,” + Mrs. Portico broke out, with her masculine laugh. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, yes; I loved him!” + </p> + <p> + “And you have got over that?” + </p> + <p> + Georgina hesitated a moment. “Why, no, Mrs. Portico, of course I haven’t; + Raymond’s a splendid fellow.” + </p> + <p> + “Then why don’t you live with him? You don’t explain that.” + </p> + <p> + “What would be the use when he’s always away? How can one live with a man + that spends half his life in the South Seas? If he was n’t in the navy it + would be different; but to go through everything,—I mean everything + that making our marriage known would bring upon me,—the scolding and + the exposure and the ridicule, the scenes at home,—to go through it + all, just for the idea, and yet be alone here, just as I was before, + without my husband after all,—with none of the good of him,”—and + here Georgina looked at her hostess as if with the certitude that such an + enumeration of inconveniences would touch her effectually,—“really, + Mrs. Portico, I am bound to say I don’t think that would be worth while; I + haven’t the courage for it.” + </p> + <p> + “I never thought you were a coward,” said Mrs. Portico. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I am not,—if you will give me time. I am very patient.” + </p> + <p> + “I never thought that, either.” + </p> + <p> + “Marrying changes one,” said Georgina, still smiling. + </p> + <p> + “It certainly seems to have had a very peculiar effect upon you. Why don’t + you make him leave the navy, and arrange your life comfortably, like every + one else?” + </p> + <p> + “I would n’t for the world interfere with his prospects—with his + promotion. That is sure to come for him, and to come quickly, he has such + talents. He is devoted to his profession; it would ruin him to leave it.” + </p> + <p> + “My dear young woman, you are a wonderful creature!” Mrs. Portico + exclaimed, looking at her companion as if she had been in a glass case. + </p> + <p> + “So poor Raymond says,” Georgina answered, smiling more than ever. + </p> + <p> + “Certainly, I should have been very sorry to marry a navy man; but if I + had married him, I should stick to him, in the face of all the scoldings + in the universe!” + </p> + <p> + “I don’t know what your parents may have been; I know what mine are,”, + Georgina replied, with some dignity. “When he’s a captain, we shall come + out of hiding.” + </p> + <p> + “And what shall you do meanwhile? What will you do with your children? + Where will you hide them? What will you do with this one?” + </p> + <p> + Georgina rested her eyes on her lap for a minute; then, raising them, she + met those of Mrs. Portico. “Somewhere in Europe,” she said, in her sweet + tone. + </p> + <p> + “Georgina Gressie, you ‘re a monster!” the elder lady cried. + </p> + <p> + “I know what I am about, and you will help me,” the girl went on. + </p> + <p> + “I will go and tell your father and mother the whole story,—that’s + what I will do!” + </p> + <p> + “I am not in the least afraid of that, not in the least. You will help me,—I + assure you that you will.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you mean I will support the child?” + </p> + <p> + Georgina broke into a laugh. “I do believe you would, if I were to ask + you! But I won’t go so far as that; I have something of my own. All I want + you to do is to be with me.” + </p> + <p> + “At Genoa,—yes, you have got it all fixed! You say Mr. Benyon is so + fond of the place. That’s all very well; but how will he like his infant + being deposited there?” + </p> + <p> + “He won’t like it at all. You see I tell you the whole truth,” said + Georgina, gently. + </p> + <p> + “Much obliged; it’s a pity you keep it all for me! It is in his power, + then, to make you behave properly. <i>He</i> can publish your marriage if + you won’t; and if he does you will have to acknowledge your child.” + </p> + <p> + “Publish, Mrs. Portico? How little you know my Raymond! He will never + break a promise; he will go through fire first.” + </p> + <p> + “And what have you got him to promise?’ + </p> + <p> + “Never to insist on a disclosure against my will; never to claim me openly + as his wife till I think it is time; never to let any one know what has + passed between us if I choose to keep it still a secret—to keep it + for years—to keep it forever. Never to do anything in the matter + himself, but to leave it to me. For this he has given me his solemn word + of honor. And I know what that means!” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Portico, on the sofa, fairly bounded. + </p> + <p> + “You <i>do</i> know what you are about And Mr. Benyon strikes me as more + fantastic even than yourself. I never heard of a man taking such an + imbecile vow. What good can it do him?” + </p> + <p> + “What good? The good it did him was that, it gratified me. At the time he + took it he would have made any promise under the sun. It was a condition I + exacted just at the very last, before the marriage took place. There was + nothing at that moment he would have refused me; there was nothing I could + n’t have made him do. He was in love to that degree—but I don’t want + to boast,” said Georgina, with quiet grandeur. “He wanted—he wanted—” + she added; but then she paused. + </p> + <p> + “He does n’t seem to have wanted much!” Mrs. Portico cried, in a tone + which made Georgina turn to the window, as if it might have reached the + street. + </p> + <p> + Her hostess noticed the movement and went on: “Oh, my dear, if I ever do + tell your story, I will tell it so that people will hear it!” + </p> + <p> + “You never will tell it. What I mean is, that Raymond wanted the sanction—of + the affair at the church—because he saw that I would never do + without it. Therefore, for him, the sooner we had it the better, and, to + hurry it on, he was ready to take any pledge.” + </p> + <p> + “You have got it pat enough,” said Mrs. Portico, in homely phrase. “I + don’t know what you mean by sanctions, or what <i>you</i> wanted of ‘em!” + </p> + <p> + Georgina got up, holding rather higher than before that beautiful head + which, in spite of the embarrassments of this interview, had not yet + perceptibly abated of its elevation. “Would you have liked me to—to + not marry?” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Portico rose also, and, flushed with the agitation of unwonted + knowledge,—it was as if she had discovered a skeleton in her + favorite cupboard,—faced her young friend for a moment. Then her + conflicting sentiments resolved themselves into an abrupt question, + uttered,—for Mrs. Portico,—with much solemnity: “Georgina + Gressie, were you really in love with him?” + </p> + <p> + The question suddenly dissipated the girl’s strange, studied, wilful + coldness; she broke out, with a quick flash of passion,—a passion + that, for the moment, was predominantly anger, “Why else, in Heaven’s + name, should I have done what I have done? Why else should I have married + him? What under the sun had I to gain?” + </p> + <p> + A certain quiver in Georgina’s voice, a light in her eye which seemed to + Mrs. Portico more spontaneous, more human, as she uttered these words, + caused them to affect her hostess rather less painfully than anything she + had yet said. She took the girl’s hand and emitted indefinite, admonitory + sounds. “Help me, my dear old friend, help me,” Georgina continued, in a + low, pleading tone; and in a moment Mrs. Portico saw that the tears were + in her eyes. + </p> + <p> + “You ‘re a queer mixture, my child,” she exclaimed. “Go straight home to + your own mother, and tell her everything; that is your best help.” + </p> + <p> + “You are kinder than my mother. You must n’t judge her by yourself.” + </p> + <p> + “What can she do to you? How can she hurt you? We are not living in pagan + times,” said Mrs. Portico, who was seldom so historical “Besides, you have + no reason to speak of your mother—to think of her, even—so! + She would have liked you to marry a man of some property; but she has + always been a good mother to you.” + </p> + <p> + At this rebuke Georgina suddenly kindled again; she was, indeed, as Mrs. + Portico had said, a queer mixture. Conscious, evidently, that she could + not satisfactorily justify her present stiffness, she wheeled round upon a + grievance which absolved her from self-defence. “Why, then, did he make + that promise, if he loved me? No man who really loved me would have made + it,—and no man that was a man, as I understand being a man! He might + have seen that I only did it to test him,—to see if he wanted to + take advantage of being left free himself. It is a proof that he does n’t + love me,—not as he ought to have done; and in such a case as that a + woman is n’t bound to make sacrifices!” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Portico was not a person of a nimble intellect; her mind moved + vigorously, but heavily; yet she sometimes made happy guesses. She saw + that Georgia’s emotions were partly real and partly fictitious; that, as + regards this last matter, especially, she was trying to “get up” a + resentment, in order to excuse herself. The pretext was absurd, and the + good lady was struck with its being heartless on the part of her young + visitor to reproach poor Benyon with a concession on which she had + insisted, and which could only be a proof of his devotion, inasmuch as he + left her free while he bound himself. Altogether, Mrs. Portico was shocked + and dismayed at such a want of simplicity in the behavior of a young + person whom she had hitherto believed to be as candid as she was elegant, + and her appreciation of this discovery expressed itself in the + uncompromising remark: “You strike me as a very bad girl, my dear; you + strike me as a very bad girl!” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PART2" id="link2H_PART2_"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PART II. + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III. + </h2> + <p> + It will doubtless seem to the reader very singular that, in spite of this + reflection, which appeared to sum up her judgment of the matter, Mrs. + Portico should, in the course of a very few days, have consented to + everything that Georgina asked of her. I have thought it well to narrate + at length the first conversation that took place between them, but I shall + not trace further the details of the girl’s hard pleading, or the steps by + which—in the face of a hundred robust and salutary convictions—the + loud, kind, sharp, simple, sceptical, credulous woman took under her + protection a damsel whose obstinacy she could not speak of without getting + red with anger. It was the simple fact of Georgina’s personal condition + that moved her; this young lady’s greatest eloquence was the seriousness + of her predicament She might be bad, and she had a splendid, careless, + insolent, fair-faced way of admitting it, which at moments, incoherently, + inconsistently, and irresistibly, resolved the harsh confession into tears + of weakness; but Mrs. Portico had known her from her rosiest years, and + when Georgina declared that she could n’t go home, that she wished to be + with her and not with her mother, that she could n’t expose herself,—how + could she?—and that she must remain with her and her only till the + day they should sail, the poor lady was forced to make that day a reality. + She was overmastered, she was cajoled, she was, to a certain extent, + fascinated. She had to accept Georgina’s rigidity (she had none of her own + to oppose to it; she was only violent, she was not continuous), and once + she did this, it was plain, after all, that to take her young friend to + Europe was to help her, and to leave her alone was not to help her. + Georgina literally frightened Mrs. Portico into compliance. She was + evidently capable of strange things if thrown upon her own devices. + </p> + <p> + So, from one day to another Mrs. Portico announced that she was really at + last about to sail for foreign lands (her doctor having told her that if + she did n’t look out she would get too old to enjoy them), and that she + had invited that robust Miss Gressie, who could stand so long on her feet, + to accompany her. There was joy in the house of Gressie at this + announcement, for though the danger was over, it was a great general + advantage to Georgina to go, and the Gressies were always elated at the + prospect of an advantage. There was a danger that she might meet Mr. + Benyon on the other side of the world; but it didn’t seem likely that Mrs. + Portico would lend herself to a plot of that kind. If she had taken it + into her head to favor their love affair, she would have done it frankly, + and Georgina would have been married by this time. Her arrangements were + made as quickly as her decision had been—or rather had appeared—slow; + for this concerned those agile young men down town. Georgina was + perpetually at her house; it was understood in Twelfth Street that she was + talking over her future travels with her kind friend. Talk there was, of + course to a considerable degree; but after it was settled they should + start nothing more was said about the motive of the journey. Nothing was + said, that is, till the night before they sailed; then a few words passed + between them. Georgina had already taken leave of her relations in Twelfth + Street, and was to sleep at Mrs. Portico’s in order to go down to the ship + at an early hour. The two ladies were sitting together in the firelight, + silent, with the consciousness of corded luggage, when the elder one + suddenly remarked to her companion that she seemed to be taking a great + deal upon herself in assuming that Raymond Benyon wouldn’t force her hand. + <i>He</i> might choose to acknowledge his child, if she didn’t; there were + promises and promises, and many people would consider they had been let + off when circumstances were so altered. She would have to reckon with Mr. + Benyon more than she thought. + </p> + <p> + “I know what I am about,” Georgina answered. “There is only one promise, + for him. I don’t know what you mean by circumstances being altered.” + </p> + <p> + “Everything seems to me to be changed,” poor Mrs. Portico murmured, rather + tragically. + </p> + <p> + “Well, he is n’t, and he never will! I am sure of him,—as sure as + that I sit here. Do you think I would have looked at him if I had n’t + known he was a man of his word?” + </p> + <p> + “You have chosen him well, my dear,” said Mrs. Portico, who by this time + was reduced to a kind of bewildered acquiescence. + </p> + <p> + “Of course I have chosen him well! In such a matter as this he will be + perfectly splendid.” Then suddenly, “Perfectly splendid,—that’s why + I cared for him!” she repeated, with a flash of incongruous passion. + </p> + <p> + This seemed to Mrs. Portico audacious to the point of being sublime; but + she had given up trying to understand anything that the girl might say or + do. She understood less and less, after they had disembarked in England + and begun to travel southward; and she understood least of all when, in + the middle of the winter, the event came off with which, in imagination, + she had tried to familiarize herself, but which, when it occurred, seemed + to her beyond measure strange and dreadful. It took place at Genoa, for + Georgina had made up her mind that there would be more privacy in a big + town than in a little; and she wrote to America that both Mrs. Portico and + she had fallen in love with the place and would spend two or three months + there. At that time people in the United States knew much less than to-day + about the comparative attractions of foreign cities, and it was not + thought surprising that absent New Yorkers should wish to linger in a + seaport where they might find apartments, according to Georgina’s report, + in a palace painted in fresco by Vandyke and Titian. Georgina, in her + letters, omitted, it will be seen, no detail that could give color to Mrs. + Portico’s long stay at Genoa. In such a palace—where the travellers + hired twenty gilded rooms for the most insignificant sum—a + remarkably fine boy came into the world. Nothing could have been more + successful and comfortable than this transaction. Mrs. Portico was almost + appalled at the facility and felicity of it. She was by this time in a + pretty bad way, and—what had never happened to her before in her + life—she suffered from chronic depression of spirits. She hated to + have to lie, and now she was lying all the time. Everything she wrote + home, everything that had been said or done in connection with their stay + in Genoa, was a lie. The way they remained indoors to avoid meeting chance + compatriots was a lie. Compatriots, in Genoa, at that period, were very + rare; but nothing could exceed the businesslike completeness of Georgina’s + precautions. Her nerves, her self-possession, her apparent want of + feeling, excited on Mrs. Portico’s part a kind of gloomy suspense; a + morbid anxiety to see how far her companion would go took possession of + the excellent woman, who, a few months before, hated to fix her mind on + disagreeable things. + </p> + <p> + Georgina went very far indeed; she did everything in her power to + dissimulate the origin of her child. The record of its birth was made + under a false name, and he was baptized at the nearest church by a + Catholic priest. A magnificent contadina was brought to light by the + doctor in a village in the hills, and this big, brown, barbarous creature, + who, to do her justice, was full of handsome, familiar smiles and coarse + tenderness, was constituted nurse to Raymond Benyon’s son. She nursed him + for a fortnight under the mother’s eye, and she was then sent back to her + village with the baby in her arms and sundry gold coin knotted into a + corner of her rude pocket-handkerchief. Mr. Gressie had given his daughter + a liberal letter of credit on a London banker, and she was able, for the + present, to make abundant provision for the little one. She called Mrs. + Portico’s attention to the fact that she spent none of her money on + futilities; she kept it all for her small pensioner in the Genoese hills. + Mrs. Portico beheld these strange doings with a stupefaction that + occasionally broke into passionate protest; then she relapsed into a + brooding sense of having now been an accomplice so far that she must be an + accomplice to the end. The two ladies went down to Rome—Georgina was + in wonderful trim—to finish the season, and here Mrs. Portico became + convinced that she intended to abandon her offspring. She had not driven + into the country to see the nursling before leaving Genoa,—she had + said that she could n’t bear to see it in such a place and among such + people. Mrs. Portico, it must be added, had felt the force of this plea,—felt + it as regards a plan of her own, given up after being hotly entertained + for a few hours, of devoting a day, by herself, to a visit to the big + contadina. It seemed to her that if she should see the child in the sordid + hands to which Georgina had consigned it she would become still more of a + participant than she was already. This young woman’s blooming hardness, + after they got to Borne, acted upon her like a kind of Medusa-mask. She + had seen a horrible thing, she had been mixed up with it, and her motherly + heart had received a mortal chill. It became more clear to her every day + that, though Georgina would continue to send the infant money in + considerable quantities, she had dispossessed herself of it forever. + Together with this induction a fixed idea settled in her mind,—the + project of taking the baby herself, of making him her own, of arranging + that matter with the father. The countenance she had given Georgina up to + this point was an effective pledge that she would not expose her; but she + could adopt the child without exposing her; she could say that he was a + lovely baby—he was lovely, fortunately—whom she had picked up + in a poor village in Italy,—a village that had been devastated by + brigands. She would pretend—she could pretend; oh, yes, of course, + she could pretend! Everything was imposture now, and she could go on to + lie as she had begun. The falsity of the whole business sickened her; it + made her so yellow that she scarcely knew herself in her glass. None the + less, to rescue the child, even if she had to become falser still, would + be in some measure an atonement for the treachery to which she had already + lent herself. She began to hate Georgina, who had drawn her into such an + atrocious current, and if it had not been for two considerations she would + have insisted on their separating. One was the deference she owed to Mr. + and Mrs. Gressie, who had reposed such a trust in her; the other was that + she must keep hold of the mother till she had got possession of the infant + Meanwhile, in this forced communion, her aversion to her companion + increased; Georgina came to appear to her a creature of brass, of iron; + she was exceedingly afraid of her, and it seemed to her now a wonder of + wonders that she should ever have trusted her enough to come so far. + Georgina showed no consciousness of the change in Mrs. Portico, though + there was, indeed, at present, not even a pretence of confidence between + the two. Miss Gressie—that was another lie, to which Mrs. Portico + had to lend herself—was bent on enjoying Europe, and was especially + delighted with Rome. She certainly had the courage of her undertaking, and + she confessed to Mrs. Portico that she had left Raymond Benyon, and meant + to continue to leave him, in ignorance of what had taken place at Genoa. + There was a certain confidence, it must be said, in that. He was now in + Chinese waters, and she probably should not see him for years. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Portico took counsel with herself, and the result of her cogitation + was, that she wrote to Mr. Benyon that a charming little boy had been born + to him, and that Georgina had put him to nurse with Italian peasants, but + that, if he would kindly consent to it, she, Mrs. Portico, would bring him + up much better than that. She knew not how to address her letter, and + Georgina, even if <i>she</i> should know, which was doubtful, would never + tell her; so she sent the missive to the care of the Secretary of the + Navy, at Washington, with an earnest request that it might immediately be + forwarded. Such was Mrs. Portico’s last effort in this strange business of + Georgina’s. I relate rather a complicated fact in a very few words when I + say that the poor lady’s anxieties, indignations, repentances, preyed upon + her until they fairly broke her down. Various persons whom she knew in + Borne notified her that the air of the Seven Hills was plainly unfavorable + to her, and she had made up her mind to return to her native land, when + she found that, in her depressed condition, malarial fever had laid its + hand upon her. She was unable to move, and the matter was settled for her + in the course of an illness which, happily, was not prolonged. I have said + that she was not obstinate, and the resistance that she made on the + present occasion was not worthy even of her spasmodic energy. Brain-fever + made its appearance, and she died at the end of three weeks, during which + Georgina’s attentions to her patient and protectress had been unremitting. + There were other Americans in Rome who, after this sad event, extended to + the bereaved young lady every comfort and hospitality. She had no lack of + opportunities for returning under a proper escort to New York. She + selected, you may be sure, the best, and re-entered her father’s house, + where she took to plain dressing; for she sent all her pocket-money, with + the utmost secrecy, to the little boy in the Genoese hills. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IV. + </h2> + <p> + “Why should he come if he doesn’t like you? He is under no obligation, and + he has his ship to look after. Why should he sit for an hour at a time, + and why should he be so pleasant?” + </p> + <p> + “Do you think he is very pleasant?” Kate Theory asked, turning away her + face from her sister. It was important that Mildred should not see how + little the expression of that charming countenance corresponded with the + inquiry. + </p> + <p> + This precaution was useless, however, for in a moment Mildred said, from + the delicately draped couch, where she lay at the open window, “Kate + Theory, don’t be affected!” + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps it’s for you he comes. I don’t see why he should n’t; you are far + more attractive than I, and you have a great deal more to say. How can he + help seeing that you are the cleverest of the clever? You can talk to him + of everything: of the dates of the different eruptions, of the statues and + bronzes in the Museum, which you have never seen, poor darling! but which + you know more about than he does, than any one does. What was it you began + on last time? Oh, yes, you poured forth floods about Magna Græcia. And + then—and then—” But with this Kate Theory paused; she felt it + would n’t do to speak the words that had risen to her lips. That her + sister was as beautiful as a saint, and as delicate and refined as an + angel,—she had been on the point of saying something of that sort + But Mildred’s beauty and delicacy were the fairness of mortal disease, and + to praise her for her refinement was simply to intimate that she had the + tenuity of a consumptive. So, after she had checked herself, the younger + girl—she was younger only by a year or two—simply kissed her + tenderly, and settled the knot of the lace handkerchief that was tied over + her head. Mildred knew what she had been going to say,—knew why she + had stopped. Mildred knew everything, without ever leaving her room, or + leaving, at least, that little salon of their own, at the <i>pension</i>, + which she had made so pretty by simply lying there, at the window that had + the view of the bay and of Vesuvius, and telling Kate how to arrange and + rearrange everything. Since it began to be plain that Mildred must spend + her small remnant of years altogether in warm climates, the lot of the two + sisters had been cast in the ungarnished hostelries of southern Europe. + Their little sitting-room was sure to be very ugly, and Mildred was never + happy till it was rearranged. Her sister fell to work, as a matter of + course, the first day, and changed the place of all the tables, sofas, + chairs, till every combination had been tried, and the invalid thought at + last that there was a little effect Kate Theory had a taste of her own, + and her ideas were not always the same as her sister’s; but she did + whatever Mildred liked, and if the poor girl had told her to put the + doormat on the dining-table, or the clock under the sofa, she would have + obeyed without a murmur. Her own ideas, her personal tastes, had been + folded up and put away, like garments out of season, in drawers and + trunks, with camphor and lavender. They were not, as a general thing, for + southern wear, however indispensable to comfort in the climate of New + England, where poor Mildred had lost her health. Kate Theory, ever since + this event, had lived for her companion, and it was almost an + inconvenience for her to think that she was attractive to Captain Benyon. + It was as if she had shut up her house and was not in a position to + entertain. So long as Mildred should live, her own life was suspended; if + there should be any time afterwards, perhaps she would take it up again; + but for the present, in answer to any knock at her door, she could only + call down from one of her dusty windows that she was not at home. Was it + really in these terms she should have to dismiss Captain Benyon? If + Mildred said it was for her he came she must perhaps take upon herself + such a duty; for, as we have seen, Mildred knew everything, and she must + therefore be right She knew about the statues in the Museum, about the + excavations at Pompeii, about the antique splendor of Magna Græcia. She + always had some instructive volume on the table beside her sofa, and she + had strength enough to hold the book for half an hour at a time. That was + about the only strength she had now. The Neapolitan winters had been + remarkably soft, but after the first month or two she had been obliged to + give up her little walks in the garden. It lay beneath her window like a + single enormous bouquet; as early as May, that year, the flowers were so + dense. None of them, however, had a color so intense as the splendid blue + of the bay, which filled up all the rest of the view. It would have looked + painted, if you had not been able to see the little movement of the waves. + Mildred Theory watched them by the hour, and the breathing crest of the + volcano, on the other side of Naples, and the great sea-vision of Capri, + on the horizon, changing its tint while her eyes rested there, and + wondered what would become of her sister after she was gone. Now that + Percival was married,—he was their only brother, and from one day to + the other was to come down to Naples to show them his new wife, as yet a + complete stranger, or revealed only in the few letters she had written + them during her wedding tour,—now that Percival was to be quite + taken up, poor Kate’s situation would be much more grave. Mildred felt + that she should be able to judge better, after she should have seen her + sister-in-law, how much of a home Kate might expect to find with the pair; + but even if Agnes should prove—well, more satisfactory than her + letters, it was a wretched prospect for Kate,—this living as a mere + appendage to happier people. Maiden aunts were very well, but being a + maiden aunt was only a last resource, and Kate’s first resources had not + even been tried. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile the latter young lady wondered as well,—wondered in what + book Mildred had read that Captain Benyon was in love with her. She + admired him, she thought, but he didn’t seem a man that would fall in love + with one like that She could see that he was on his guard; he would n’t + throw himself away. He thought too much of himself, or at any rate he took + too good care of himself,—in the manner of a man to whom something + had happened which had given him a lesson. Of course what had happened was + that his heart was buried somewhere,—in some woman’s grave; he had + loved some beautiful girl,—much more beautiful, Kate was sure, than + she, who thought herself small and dark,—and the maiden had died, + and his capacity to love had died with her. He loved her memory,—that + was the only thing he would care for now. He was quiet, gentle, clever, + humorous, and very kind in his manner; but if any one save Mildred had + said to her that if he came three times a week to Posilippo, it was for + anything but to pass his time (he had told them he didn’t know another + soul in Naples), she would have felt that this was simply the kind of + thing—usually so idiotic—that people always thought it + necessary to say. It was very easy for him to come; he had the big ship’s + boat, with nothing else to do; and what could be more delightful than to + be rowed across the bay, under a bright awning, by four brown sailors with + “Louisiana” in blue letters on their immaculate white shirts, and in gilt + letters on their fluttering hat ribbons? The boat came to the steps of the + garden of the <i>pension</i>, where the orange-trees hung over and made + vague yellow balls shine back out of the water. Kate Theory knew all about + that, for Captain Benyon had persuaded her to take a turn in the boat, and + if they had only had another lady to go with them, he could have conveyed + her to the ship, and shown her all over it It looked beautiful, just a + little way off, with the American flag hanging loose in the Italian air. + They would have another lady when Agnes should arrive; then Percival would + remain with Mildred while they took this excursion. Mildred had stayed + alone the day she went in the boat; she had insisted on it, and, of course + it was really Mildred who had persuaded her; though now that Kate came to + think of it, Captain Benyon had, in his quiet, waiting way—he turned + out to be waiting long after you thought he had let a thing pass—said + a good deal about the pleasure it would give him. Of course, everything + would give pleasure to a man who was so bored. He was keeping the + “Louisiana” at Naples, week after week, simply because these were the + commodore’s orders. There was no work to be done there, and his time was + on his hands; but of course the commodore, who had gone to Constantinople + with the two other ships, had to be obeyed to the letter, however + mysterious his motives. It made no difference that he was a fantastic, + grumbling, arbitrary old commodore; only a good while afterwards it + occurred to Kate Theory that, for a reserved, correct man, Captain Benyon + had given her a considerable proof of confidence, in speaking to her in + these terms of his superior officer. If he looked at all hot when he + arrived at the <i>pension</i>, she offered him a glass of cold + “orangeade.” Mildred thought this an unpleasant drink,—she called it + messy; but Kate adored it, and Captain Benyon always accepted it. + </p> + <p> + The day I speak of, to change the subject, she called her sister’s + attention to the extraordinary sharpness of a zigzagging cloud-shadow, on + the tinted slope of Vesuvius; but Mildred only remarked in answer that she + wished her sister would many the captain. It was in this familiar way that + constant meditation led Miss Theory to speak of him; it shows how + constantly she thought of him, for, in general, no one was more + ceremonious than she, and the failure of her health had not caused her to + relax any form that it was possible to keep up. There was a kind of slim + erectness, even in the way she lay on her sofa; and she always received + the doctor as if he were calling for the first time. + </p> + <p> + “I had better wait till he asks me,” Kate Theory said. “Dear Milly, if I + were to do some of the things you wish me to do, I should shock you very + much.” + </p> + <p> + “I wish he would marry you, then. You know there is very little time, if I + wish to see it.” + </p> + <p> + “You will never see it, Mildred. I don’t see why you should take so for + granted that I would accept him.” + </p> + <p> + “You will never meet a man who has so few disagreeable qualities. He is + probably not enormously rich. I don’t know what is the pay of a captain in + the navy—” + </p> + <p> + “It’s a relief to find there is something you don’t know,” Kate Theory + broke in. + </p> + <p> + “But when I am gone,” her sister went on calmly, “when I am gone there + will be plenty for both of you.” + </p> + <p> + The younger sister, at this, was silent for a moment; then she exclaimed, + “Mildred, you may be out of health, but I don’t see why you should be + dreadful!” + </p> + <p> + “You know that since we have been leading this life we have seen no one we + liked better,” said Milly. When she spoke of the life they were leading—there + was always a soft resignation of regret and contempt in the allusion—she + meant the southern winters, the foreign climates, the vain experiments, + the lonely waitings, the wasted hours, the interminable rains, the bad + food, the pottering, humbugging doctors, the damp <i>pensions</i>, the + chance encounters, the fitful apparitions, of fellow-travellers. + </p> + <p> + “Why should n’t you speak for yourself alone? I am glad <i>you</i> like + him, Mildred.” + </p> + <p> + “If you don’t like him, why do you give him orangeade?” + </p> + <p> + At this inquiry Kate began to laugh, and her sister continued,— + </p> + <p> + “Of course you are glad I like him, my dear. If I did n’t like him, and + you did, it would n’t be satisfactory at all. I can imagine nothing more + miserable; I should n’t die in any sort of comfort.” + </p> + <p> + Kate Theory usually checked this sort of allusion—she was always too + late—with a kiss; but on this occasion she added that it was a long + time since Mildred had tormented her so much as she had done to-day. “You + will make me hate him,” she added. + </p> + <p> + “Well, that proves you don’t already,” Milly rejoined; and it happened + that almost at this moment they saw, in the golden afternoon, Captain + Benyon’s boat approaching the steps at the end of the garden. He came that + day, and he came two days later, and he came yet once again after an + interval equally brief, before Percival Theory arrived, with Mrs. + Percival, from Borne. He seemed anxious to crowd into these few days, as + he would have said, a good deal of intercourse with the two remarkably + nice girls—or nice women, he hardly knew which to call them—whom + in the course of a long, idle, rather tedious detention at Naples, he had + discovered in the lovely suburb of Posilippo. It was the American consul + who had put him into relation with them; the sisters had had to sign, in + the consul’s presence, some law-papers, transmitted to them by the man of + business who looked after their little property in America, and the kindly + functionary, taking advantage of the pretext (Captain Benyon happened to + come into the consulate as he was starting, indulgently, to wait upon the + ladies) to bring together “two parties” who, as he said, ought to + appreciate each other, proposed to his fellow-officer in the service of + the United States that he should go with him as witness of the little + ceremony. He might, of course, take his clerk, but the captain would do + much better; and he represented to Benyon that the Miss Theorys (singular + name, wa’ n’t it?) suffered—he was sure—from a lack of + society; also that one of them was very sick, that they were real pleasant + and extraordinarily refined, and that the sight of a compatriot, literally + draped, as it were, in the national banner, would cheer them up more than + most anything, and give them a sense of protection. They had talked to the + consul about Benyon’s ship, which they could see from their windows, in + the distance, at its anchorage. They were the only American ladies then at + Naples,—the only residents, at least,—and the captain would + n’t be doing the polite thing unless he went to pay them his respects. + Benyon felt afresh how little it was in his line to call upon strange + women; he was not in the habit of hunting up female acquaintance, or of + looking out for the soft emotions which the sex only can inspire. He had + his reasons for this abstention, and he seldom relaxed it; but the consul + appealed to him on rather strong grounds; and he suffered himself to be + persuaded. He was far from regretting, during the first weeks at least, an + act which was distinctly inconsistent with his great rule,—that of + never exposing himself to the chance of seriously caring for an unmarried + woman. He had been obliged to make this rule, and had adhered to it with + some success. He was fond of women, but he was forced to restrict himself + to superficial sentiments. There was no use tumbling into situations from + which the only possible issue was a retreat The step he had taken with + regard to poor Miss Theory and her delightful little sister was an + exception on which at first he could only congratulate himself. That had + been a happy idea of the ruminating old consul; it made Captain Benyon + forgive him his hat, his boots, his shirtfront,—a costume which + might be considered representative, and the effect of which was to make + the observer turn with rapture to a half-naked lazzarone. On either side + the acquaintance had helped the time to pass, and the hours he spent at + the little <i>pension</i> at Posilippo left a sweet—and by no means + innutritive—taste behind. + </p> + <p> + As the weeks went by his exception had grown to look a good deal like a + rule; but he was able to remind himself that the path of retreat was + always open to him. Moreover, if he should fall in love with the younger + girl there would be no great harm, for Kate Theory was in love only with + her sister, and it would matter very little to her whether he advanced or + retreated. She was very attractive, or rather very attracting. Small, + pale, attentive without rigidity, full of pretty curves and quick + movements, she looked as if the habit of watching and serving had taken + complete possession of her, and was literally a little sister of charity. + Her thick black hair was pushed behind her ears, as if to help her to + listen, and her clear brown eyes had the smile of a person too full of + tact to cany a dull face to a sickbed. She spoke in an encouraging voice, + and had soothing and unselfish habits. She was very pretty,—producing + a cheerful effect of contrasted black and white, and dressed herself + daintily, so that Mildred might have something agreeable to look at Benyon + very soon perceived that there was a fund of good service in her. Her + sister had it all now; but poor Miss Theory was fading fast, and then what + would become of this precious little force? The answer to such a question + that seemed most to the point was that it was none of his business. He was + not sick,—at least not physically,—and he was not looking out + for a nurse. Such a companion might be a luxury, but was not, as yet, a + necessity: The welcome of the two ladies, at first, had been simple, and + he scarcely knew what to call it but sweet; a bright, gentle friendliness + remained the tone of their greeting. They evidently liked him to come,—they + liked to see his big transatlantic ship hover about those gleaming coasts + of exile. The fact of Miss Mildred being always stretched on her couch—in + his successive visits to foreign waters Benyon had not unlearned (as why + should he?) the pleasant American habit of using the lady’s personal name—made + their intimacy seem greater, their differences less; it was as if his + hostesses had taken him into their confidence and he had been—as the + consul would have said—of the same party. Knocking about the salt + parts of the globe, with a few feet square on a rolling frigate for his + only home, the pretty, flower-decked sitting-room of the quiet American + sisters became, more than anything he had hitherto known, his interior. He + had dreamed once of having an interior, but the dream had vanished in + lurid smoke, and no such vision had come to him again. He had a feeling + that the end of this was drawing nigh; he was sure that the advent of the + strange brother, whose wife was certain to be disagreeable, would make a + difference. That is why, as I have said, he came as often as possible the + last week, after he had learned the day on which Percival Theory would + arrive. The limits of the exception had been reached. + </p> + <p> + He had been new to the young ladies at Posilippo, and there was no reason + why they should say to each other that he was a very different man from + the ingenuous youth who, ten years before, used to wander with Georgina + Gressie down vistas of plank fences brushed over with the advertisements + of quack medicines. It was natural he should be, and we, who know him, + would have found that he had traversed the whole scale of alteration. + There was nothing ingenuous in him now; he had the look of experience, of + having been seasoned and hardened by the years. + </p> + <p> + His face, his complexion, were the same; still smooth-shaven and slim, he + always passed, at first, for a man scarcely out of his twenties. But his + expression was old, and his talk was older still,—the talk of one + who had seen much of the world (as indeed he had, to-day), and judged most + things for himself, with a humorous scepticism which, whatever concessions + it might make, superficially, for the sake of not offending (for instance) + two remarkably nice American women, of the kind that had kept most of + their illusions, left you with the conviction that the next minute it + would go quickly back to its own standpoint There was a curious + contradiction in him; he struck you as serious, and yet he could not be + said to take things seriously. This was what made Kate Theory feel so sure + that he had lost the object of his affections; and she said to herself + that it must have been under circumstances of peculiar sadness, for that + was, after all, a frequent accident, and was not usually thought, in + itself, a sufficient stroke to make a man a cynic. This reflection, it may + be added, was, on the young lady’s part, just the least bit acrimonious. + Captain Benyon was not a cynic in any sense in which he might have shocked + an innocent mind; he kept his cynicism to himself, and was a very clever, + courteous, attentive gentleman. If he was melancholy, you knew it chiefly + by his jokes, for they were usually at his own expense; and if he was + indifferent, it was all the more to his credit that he should have exerted + himself to entertain his countrywomen. + </p> + <p> + The last time he called before the arrival of the expected brother, he + found Miss Theory alone, and sitting up, for a wonder, at her window. Kate + had driven into Naples to give orders at the hotel for the reception of + the travellers, who required accommodation more spacious than the villa at + Posilippo (where the two sisters had the best rooms) could offer them; and + the sick girl had taken advantage of her absence and of the pretext + afforded by a day of delicious warmth, to transfer herself, for the first + time in six months, to an arm-chair. She was practising, as she said, for + the long carriage-journey to the north, where, in a quiet corner they knew + of, on the Lago Maggiore, her summer was to be spent. Eaymond Benyon + remarked to her that she had evidently turned the corner and was going to + get well, and this gave her a chance to say various things that were on + her mind. She had many things on her mind, poor Mildred Theory, so caged + and restless, and yet so resigned and patient as she was; with a clear, + quick spirit, in the most perfect health, ever reaching forward, to the + end of its tense little chain, from her wasted and suffering body; and, in + the course of the perfect summer afternoon, as she sat there, exhilarated + by the success of her effort to get up, and by her comfortable + opportunity, she took her friendly visitor into the confidence of most of + her anxieties. She told him, very promptly and positively, that she was + not going to get well at all, that she had probably not more than ten + months yet to live, and that he would oblige her very much by not forcing + her to waste any more breath in contradicting him on that point. Of course + she could n’t talk much; therefore, she wished to say to him only things + that he would not hear from any one else. Such, for instance, was her + present secret—Katie’s and hers—the secret of their fearing so + much that they should n’t like Percival’s wife, who was not from Boston, + but from New York. Naturally, that by itself would be nothing, but from + what they had heard of her set—this subject had been explored by + their correspondents—they were rather nervous, nervous to the point + of not being in the least reassured by the fact that the young lady would + bring Percival a fortune. The fortune was a matter of course, for that was + just what they had heard about Agnes’s circle—that the stamp of + money was on all their thoughts and doings. They were very rich and very + new and very splashing, and evidently had very little in common with the + two Miss Theorys, who, moreover, if the truth must be told (and this was a + great secret), did not care much for the letters their sister-in-law had + hitherto addressed them. She had been at a French boarding-school in New + York, and yet (and this was the greatest secret of all) she wrote to them + that she had performed a part of the journey through France in <i>diligance!</i> + </p> + <p> + Of course, they would see the next day; Miss Mildred was sure she should + know in a moment whether Agnes would like them. She could never have told + him all this if her sister had been there, and Captain Benyon must promise + never to reveal to Kate how she had chattered. Kate thought always that + they must hide everything, and that even if Agnes should be a dreadful + disappointment they must never let any one guess it And yet Kate was just + the one who would suffer, in the coming years, after she herself had gone. + Their brother had been everything to them, but now it would all be + different Of course it was not to be expected that he should have remained + a bachelor for their sake; she only wished he had waited till she was dead + and Kate was married One of these events, it was true, was much less sure + than the other; Kate might never marry,—much as she wished she + would! She was quite morbidly unselfish, and did n’t think she had a right + to have anything of her own—not even a husband. Miss Mildred talked + a good while about Kate, and it never occurred to her that she might bore + Captain Benyon. She did n’t, in point of fact; he had none of the trouble + of wondering why this poor, sick, worried lady was trying to push her + sister down his throat Their peculiar situation made everything natural, + and the tone she took with him now seemed only what their pleasant + relation for the last three months led up to. Moreover, he had an + excellent reason for not being bored: the fact, namely, that after all, + with regard to her sister, Miss Mildred appeared to him to keep back more + than she uttered. She didn’t tell him the great thing,—she had + nothing to say as to what that charming girl thought of Eaymond Benyon. + The effect of their interview, indeed, was to make him shrink from + knowing, and he felt that the right thing for him would be to get back + into his boat, which was waiting at the garden steps, before Kate Theory + should return from Naples. It came over him, as he sat there, that he was + far too interested in knowing what this young lady thought of him. She + might think what she pleased; it could make no difference to him. The best + opinion in the world—if it looked out at him from her tender eyes—would + not make him a whit more free or more happy. Women of that sort were not + for him, women whom one could not see familiarly without falling in love + with them, and whom it was no use to fall in love with unless one was + ready to marry them. The light of the summer afternoon, and of Miss + Mildred’s pure spirit, seemed suddenly to flood the whole subject. He saw + that he was in danger, and he had long since made up his mind that from + this particular peril it was not only necessary but honorable to flee. He + took leave of his hostess before her sister reappeared, and had the + courage even to say to her that he would not come back often after that; + they would be so much occupied by their brother and his wife! As he moved + across the glassy bay, to the rhythm of the oars, he wished either that + the sisters would leave Naples or that his confounded commodore would send + for him. + </p> + <p> + When Kate returned from her errand, ten minutes later, Milly told her of + the captain’s visit, and added that she had never seen anything so sudden + as the way he left her. “He would n’t wait for you, my dear, and he said + he thought it more than likely that he should never see us again. It is as + if he thought you were going to die too!” + </p> + <p> + “Is his ship called away?” Kate Theory asked. + </p> + <p> + “He did n’t tell me so; he said we should be so busy with Percival and + Agnes.” + </p> + <p> + “He has got tired of us,—that’s all. There’s nothing wonderful in + that; I knew he would.” + </p> + <p> + Mildred said nothing for a moment; she was watching her sister, who was + very attentively arranging some flowers. “Yes, of course, we are very + dull, and he is like everybody else.” + </p> + <p> + “I thought you thought he was so wonderful,” said Kate, “and so fond of + us.” + </p> + <p> + “So he is; I am surer of that than ever. That’s why he went away so + abruptly.” + </p> + <p> + Kate looked at her sister now. “I don’t understand.” + </p> + <p> + “Neither do I, darling. But you will, one of these days.” + </p> + <p> + “How if he never comes back?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, he will—after a while—when I am gone. Then he will + explain; that, at least, is clear to me.” + </p> + <p> + “My poor precious, as if I cared!” Kate Theory exclaimed, smiling as she + distributed her flowers. She carried them to the window, to place them + near her sister, and here she paused a moment, her eye caught by an + object, far out in the bay, with which she was not unfamiliar. Mildred + noticed its momentary look, and followed its direction. + </p> + <p> + “It’s the captain’s gig going back to the ship,” Milly said. “It’s so + still one can almost hear the oars.” + </p> + <p> + Kate Theory turned away, with a sudden, strange violence, a movement and + exclamation which, the very next minute, as she became conscious of what + she had said,—and, still more, of what she felt—smote her own + heart (as it flushed her face) with surprise, and with the force of a + revelation: “I wish it would sink him to the bottom of the sea!” + </p> + <p> + Her sister stared, then caught her by the dress, as she passed from her, + drawing her back with a weak hand. “Oh, my dearest, my poorest!” And she + pulled Kate down and down toward her, so that the girl had nothing for it + but to sink on her knees and bury her face in Mildred’s lap. If that + ingenious invalid did not know everything now, she knew a great deal. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PART3" id="link2H_PART3__"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PART III. + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + V. + </h2> + <p> + Mrs. Percival proved very pretty. It is more gracious to begin with this + declaration, instead of saying that, in the first place, she proved very + silly. It took a long day to arrive at the end of her silliness, and the + two ladies at Posilippo, even after a week had passed, suspected that they + had only skirted its edges. Kate Theory had not spent half an hour in her + company before she gave a little private sigh of relief; she felt that a + situation which had promised to be embarrassing was now quite clear, was + even of a primitive simplicity. She would spend with her sister-in-law, in + the coming time, one week in the year; that was all that was mortally + possible. It was a blessing that one could see exactly what she was, for + in that way the question settled itself. It would have been much more + tiresome if Agnes had been a little less obvious; then she would have had + to hesitate and consider and weigh one thing against another. She was + pretty and silly, as distinctly as an orange is yellow and round; and Kate + Theory would as soon have thought of looking to her to give interest to + the future as she would have thought of looking to an orange to impart + solidity to the prospect of dinner. Mrs. Percival travelled in the hope of + meeting her American acquaintance, or of making acquaintance with such + Americans as she did meet, and for the purpose of buying mementos for her + relations. She was perpetually adding to her store of articles in + tortoise-shell, in mother-of-pearl, in olive-wood, in ivory, in filigree, + in tartan lacquer, in mosaic; and she had a collection of Roman scarfs and + Venetian beads, which she looked over exhaustively every night before she + went to bed. Her conversation bore mainly upon the manner in which she + intended to dispose of these accumulations. She was constantly changing + about, among each other, the persons to whom they were respectively to be + offered. At Borne one of the first things she said to her husband after + entering the Coliseum had been: “I guess I will give the ivory work-box to + Bessie and the Roman pearls to Aunt Harriet!” She was always hanging over + the travellers’ book at the hotel; she had it brought up to her, with a + cup of chocolate, as soon as she arrived. She searched its pages for the + magical name of New York, and she indulged in infinite conjecture as to + who the people were—the name was sometimes only a partial cue—who + had inscribed it there. What she most missed in Europe, and what she most + enjoyed, were the New Yorkers; when she met them she talked about the + people in their native city who had “moved” and the streets they had moved + to. “Oh, yes, the Drapers are going up town, to Twenty-fourth Street, and + the Vanderdeckens are going to be in Twenty-third Street, right back of + them. My uncle, Henry Piatt, thinks of building round there.” Mrs. + Percival Theory was capable of repeating statements like these thirty + times over,—of lingering on them for hours. She talked largely of + herself, of her uncles and aunts, of her clothes—past, present, and + future. These articles, in especial, filled her horizon; she considered + them with a complacency which might have led you to suppose that she had + invented the custom of draping the human form. Her main point of contact + with Naples was the purchase of coral; and all the while she was there the + word “set”—she used it as if every one would understand—fell + with its little, flat, common sound upon the ears of her sisters-in-law, + who had no sets of anything. She cared little for pictures and mountains; + Alps and Apennines were not productive of New Yorkers, and it was + difficult to take an interest in Madonnas who flourished at periods when, + apparently, there were no fashions, or, at any rate, no trimmings. + </p> + <p> + I speak here not only of the impression she made upon her husband’s + anxious sisters, but of the judgment passed on her (he went so far as + that, though it was not obvious how it mattered to him) by Raymond Benyon. + And this brings me at a jump (I confess it’s a very small one) to the fact + that he did, after all, go back to Posilippo. He stayed away for nine + days, and at the end of this time Percival Theory called upon him, to + thank him for the civility he had shown his kinswomen. He went to this + gentleman’s hotel, to return his visit, and there he found Miss Kate, in + her brother’s sitting-room. She had come in by appointment from the villa, + and was going with the others to seek the royal palace, which she had not + yet had an opportunity to inspect It was proposed (not by Kate), and + presently arranged, that Captain Benyon should go with them, and he + accordingly walked over marble floors for half an hour, exchanging + conscious commonplaces with the woman he loved. For this truth had rounded + itself during those nine days of absence; he discovered that there was + nothing particularly sweet in his life when once Kate Theory had been + excluded from it He had stayed away to keep himself from falling in love + with her; but this expedient was in itself illuminating, for he perceived + that, according to the vulgar adage, he was locking the stable door after + the horse had been stolen. As he paced the deck of his ship and looked + toward Posilippo, his tenderness crystallized; the thick, smoky flame of a + sentiment that knew itself forbidden and was angry at the knowledge, now + danced upon the fuel of his good resolutions. The latter, it must be said, + resisted, declined to be consumed. He determined that he would see Kate + Theory again, for a time, just sufficient to bid her good-by, and to add a + little explanation. He thought of his explanation very lovingly, but it + may not strike the reader as a happy inspiration. To part from her dryly, + abruptly, without an allusion to what he might have said if everything had + been different,—that would be wisdom, of course, that would be virtue, + that would be the line of a practical man, of a man who kept himself well + in hand. But it would be virtue terribly unrewarded,—it would be + virtue too austere for a person who sometimes flattered himself that he + had taught himself stoicism. The minor luxury tempted him irresistibly, + since the larger—that of happy love—was denied him; the luxury + of letting the girl know that it would not be an accident—oh, not at + all—that they should never meet again. She might easily think it + was, and thinking it was would doubtless do her no harm. But this would + n’t give him his pleasure,—the Platonic satisfaction of expressing + to her at the same time his belief that they might have made each other + happy, and the necessity of his renunciation. That, probably, wouldn’t + hurt her either, for she had given him no proof whatever that she cared + for him. The nearest approach to it was the way she walked beside him now, + sweet and silent, without the least reference to his not having been back + to the villa. The place was cool and dusky, the blinds were drawn, to keep + out the light and noise, and the little party wandered through the high + saloons, where precious marbles and the gleam of gilding and satin made + reflections in the rich dimness. Here and there the cicerone, in slippers, + with Neapolitan familiarity, threw open a shutter to show off a picture on + a tapestry. He strolled in front with Percival Theory and his wife, while + this lady, drooping silently from her husband’s arm as they passed, felt + the stuff of the curtains and the sofas. When he caught her in these + experiments, the cicerone, in expressive deprecation, clasped his hands + and lifted his eyebrows; whereupon Mrs. Theory exclaimed to her husband, + “Oh, bother his old king!” It was not striking to Captain Benyon why + Percival Theory had married the niece of Mr. Henry Piatt. He was less + interesting than his sisters,—a smooth, cool, correct young man, who + frequently took out a pencil and did a little arithmetic on the back of a + letter. He sometimes, in spite of his correctness, chewed a toothpick, and + he missed the American papers, which he used to ask for in the most + unlikely places. He was a Bostonian converted to New York; a very special + type. + </p> + <p> + “Is it settled when you leave Naples?” Benyon asked of Kate Theory. + </p> + <p> + “I think so; on the twenty-fourth. My brother has been very kind; he has + lent us his carriage, which is a large one, so that Mildred can lie down. + He and Agnes will take another; but, of course, we shall travel together.” + </p> + <p> + “I wish to Heaven I were going with you?” Captain Benyon said. He had + given her the opportunity to respond, but she did not take it; she merely + remarked, with a vague laugh, that of course he couldn’t take his ship + over the Apennines. “Yes, there is always my ship,” he went on. “I am + afraid that in future it will carry me far away from you.” + </p> + <p> + They were alone in one of the royal apartments; their companions had + passed, in advance of them, into the adjoining room. Benyon and his + fellow-visitor had paused beneath one of the immense chandeliers of glass, + which in the clear, colored gloom (through it one felt the strong outer + light of Italy beating in) suspended its twinkling drops from the + decorated vault. They looked round them confusedly, made shy for the + moment by Benyon’s having struck a note more serious than any that had + hitherto souuded between them, looked at the sparse furniture, draped in + white overalls, at the scagiiola floor, in which the great cluster of + crystal pendants seemed to shine again. + </p> + <p> + “You are master of your ship. Can’t you sail it as you like?” Kate Theory + asked, with a smile. + </p> + <p> + “I am not master of anything. There is not a man in the world less free. I + am a slave. I am a victim.” + </p> + <p> + She looked at him with kind eyes; something in his voice suddenly made her + put away all thought of the defensive airs that a girl, in certain + situations, is expected to assume. She perceived that he wanted to make + her understand something, and now her only wish was to help him to say it. + “You are not happy,” she murmured, simply, her voice dying away in a kind + of wonderment at this reality. + </p> + <p> + The gentle touch of the words—it was as if her hand had stroked his + cheek—seemed to him the sweetest thing he had ever known. “No, I am + not happy, because I am not free. If I were—if I were, I would give + up my ship. I would give up everything, to follow you. I can’t explain; + that is part of the hardness of it. I only want you to know it,—that + if certain things were different, if everything was different, I might + tell you that I believe I should have a right to speak to you. Perhaps + some day it will change; but probably then it will be too late. Meanwhile, + I have no right of any kind. I don’t want to trouble you, and I don’t ask + of you—anything! It is only to have spoken just once. I don’t make + you understand, of course. I am afraid I seem to you rather a brute,—perhaps + even a humbug. Don’t think of it now,—don’t try to understand. But + some day, in the future, remember what I have said to you, and how we + stood here, in this strange old place, alone! Perhaps it will give you a + little pleasure.” + </p> + <p> + Kate Theory began by listening to him with visible eagerness; but in a + moment she turned away her eyes. “I am very sorry for you,” she said, + gravely. + </p> + <p> + “Then you do understand enough?” + </p> + <p> + “I shall think of what you have said, in the future.” + </p> + <p> + Benyon’s lips formed the beginning of a word of tenderness, which he + instantly suppressed; and in a different tone, with a bitter smile and a + sad shake of the head, raising his arms a moment and letting them fall, he + said: “It won’t hurt any one, your remembering this!” + </p> + <p> + “I don’t know whom you mean.” And the girl, abruptly, began to walk to the + end of the room. He made no attempt to tell her whom he meant, and they + proceeded together in silence till they overtook their companions. + </p> + <p> + There were several pictures in the neighboring room, and Percival Theory + and his wife had stopped to look at one of them, of which the cicerone + announced the title and the authorship as Benyon came up. It was a modern + portrait of a Bourbon princess, a woman young, fair, handsome, covered + with jewels. Mrs. Percival appeared to be more struck with it than with + anything the palace had yet offered to her sight, while her sister-in-law + walked to the window, which the custodian had opened, to look out into the + garden. Benyon noticed this; he was conscious that he had given the girl + something to reflect upon, and his ears burned a little as he stood beside + Mrs. Percival and looked up, mechanically, at the royal lady. He already + repented a little of what he had said, for, after all, what was the use? + And he hoped the others wouldn’t observe that he had been making love. + </p> + <p> + “Gracious, Percival! Do you see who she looks like?” Mrs. Theory said to + her husband. + </p> + <p> + “She looks like a woman who has run up a big bill at Tiffany’s,” this + gentleman answered. + </p> + <p> + “She looks like my sister-in-law; the eyes, the mouth, the way the hair’s + done,—the whole thing.” + </p> + <p> + “Which do you mean? You have got about a dozen.” + </p> + <p> + “Why, Georgina, of course,—Georgina Roy. She’s awfully like.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you call <i>her</i> your sister-in-law?” Percival Theory asked. “You + must want very much to claim her.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, she’s handsome enough. You have got to invent some new name, then. + Captain Benyon, what do you call your brother-in-law’s second wife?” Mrs. + Percival continued, turning to her neighbor, who still stood staring at + the portrait. At first he had looked without seeing; then sight, and + hearing as well, became quick. They were suddenly peopled with thrilling + recognitions. The Bourbon princess—the eyes, the mouth, the way the + hair was done; these things took on an identity, and the gaze of the + painted face seemed to fasten itself to his own. But who in the world was + Georgina Roy, and what was this talk about sisters-in-law? He turned to + the little lady at his side a countenance unexpectedly puzzled by the + problem she had airily presented to him. + </p> + <p> + “Your brother-in-law’s second wife? That’s rather complicated.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, of course, he need n’t have married again?” said Mrs. Percival, + with a small sigh. + </p> + <p> + “Whom did he marry?” asked Benyon, staring. + </p> + <p> + Percival Theory had turned away. “Oh, if you are going into her + relationships!” he murmured, and joined his sister at the brilliant + window, through which, from the distance, the many-voiced uproar of Naples + came in. + </p> + <p> + “He married first my sister Dora, and she died five years ago. Then he + married <i>her</i>,” and Mrs. Percival nodded at the princess. + </p> + <p> + Benyon’s eyes went back to the portrait; he could see what she meant—it + stared out at him. “Her? Georgina?” + </p> + <p> + “Georgina Gressie. Gracious, do you know her?” + </p> + <p> + It was very distinct—that answer of Mrs. Percival’s, and the + question that followed it as well. But he had the resource of the picture; + he could look at it, seem to take it very seriously, though it danced up + and down before him. He felt that he was turning red, then he felt that he + was turning pale. “The brazen impudence!” That was the way he could speak + to himself now of the woman he had once loved, and whom he afterwards + hated, till this had died out, too. Then the wonder of it was lost in the + quickly growing sense that it would make a difference for him,—a + great difference. Exactly what, he didn’t see yet; only a difference that + swelled and swelled as he thought of it, and caught up, in its expansion, + the girl who stood behind him so quietly, looking into the Italian garden. + </p> + <p> + The custodian drew Mrs. Percival away to show her another princess, before + Benyon answered her last inquiry. This gave him time to recover from his + first impulse, which had been to answer it with a negative; he saw in a + moment that an admission of his acquaintance with Mrs. Roy (Mrs. Roy!—it + was prodigious!) was necessarily helping him to learn more. Besides, it + needn’t be compromising. Very likely Mrs. Percival would hear one day that + he had once wanted to marry her. So, when he joined his companions a + minute later he remarked that he had known Miss Gressie years before, and + had even admired her considerably, but had lost sight of her entirely in + later days. She had been a great beauty, and it was a wonder that she had + not married earlier. Five years ago, was it? No, it was only two. He had + been going to say that in so long a time it would have been singular he + should not have heard of it. He had been away from New York for ages; but + one always heard of marriages and deaths. This was a proof, though two + years was rather long. He led Mrs. Percival insidiously into a further + room, in advance of the others, to whom the cicerone returned. She was + delighted to talk about her “connections,” and she supplied him with every + detail He could trust himself now; his self-possession was complete, or, + so far as it was wanting, the fault was that of a sudden gayety which he + could not, on the spot, have accounted for. Of course it was not very + flattering to them—Mrs. Percivals own people—that poor Dora’s + husband should have consoled himself; but men always did it (talk of + widows!) and he had chosen a girl who was—well, very fine-looking, + and the sort of successor to Dora that they needn’t be ashamed of. She had + been awfully admired, and no one had understood why she had waited so long + to marry. She had had some affair as a girl,—an engagement to an + officer in the army,—and the man had jilted her, or they had + quarrelled, or something or other. She was almost an old maid,—well, + she was thirty, or very nearly,—but she had done something good now. + She was handsomer than ever, and tremendously stylish. William Roy had one + of the biggest incomes in the city, and he was quite affectionate. He had + been intensely fond of Dora—he often spoke of her still, at least to + her own relations; and her portrait, the last time Mrs. Percival was in + his house (it was at a party, after his marriage to Miss Gressie), was + still in the front parlor.. Perhaps by this time he had had it moved to + the back; but she was sure he would keep it somewhere, anyway. Poor Dora + had had no children; but Georgina was making that all right,—she had + a beautiful boy. Mrs. Percival had what she would have called quite a + pleasant chat with Captain Benyon about Mrs. Roy. Perhaps <i>he</i> was + the officer—she never thought of that? He was sure he had never + jilted her? And he had never quarrelled with a lady? Well, he must be + different from most men. + </p> + <p> + He certainly had the air of being so, before he parted that afternoon with + Kate Theory. This young lady, at least, was free to think him wanting in + that consistency which is supposed to be a distinctively masculine virtue. + An hour before, he had taken an eternal farewell of her, and now he was + alluding to future meetings, to future visits, proposing that, with her + sister-in-law, she should appoint an early day for coming to see the + “Louisiana.” She had supposed she understood him, but it would appear now + that she had not understood him at all. His manner had changed, too. More + and more off his guard, Raymond Benyon was not aware how much more hopeful + an expression it gave him, his irresistible sense that somehow or other + this extraordinary proceeding of his wife’s would set him free. Kate + Theory felt rather weary and mystified,—all the more for knowing + that henceforth Captain Benyon’s variations would be the most important + thing in life for her. + </p> + <p> + This officer, on his ship in the bay, lingered very late on deck that + night,—lingered there, indeed, under the warm southern sky, in which + the stars glittered with a hot, red light, until the early dawn began to + show. He smoked cigar after cigar, he walked up and down by the hour, he + was agitated by a thousand reflections, he repeated to himself that it + made a difference,—an immense difference; but the pink light had + deepened in the east before he had discovered in what the diversity + consisted. By that time he saw it clearly,—it consisted in + Georgina’s being in his power now, in place of his being in hers. He + laughed as he sat there alone in the darkness at the thought of what she + had done. It had occurred to him more than once that she would do it,—he + believed her capable of anything; but the accomplished fact had a + freshness of comicality. He thought of Mr. William Roy, of his big income, + of his being “quite affectionate,” of his blooming son and heir, of his + having found such a worthy successor to poor Mrs. Dora. He wondered + whether Georgina had happened to mention to him that she had a husband + living, but was strongly of the belief that she had not. Why should she, + after all? She had neglected to mention it to so many others. He had + thought he knew her, in so many years,—that he had nothing more to + learn about her; but this ripe stroke revived his sense of her audacity. + Of course it was what she had been waiting for, and if she had not done it + sooner it was because she had hoped he would be lost at sea in one of his + long cruises and relieve her of the necessity of a crime. How she must + hate him to-day for not having been lost, for being alive, for continuing + to put her in the wrong! Much as she hated him, however, his own loathing + was at least a match for hers. She had done him the foulest of wrongs,—she + had ravaged his life. That he should ever detest in this degree a woman + whom he had once loved as he loved her, he would not have thought possible + in his innocent younger years. But he would not have thought it possible + then that a woman should be such a cold-blooded devil as she had been. His + love had perished in his rage,—his blinding, impotent rage at + finding that he had been duped, and measuring his impotence. When he + learned, years before, from Mrs. Portico, what she had done with her baby, + of whose entrance into life she herself had given him no intimation, he + felt that he was face to face with a full revelation of her nature. Before + that it had puzzled him; it had amazed him; his relations with her were + bewildering, stupefying. But when, after obtaining, with difficulty and + delay, a leave of absence from Government, and betaking himself to Italy + to look for the child and assume possession of it, he had encountered + absolute failure and defeat,—then the case presented itself to him + more simply. He perceived that he had mated himself with a creature who + just happened to be a monster, a human exception altogether. That was what + he could n’t pardon—her conduct about the child; never, never, + never! To him she might have done what she chose,—dropped him, + pushed him out into eternal cold, with his hands fast tied,—and he + would have accepted it, excused her almost, admitted that it had been his + business to mind better what he was about. But she had tortured him + through the poor little irrecoverable son whom he had never seen, through + the heart and the vitals that she had not herself, and that he had to + have, poor wretch, for both of them! + </p> + <p> + All his efforts for years had been to forget these horrible months, and he + had cut himself off from them so that they seemed at times to belong to + the life of another person. But to-night he lived them over again; he + retraced the different gradations of darkness through which he had passed, + from the moment, so soon after his extraordinary marriage, when it came + over him that she already repented, and meant, if possible, to elude all + her obligations. This was the moment when he saw why she had reserved + herself—in the strange vow she extracted from him—an open door + for retreat; the moment, too, when her having had such an inspiration (in + the midst of her momentary good faith, if good faith it had ever been) + struck him as a proof of her essential depravity. What he had tried to + forget came back to him: the child that was not his child produced for him + when he fell upon that squalid nest of peasants in the Genoese country; + and then the confessions, retractations, contradictions, lies, terrors, + threats, and general bottomless, baffling baseness of every one in the + place. The child was gone; that had been the only definite thing. The + woman who had taken it to nurse had a dozen different stories,—her + husband had as many,—and every one in the village had a hundred + more. Georgina had been sending money,—she had managed, apparently, + to send a good deal,—and the whole country seemed to have been + living on it and making merry. At one moment the baby had died and + received a most expensive burial; at another he had been intrusted (for + more healthy air, Santissima Madonna!) to the woman’s cousin in another + village. According to a version, which for a day or two Benyon had + inclined to think the least false, he had been taken by the cousin (for + his beauty’s sake) to Genoa (when she went for the first time in her life + to the town to see her daughter in service there), and had been confided + for a few hours to a third woman, who was to keep him while the cousin + walked about the streets, but who, having no child of her own, took such a + fancy to him that she refused to give him up, and a few days later left + the place (she was a Pisana) never to be heard of more. The cousin had + forgotten her name,—it had happened six months before. Benyon spent + a year looking up and down Italy for his child, and inspecting hundreds of + swaddled infants, impenetrable candidates for recognition. Of course he + could only get further and further from real knowledge, and his search was + arrested by the conviction that it was making him mad. He set his teeth + and made up his mind (or tried to) that the baby had died in the hands of + its nurse. This was, after all, much the likeliest supposition, and the + woman had maintained it, in the hope of being rewarded for her candor, + quite as often as she had asseverated that it was still, somewhere, alive, + in the hope of being remunerated for her good news. It may be imagined + with what sentiments toward his wife Benyon had emerged from this episode. + To-night his memory went further back,—back to the beginning and to + the days when he had had to ask himself, with all the crudity of his first + surprise, what in the name of wantonness she had wished to do with him. + The answer to this speculation was so old,—it had dropped so ont of + the line of recurrence,—that it was now almost new again. Moreover, + it was only approximate, for, as I have already said, he could comprehend + such conduct as little at the end as at the beginning. She had found + herself on a slope which her nature forced her to descend to the bottom. + She did him the honor of wishing to enjoy his society, and she did herself + the honor of thinking that their intimacy—however brief—must + have a certain consecration. She felt that, with him, after his promise + (he would have made any promise to lead her on), she was secure,—secure + as she had proved to be, secure as she must think herself now. That + security had helped her to ask herself, after the first flush of passion + was over, and her native, her twice-inherited worldliness had bad time to + open its eyes again, why she should keep faith with a man whose + deficiencies (as a husband before the world—another affair) had been + so scientifically exposed to her by her parents. So she had simply + determined not to keep faith; and her determination, at least, she did + keep. + </p> + <p> + By the time Benyon turned in he had satisfied himself, as I say, that + Georgina was now in his power; and this seemed to him such an improvement + in his situation that he allowed himself (for the next ten days) a license + which made Kate Theory almost as happy as it made her sister, though she + pretended to understand it far less. Mildred sank to her rest, or rose to + fuller comprehensions, within the year, in the Isle of Wight, and Captain + Benyon, who had never written so many letters as since they left Naples, + sailed westward about the same time as the sweet survivor. For the + “Louisiana” at last was ordered home. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VI. + </h2> + <p> + Certainly, I will see you if you come, and you may appoint any day or hour + you like. I should have seen you with pleasure any time these last years. + Why should we not be friends, as we used to be? Perhaps we shall be yet. I + say “perhaps” only, on purpose,—because your note is rather vague + about your state of mind. Don’t come with any idea about making me nervous + or uncomfortable. I am not nervous by nature, thank Heaven, and I won’t—I + positively won’t (do you hear, dear Captain Benyon?)—be + uncomfortable. I have been so (it served me right) for years and years; + but I am very happy now. To remain so is the very definite intention of, + yours ever, + </p> + <p> + Georgina Roy. + </p> + <p> + This was the answer Benyon received to a short letter that he despatched + to Mrs. Roy after his return to America. It was not till he had been there + some weeks that he wrote to her. He had been occupied in various ways: he + had had to look after his ship; he had had to report at Washington; he had + spent a fortnight with his mother at Portsmouth, N. H.; and he had paid a + visit to Kate Theory in Boston. She herself was paying visits, she was + staying with various relatives and friends. She had more color—it + was very delicately rosy—than she had had of old, in spite of her + black dress; and the effect of looking at him seemed to him to make her + eyes grow still prettier. Though sisterless now, she was not without + duties, and Benyon could easily see that life would press hard on her + unless some one should interfere. Every one regarded her as just the + person to do certain things. Every one thought she could do everything, + because she had nothing else to do. She used to read to the blind, and, + more onerously, to the deaf. She looked after other people’s children + while the parents attended anti-slavery conventions. + </p> + <p> + She was coming to New York later to spend a week at her brother’s, but + beyond this she didn’t know what she should do. Benyon felt it to be + awkward that he should not be able, just now, to tell her; and this had + much to do with his coming to the point, for he accused himself of having + rather hung fire. Coming to the point, for Benyon, meant writing a note to + Mrs. Roy (as he must call her), in which he asked whether she would see + him if he should present himself. The missive was short; it contained, in + addition to what I have noted, little more than the remark that he had + something of importance to say to her. Her reply, which we have just read, + was prompt. Benyon designated an hour, and the next day rang the doorbell + of her big modern house, whose polished windows seemed to shine defiance + at him. + </p> + <p> + As he stood on the steps, looking up and down the straight vista of the + Fifth Avenue, he perceived that he was trembling a little, that <i>he</i> + was nervous, if she was not. He was ashamed of his agitation, and he + addressed himself a very stern reprimand. Afterwards he saw that what had + made him nervous was not any doubt of the goodness of his cause, but his + revived sense (as he drew near her) of his wife’s hardness,—her + capacity for insolence. He might only break himself against that, and the + prospect made him feel helpless. She kept him waiting for a long time + after he had been introduced; and as he walked up and down her + drawing-room, an immense, florid, expensive apartment, covered with blue + satin, gilding, mirrors and bad frescos, it came over him as a certainty + that her delay was calculated. She wished to annoy him, to weary him; she + was as ungenerous as she was unscrupulous. It never occurred to him that + in spite of the bold words of her note, she, too, might be in a tremor, + and if any one in their secret bad suggested that she was afraid to meet + him, he would have laughed at this idea. This was of bad omen for the + success of his errand; for it showed that he recognized the ground of her + presumption,—his having the superstition of old promises. By the + time she appeared, he was flushed,—very angry. She closed the door + behind her, and stood there looking at him, with the width of the room + between them. + </p> + <p> + The first emotion her presence excited was a quick sense of the strange + fact that, after all these years of loneliness, such a magnificent person + should be his wife. For she was magnificent, in the maturity of her + beauty, her head erect, her complexion splendid, her auburn tresses + undimmed, a certain plenitude in her very glance. He saw in a moment that + she wished to seem to him beautiful, she had endeavored to dress herself + to the best effect. Perhaps, after all, it was only for this she had + delayed; she wished to give herself every possible touch. For some moments + they said nothing; they had not stood face to face for nearly ten years, + and they met now as adversaries. No two persons could possibly be more + interested in taking each other’s measure. It scarcely belonged to + Georgina, however, to have too much the air of timidity; and after a + moment, satisfied, apparently, that she was not to receive a broadside, + she advanced, slowly rubbing her jewelled hands and smiling. He wondered + why she should smile, what thought was in her mind. His impressions + followed each other with extraordinary quickness of pulse, and now he saw, + in addition to what he had already perceived, that she was waiting to take + her cue,—she had determined on no definite line. There was nothing + definite about her but her courage; the rest would depend upon him. As for + her courage, it seemed to glow in the beauty which grew greater as she + came nearer, with her eyes on his and her fixed smile; to be expressed in + the very perfume that accompanied her steps. By this time he had got still + a further impression, and it was the strangest of all. She was ready for + anything, she was capable of anything, she wished to surprise him with her + beauty, to remind him that it belonged, after all, at the bottom of + everything, to him. She was ready to bribe him, if bribing should be + necessary. She had carried on an intrigue before she was twenty; it would + be more, rather than less, easy for her, now that she was thirty. All this + and more was in her cold, living eyes, as in the prolonged silence they + engaged themselves with his; but I must not dwell upon it, for reasons + extraneous to the remarkable fact She was a truly amazing creature. + </p> + <p> + “Raymond!” she said, in a low voice, a voice which might represent either + a vague greeting or an appeal. + </p> + <p> + He took no heed of the exclamation, but asked her why she had deliberately + kept him waiting,—as if she had not made a fool enough of him + already. She could n’t suppose it was for his pleasure he had come into + the house. + </p> + <p> + She hesitated a moment,—still with her smile. “I must tell you I + have a son,—the dearest little boy. His nurse happened to be engaged + for the moment, and I had to watch him. I am more devoted to him than you + might suppose.” + </p> + <p> + He fell back from her a few steps. “I wonder if you are insane,” he + murmured. + </p> + <p> + “To allude to my child? Why do you ask me such questions then? I tell you + the simple truth. I take every care of this one. I am older and wiser. The + other one was a complete mistake; he had no right to exist.” + </p> + <p> + “Why didn’t you kill him then with your own hands, instead of that + torture?” + </p> + <p> + “Why did n’t I kill myself? That question would be more to the point You + are looking wonderfully well,” she broke off in another tone; “had n’t we + better sit down?” + </p> + <p> + “I did n’t come here for the advantage of conversation,” Benyon answered. + And he was going on, but she interrupted him— + </p> + <p> + “You came to say something dreadful, very likely; though I hoped you would + see it was better not But just tell me this before you begin. Are you + successful, are you happy? It has been so provoking, not knowing more + about you.” + </p> + <p> + There was something in the manner in which this was said that caused him + to break into a loud laugh; whereupon she added,— + </p> + <p> + “Your laugh is just what it used to be. How it comes back to me! You <i>have</i> + improved in appearance,” she went on. + </p> + <p> + She had seated herself, though he remained standing; and she leaned back + in a low, deep chair, looking up at him, with her arms folded. He stood + near her and over her, as it were, dropping his baffled eyes on her, with + his hand resting on the corner of the chimney-piece. “Has it never + occurred to you that I may deem myself absolved from the promise made you + before I married you?” + </p> + <p> + “Very often, of course. But I have instantly dismissed the idea. How can + you be ‘absolved’? One promises, or one doesn’t. I attach no meaning to + that, and neither do you.” And she glanced down to the front of her dress. + </p> + <p> + Benyon listened, but he went on as if he had not heard her. “What I came + to say to you is this: that I should like your consent to my bringing a + suit for divorce against you.” + </p> + <p> + “A suit for divorce? I never thought of that.” + </p> + <p> + “So that I may marry another woman. I can easily obtain a divorce on the + ground of your desertion.” + </p> + <p> + She stared a moment, then her smile solidified, as it were, and she looked + grave; but he could see that her gravity, with her lifted eyebrows, was + partly assumed. “Ah, you want to marry another woman!” she exclaimed, + slowly, thoughtfully. He said nothing, and she went on: “Why don’t you do + as I have done?” + </p> + <p> + “Because I don’t want my children to be—” + </p> + <p> + Before he could say the words she sprang up, checking him with a cry. + “Don’t say it; it is n’t necessary! Of course I know what you mean; but + they won’t be if no one knows it.” + </p> + <p> + “I should object to knowing it myself; it’s enough for me to know it of + yours.” + </p> + <p> + “Of course I have been prepared for your saying that” + </p> + <p> + “I should hope so!” Benyon exclaimed. “You may be a bigamist if it suits + you, but to me the idea is not attractive. I wish to marry—” and, + hesitating a moment, with his slight stammer, he repeated, “I wish to + marry—” + </p> + <p> + “Marry, then, and have done with it!” cried Mrs. Roy. + </p> + <p> + He could already see that he should be able to extract no consent from + her; he felt rather sick. “It’s extraordinary to me that you should n’t be + more afraid of being found out,” he said after a moment’s reflection. + “There are two or three possible accidents.” + </p> + <p> + “How do you know how much afraid I am? I have thought of every accident, + in dreadful nights. How do you know what my life is, or what it has been + all these miserable years?” + </p> + <p> + “You look wasted and worn, certainly.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, don’t compliment me!” Georgina exclaimed. “If I had never known you—if + I had not been through all this—I believe I should have been + handsome. When did you hear of my marriage? Where were you at the time?” + </p> + <p> + “At Naples, more than six months ago, by a mere chance.” + </p> + <p> + “How strange that it should have taken you so long! Is the lady a + Neapolitan? They don’t mind what they do over there.” + </p> + <p> + “I have no information to give you beyond what I just said,” Benyon + rejoined. “My life does n’t in the least regard you.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, but it does from the moment I refuse to let you divorce me.” + </p> + <p> + “You refuse?” Benyon said softly. + </p> + <p> + “Don’t look at me that way! You have n’t advanced so rapidly as I used to + think you would; you haven’t distinguished yourself so much,” she went on, + irrelevantly. + </p> + <p> + “I shall be promoted commodore one of these days,” Benyon answered. “You + don’t know much about it, for my advancement has already been very + exceptionally rapid.” He blushed as soon as the words were out of his + mouth. She gave a light laugh on seeing it; but he took up his hat and + added: “Think over a day or two what I have proposed to you. Think of the + temper in which I ask it.” + </p> + <p> + “The temper?” she stared. “Pray, what have you to do with temper?” And as + he made no reply, smoothing his hat with his glove, she went on: “Years + ago, as much as you please I you had a good right, I don’t deny, and you + raved, in your letters, to your heart’s content That’s why I would n’t see + you; I did n’t wish to take it full in the face. But that’s all over now, + time is a healer, you have cooled off, and by your own admission you have + consoled yourself. Why do you talk to me about temper! What in the world + have I done to you, but let you alone?” + </p> + <p> + “What do you call this business?” Benyon asked, with his eye flashing all + over the room. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, excuse me, that doesn’t touch you,—it’s my affair. I leave you + your liberty, and I can live as I like. If I choose to live in this way, + it may be queer (I admit it is, awfully), but you have nothing to say to + it. If I am willing to take the risk, you may be. If I am willing to play + such an infernal trick upon a confiding gentleman (I will put it as + strongly as you possibly could), I don’t see what you have to say to it + except that you are tremendously glad such a woman as that is n’t known to + be your wife!” She had been cool and deliberate up to this time; but with + these words her latent agitation broke out “Do you think I have been + happy? Do you think I have enjoyed existence? Do you see me freezing up + into a stark old maid?” + </p> + <p> + “I wonder you stood out so long!” said Benyon. + </p> + <p> + “I wonder I did. They were bad years.” + </p> + <p> + “I have no doubt they were!” + </p> + <p> + “You could do as you pleased,” Georgina went on. “You roamed about the + world; you formed charming relations. I am delighted to hear it from your + own lips. Think of my going back to my father’s house—that family + vault—and living there, year after year, as Miss Gressie! If you + remember my father and mother—they are round in Twelfth Street, just + the same—you must admit that I paid for my folly!” + </p> + <p> + “I have never understood you; I don’t understand you now,” said Benyon. + </p> + <p> + She looked at him a moment. “I adored you.” + </p> + <p> + “I could damn you with a word!” he went on. + </p> + <p> + The moment he had spoken she grasped his arm and held up her other hand, + as if she were listening to a sound outside the room. She had evidently + had an inspiration, and she carried it into instant effect She swept away + to the door, flung it open, and passed into the hall, whence her voice + came back to Benyon as she addressed a person who was apparently her + husband. She had heard him enter the house at his habitual hour, after his + long morning at business; the closing of the door of the vestibule had + struck her ear. The parlor was on a level with the hall, and she greeted + him without impediment. She asked him to come in and be introduced to + Captain Benyon, and he responded with due solemnity. She returned in + advance of him, her eyes fixed upon Benyon and lighted with defiance, her + whole face saying to him, vividly: “Here is your opportunity; I give it to + you with my own hands. Break your promise and betray me if you dare! You + say you can damn me with a word: speak the word and let us see!” + </p> + <p> + Benyon’s heart beat faster, as he felt that it was indeed a chance; but + half his emotion came from the spectacle—magnificent in its way—of + her unparalleled impudence. A sense of all that he had escaped in not + having had to live with her rolled over him like a wave, while he looked + strangely at Mr. Roy, to whom this privilege had been vouchsafed. He saw + in a moment his successor had a constitution that would carry it. Mr. Roy + suggested squareness and solidity; he was a broadbased, comfortable, + polished man, with a surface in which the rank tendrils of irritation + would not easily obtain a foothold. He had a broad, blank face, a + capacious mouth, and a small, light eye, to which, as he entered, he was + engaged in adjusting a double gold-rimmed glass. He approached Benyon with + a prudent, civil, punctual air, as if he habitually met a good many + gentlemen in the course of business, and though, naturally, this was not + that sort of occasion he was not a man to waste time in preliminaries. + Benyon had immediately the impression of having seen him—or his + equivalent—a thousand times before. He was middle-aged, + fresh-colored, whiskered, prosperous, indefinite. Georgina introduced them + to each other. She spoke of Benyon as an old friend whom she had known + long before she had known Mr. Roy, who had been very kind to her years + ago, when she was a girl. + </p> + <p> + “He’s in the navy. He has just come back from a long cruise.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Hoy shook hands,—Benyon gave him his before he knew it,—said + he was very happy, smiled, looked at Benyon from head to foot, then at + Georgina, then round the room, then back at Benyon again,—at Benyon, + who stood there, without sound or movement, with a dilated eye, and a + pulse quickened to a degree of which Mr. Roy could have little idea. + Georgina made some remark about their sitting down, but William Roy + replied that he had n’t time for that,—if Captain Benyon would + excuse him. He should have to go straight into the library, and write a + note to send back to his office, where, as he just remembered, he had + neglected to give, in leaving the place, an important direction. + </p> + <p> + “You can wait a moment, surely,” Georgina said. “Captain Benyon wants so + much to see you.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, yes, my dear; I can wait a minute, and I can come back.” + </p> + <p> + Benyon saw, accordingly, that he was waiting, and that Georgina was + waiting too. Each was waiting for him to say something, though they were + waiting for different things. Mr. Roy put his hands behind him, balanced + himself on his toes, hoped that Captain Benyon had enjoyed his cruise,—though + he should n’t care much for the navy himself,—and evidently wondered + at the stolidity of his wife’s visitor. Benyon knew he was speaking, for + he indulged in two or three more observations, after which he stopped. But + his meaning was not present to our hero. This personage was conscious of + only one thing, of his own momentary power,—of everything that hung + on his lips; all the rest swam before him; there was vagueness in his ears + and eyes. Mr. Roy stopped, as I say, and there was a pause, which seemed + to Benyon of tremendous length. He knew, while it lasted, that Georgina + was as conscious as himself that he felt his opportunity, that he held it + there in his hand, weighing it noiselessly in the palm, and that she + braved and scorned, or, rather, that she enjoyed, the danger. He asked + himself whether he should be able to speak if he were to try, and then he + knew that he should not, that the words would stick in his throat, that he + should make sounds that would dishonor his cause. There was no real choice + or decision, then, on Benyon’s part; his silence was after all the same + old silence, the fruit of other hours and places, the stillness to which + Georgina listened, while he felt her eager eyes fairly eat into his face, + so that his cheeks burned with the touch of them. The moments stood before + him in their turn; each one was distinct. “Ah, well,” said Mr. Roy, + “perhaps I interrupt,—I ‘ll just dash off my note” Benyon knew that + he was rather bewildered, that he was making a pretext, that he was + leaving the room; knew presently that Georgina again stood before him + alone. + </p> + <p> + “You are exactly the man I thought you!” she announced, as joyously as if + she had won a bet. + </p> + <p> + “You are the most horrible woman I can imagine. Good God! if I <i>had</i> + had to live with you!” That is what he said to her in answer. + </p> + <p> + Even at this she never flushed; she continued to smile in triumph. “He + adores me—but what’s that to you? Of course you have all the + future,” she went on; “but I know you as if I had made you!” + </p> + <p> + Benyon reflected a moment “If he adores you, you are all right. If our + divorce is pronounced, you will be free, and then he can marry you + properly, which he would like ever so much better.” + </p> + <p> + “It’s too touching to hear you reason about it. Fancy me telling such a + hideous story—about myself—me—<i>me</i>!” And she + touched her breasts with her white fingers. + </p> + <p> + Benyon gave her a look that was charged with all the sickness of his + helpless rage. “You—<i>you</i>!” he repeated, as he turned away from + her and passed through the door which Mr. Roy had left open. + </p> + <p> + She followed him into the hall, she was close behind him; he moved before + her as she pressed. “There was one more reason,” she said. “I would n’t be + forbidden. It was my hideous pride. That’s what prevents me now.” + </p> + <p> + “I don’t care what it is,” Benyon answered, wearily, with his hand on the + knob of the door. + </p> + <p> + She laid hers on his shoulder; he stood there an instant feeling it, + wishing that her loathsome touch gave him the right to strike her to the + earth,—to strike her so that she should never rise again. + </p> + <p> + “How clever you are, and intelligent always,—as you used to be; to + feel so perfectly and know so well, without more scenes, that it’s + hopeless—my ever consenting! If I have, with you, the shame of + having made you promise, let me at least have the profit!” + </p> + <p> + His back had been turned to her, but at this he glanced round. “To hear + you talk of shame—!” + </p> + <p> + “You don’t know what I have gone through; but, of course, I don’t ask any + pity from you. Only I should like to say something kind to you before we + part I admire you, esteem you: I don’t many people! Who will ever tell + her, if you don’t? How will she ever know, then? She will be as safe as I + am. You know what that is,” said Georgina, smiling. + </p> + <p> + He had opened the door while she spoke, apparently not heeding her, + thinking only of getting away from her forever. In reality he heard every + word she said, and felt to his marrow the lowered, suggestive tone in + which she made him that last recommendation. Outside, on the steps—she + stood there in the doorway—he gave her his last look. “I only hope + you will die. I shall pray for that!” And he descended into the street and + took his way. + </p> + <p> + It was after this that his real temptation came. Not the temptation to + return betrayal for betrayal; that passed away even in a few days, for he + simply knew that he couldn’t break his promise, that it imposed itself on + him as stubbornly as the color of his eyes or the stammer of his lips; it + had gone forth into the world to live for itself, and was far beyond his + reach or his authority. But the temptation to go through the form of a + marriage with Kate Theory, to let her suppose that he was as free as + herself, and that their children, if they should have any, would, before + the law, have a right to exist,—this attractive idea held him fast + for many weeks, and caused him to pass some haggard nights and days. It + was perfectly possible she might learn his secret, and that, as no one + could either suspect it or have an interest in bringing it to light, they + both might live and die in security and honor. This vision fascinated him; + it was, I say, a real temptation. He thought of other solutions,—of + telling her that he was married (without telling her to whom), and + inducing her to overlook such an accident, and content herself with a + ceremony in which the world would see no flaw. But after all the + contortions of his spirit it remained as clear to him as before that + dishonor was in everything but renunciation. So, at last, he renounced. He + took two steps which attested ths act to himself. He addressed an urgent + request to the Secretary of the Navy that he might, with as little delay + as possible, be despatched on another long voyage; and he returned to + Boston to tell Kate Theory that they must wait. He could explain so little + that, say what he would, he was aware that he could not make his conduct + seem natural, and he saw that the girl only trusted him,—that she + never understood. She trusted without understanding, and she agreed to + wait. When the writer of these pages last heard of the pair they were + waiting still. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Georgina’s Reasons, by Henry James + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GEORGINA’S REASONS *** + +***** This file should be named 21771-h.htm or 21771-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/1/7/7/21771/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the Foundation” + or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the phrase “Project +Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase “Project Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +“Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, “Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.” + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +“Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right +of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’ WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm’s +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws. + +The Foundation’s principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation’s web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + </body> +</html> |