“Idon’tlosethings，“saidHewet。“Imislaythem。ThatwasthereasonwhyHirstrefusedtoshareacabinwithmeonthevoyageout。“
　　“Youcameouttogether？“Helenenquired。
　　“Iproposethateachmemberofthispartynowgivesashortbiographicalsketchofhimselforherself，“saidHirst，sittingupright。
　　“MissVinrace，youcomefirst；begin。“
　　Rachelstatedthatshewastwenty-fouryearsofage，thedaughterofaship-owner，thatshehadneverbeenproperlyeducated；
　　playedthepiano，hadnobrothersorsisters，andlivedatRichmondwithaunts，hermotherbeingdead。
　　“Next，“saidHirst，havingtakeninthesefacts；hepointedatHewet。
　　“IamthesonofanEnglishgentleman。Iamtwenty-seven，“
　　Hewetbegan。“Myfatherwasafox-huntingsquire。HediedwhenI
　　wasteninthehuntingfield。Icanrememberhisbodycominghome，onashutterIsuppose，justasIwasgoingdowntotea，andnoticingthattherewasjamfortea，andwonderingwhetherI
　　shouldbeallowed——“
　　“Yes；butkeeptothefacts，“Hirstputin。
　　“IwaseducatedatWinchesterandCambridge，whichIhadtoleaveafteratime。Ihavedoneagoodmanythingssince——“
　　“Profession？“
　　“None——atleast——“
　　“Tastes？“
　　“Literary。I’mwritinganovel。“
　　“Brothersandsisters？“
　　“Threesisters，nobrother，andamother。“
　　“Isthatallwe’retohearaboutyou？“saidHelen。Shestatedthatshewasveryold——fortylastOctober，andherfatherhadbeenasolicitorinthecitywhohadgonebankrupt，forwhichreasonshehadneverhadmucheducation——theylivedinoneplaceafteranother——
　　butanelderbrotherusedtolendherbooks。
　　“IfIweretotellyoueverything——“shestoppedandsmiled。
　　“Itwouldtaketoolong，“sheconcluded。“ImarriedwhenIwasthirty，andIhavetwochildren。Myhusbandisascholar。Andnow——
　　it’syourturn，“shenoddedatHirst。
　　“You’veleftoutagreatdeal，“hereprovedher。“MynameisSt。JohnAlaricHirst，“hebeganinajauntytoneofvoice。
　　“I’mtwenty-fouryearsold。I’mthesonoftheReverendSidneyHirst，vicarofGreatWappynginNorfolk。Oh，Igotscholarshipseverywhere——Westminster——King’s。I’mnowafellowofKing’s。Don’titsounddreary？Parentsbothalivealas。
　　Twobrothersandonesister。I’maverydistinguishedyoungman，“headded。
　　“Oneofthethree，orisitfive，mostdistinguishedmeninEngland，“
　　Hewetremarked。
　　“Quitecorrect，“saidHirst。
　　“That’sallveryinteresting，“saidHelenafterapause。
　　“Butofcoursewe’veleftouttheonlyquestionsthatmatter。
　　Forinstance，areweChristians？“
　　“Iamnot，““Iamnot，“boththeyoungmenreplied。
　　“Iam，“Rachelstated。
　　“YoubelieveinapersonalGod？“Hirstdemanded，turningroundandfixingherwithhiseyeglasses。
　　“Ibelieve——Ibelieve，“Rachelstammered，“Ibelievetherearethingswedon’tknowabout，andtheworldmightchangeinaminuteandanythingappear。“
　　AtthisHelenlaughedoutright。“Nonsense，“shesaid。“You’renotaChristian。You’veneverthoughtwhatyouare——Andtherearelotsofotherquestions，“shecontinued，“thoughperhapswecan’taskthemyet。“Althoughtheyhadtalkedsofreelytheywerealluncomfortablyconsciousthattheyreallyknewnothingabouteachother。
　　“Theimportantquestions，“Hewetpondered，“thereallyinterestingones。
　　Idoubtthatoneeverdoesaskthem。“
　　Rachel，whowasslowtoacceptthefactthatonlyaveryfewthingscanbesaidevenbypeoplewhoknoweachotherwell，insistedonknowingwhathemeant。
　　“Whetherwe’veeverbeeninlove？“sheenquired。“Isthatthekindofquestionyoumean？“
　　AgainHelenlaughedather，benignantlystrewingherwithhandfulsofthelongtasselledgrass，forshewassobraveandsofoolish。
　　“Oh，Rachel，“shecried。“It’slikehavingapuppyinthehousehavingyouwithone——apuppythatbringsone’sunderclothesdownintothehall。“
　　Butagainthesunnyearthinfrontofthemwascrossedbyfantasticwaveringfigures，theshadowsofmenandwomen。
　　“Theretheyare！“exclaimedMrs。Elliot。Therewasatouchofpeevishnessinhervoice。“Andwe’vehad_such_ahunttofindyou。
　　Doyouknowwhatthetimeis？“
　　Mrs。ElliotandMr。andMrs。Thornburynowconfrontedthem；Mrs。Elliotwasholdingoutherwatch，andplayfullytappingitupontheface。
　　Hewetwasrecalledtothefactthatthiswasapartyforwhichhewasresponsible，andheimmediatelyledthembacktothewatch-tower，wheretheyweretohaveteabeforestartinghomeagain。Abrightcrimsonscarfflutteredfromthetopofthewall，whichMr。PerrottandEvelynweretyingtoastoneastheotherscameup。Theheathadchangedjustsofarthatinsteadofsittingintheshadowtheysatinthesun，whichwasstillhotenoughtopainttheirfacesredandyellow，andtocolourgreatsectionsoftheearthbeneaththem。
　　“There’snothinghalfsoniceastea！“saidMrs。Thornbury，takinghercup。
　　“Nothing，“saidHelen。“Can’tyourememberasachildchoppinguphay——“shespokemuchmorequicklythanusual，andkepthereyefixeduponMrs。Thornbury，“andpretendingitwastea，andgettingscoldedbythenurses——whyIcan’timagine，exceptthatnursesaresuchbrutes，won’tallowpepperinsteadofsaltthoughthere’snoearthlyharminit。Weren’tyournursesjustthesame？“
　　DuringthisspeechSusancameintothegroup，andsatdownbyHelen’sside。AfewminuteslaterMr。Venningstrolledupfromtheoppositedirection。Hewasalittleflushed，andinthemoodtoanswerhilariouslywhateverwassaidtohim。
　　“Whathaveyoubeendoingtothatoldchap’sgrave？“heasked，pointingtotheredflagwhichfloatedfromthetopofthestones。
　　“Wehavetriedtomakehimforgethismisfortuneinhavingdiedthreehundredyearsago，“saidMr。Perrott。
　　“Itwouldbeawful——tobedead！“ejaculatedEvelynM。
　　“Tobedead？“saidHewet。“Idon’tthinkitwouldbeawful。
　　It’squiteeasytoimagine。Whenyougotobedto-nightfoldyourhandsso——breatheslowerandslower——“Helaybackwithhishandsclaspeduponhisbreast，andhiseyesshut，“Now，“hemurmuredinanevenmonotonousvoice，“Ishallnever，never，nevermoveagain。“
　　Hisbody，lyingflatamongthem，didforamomentsuggestdeath。
　　“Thisisahorribleexhibition，Mr。Hewet！“criedMrs。Thornbury。
　　“Morecakeforus！“saidArthur。
　　“Iassureyouthere’snothinghorribleaboutit，“saidHewet，sittingupandlayinghandsuponthecake。
　　“It’ssonatural，“herepeated。“Peoplewithchildrenshouldmakethemdothatexerciseeverynight……NotthatIlookforwardtobeingdead。“
　　“Andwhenyoualludetoagrave，“saidMr。Thornbury，whospokealmostforthefirsttime，“haveyouanyauthorityforcallingthatruinagrave？
　　IamquitewithyouinrefusingtoacceptthecommoninterpretationwhichdeclaresittobetheremainsofanElizabethanwatch-tower——
　　anymorethanIbelievethatthecircularmoundsorbarrowswhichwefindonthetopofourEnglishdownswerecamps。
　　Theantiquariescalleverythingacamp。Iamalwaysaskingthem，Wellthen，wheredoyouthinkourancestorskepttheircattle？
　　HalfthecampsinEnglandaremerelytheancientpoundorbartonaswecallitinmypartoftheworld。Theargumentthatnoonewouldkeephiscattleinsuchexposedandinaccessiblespotshasnoweightatall，ifyoureflectthatinthosedaysaman’scattlewerehiscapital，hisstock-in-trade，hisdaughter’sdowries。
　　Withoutcattlehewasaserf，anotherman’sman……“Hiseyesslowlylosttheirintensity，andhemutteredafewconcludingwordsunderhisbreath，lookingcuriouslyoldandforlorn。
　　HughlingElliot，whomighthavebeenexpectedtoengagetheoldgentlemaninargument，wasabsentatthemoment。Henowcameupholdingoutalargesquareofcottonuponwhichafinedesignwasprintedinpleasantbrightcoloursthatmadehishandlookpale。
　　“Abargain，“heannounced，layingitdownonthecloth。“I’vejustboughtitfromthebigmanwiththeear-rings。Fine，isn’tit？
　　Itwouldn’tsuiteveryone，ofcourse，butit’sjustthething——
　　isn’tit，Hilda？——forMrs。RaymondParry。“
　　“Mrs。RaymondParry！“criedHelenandMrs。Thornburyatthesamemoment。
　　Theylookedateachotherasthoughamisthithertoobscuringtheirfaceshadbeenblownaway。
　　“Ah——youhavebeentothosewonderfulpartiestoo？“Mrs。Elliotaskedwithinterest。
　　Mrs。Parry’sdrawing-room，thoughthousandsofmilesaway，behindavastcurveofwateronatinypieceofearth，camebeforetheireyes。Theywhohadhadnosolidityoranchoragebeforeseemedtobeattachedtoitsomehow，andatoncegrownmoresubstantial。
　　Perhapstheyhadbeeninthedrawing-roomatthesamemoment；
　　perhapstheyhadpassedeachotheronthestairs；atanyratetheyknewsomeofthesamepeople。Theylookedoneanotherupanddownwithnewinterest。Buttheycoulddonomorethanlookateachother，fortherewasnotimetoenjoythefruitsofthediscovery。
　　Thedonkeyswereadvancing，anditwasadvisabletobeginthedescentimmediately，forthenightfellsoquicklythatitwouldbedarkbeforetheywerehomeagain。
　　Accordingly，remountinginorder，theyfiledoffdownthehillside。
　　Scrapsoftalkcamefloatingbackfromonetoanother。Therewerejokestobeginwith，andlaughter；somewalkedpartoftheway，andpickedflowers，andsentstonesboundingbeforethem。
　　“WhowritesthebestLatinverseinyourcollege，Hirst？“Mr。Elliotcalledbackincongruously，andMr。Hirstreturnedthathehadnoidea。
　　Theduskfellassuddenlyasthenativeshadwarnedthem，thehollowsofthemountainoneithersidefillingupwithdarknessandthepathbecomingsodimthatitwassurprisingtohearthedonkeys’hoovesstillstrikingonhardrock。Silencefelluponone，andthenuponanother，untiltheywereallsilent，theirmindsspillingoutintothedeepblueair。Thewayseemedshorterinthedarkthanintheday；
　　andsoonthelightsofthetownwereseenontheflatfarbeneaththem。
　　Suddenlysomeonecried，“Ah！“
　　Inamomenttheslowyellowdroproseagainfromtheplainbelow；
　　itrose，paused，openedlikeaflower，andfellinashowerofdrops。
　　“Fireworks，“theycried。
　　Anotherwentupmorequickly；andthenanother；theycouldalmosthearittwistandroar。
　　“SomeSaint’sday，Isuppose，“saidavoice。Therushandembraceoftherocketsastheysoaredupintotheairseemedlikethefierywayinwhichloverssuddenlyroseandunited，leavingthecrowdgazingupatthemwithstrainedwhitefaces。ButSusanandArthur，ridingdownthehill，neversaidawordtoeachother，andkeptaccuratelyapart。
　　Thenthefireworksbecameerratic，andsoontheyceasedaltogether，andtherestofthejourneywasmadealmostindarkness，themountainbeingagreatshadowbehindthem，andbushesandtreeslittleshadowswhichthrewdarknessacrosstheroad。Amongtheplane-treestheyseparated，bundlingintocarriagesanddrivingoff，withoutsayinggood-night，orsayingitonlyinahalf-muffledway。
　　Itwassolatethattherewasnotimefornormalconversationbetweentheirarrivalatthehotelandtheirretirementtobed。
　　ButHirstwanderedintoHewet’sroomwithacollarinhishand。
　　“Well，Hewet，“heremarked，onthecrestofagiganticyawn，“thatwasagreatsuccess，Iconsider。“Heyawned。“Buttakecareyou’renotlandedwiththatyoungwoman……Idon’treallylikeyoungwomen……“
　　Hewetwastoomuchdruggedbyhoursintheopenairtomakeanyreply。
　　Infacteveryoneofthepartywassoundasleepwithintenminutesorsoofeachother，withtheexceptionofSusanWarrington。
　　Shelayforaconsiderabletimelookingblanklyatthewallopposite，herhandsclaspedaboveherheart，andherlightburningbyherside。
　　Allarticulatethoughthadlongagodesertedher；herheartseemedtohavegrowntothesizeofasun，andtoilluminateherentirebody，sheddinglikethesunasteadytideofwarmth。
　　“I’mhappy，I’mhappy，I’mhappy，“sherepeated。“Iloveeveryone。
　　I’mhappy。“