Whatwouldyoudoifyoulikedtwopeople，bothofthemtremendously，andyoucouldn’ttellwhichmost？“
　　“Ishouldgoonlikingthem——Ishouldwaitandsee。Whynot？“
　　“Butonehastomakeupone’smind，“saidEvelyn。“Orareyouoneofthepeoplewhodoesn’tbelieveinmarriagesandallthat？
　　Lookhere——thisisn’tfair，Idoallthetelling，andyoutellnothing。
　　Perhapsyou’rethesameasyourfriend“——shelookedathimsuspiciously；
　　“perhapsyoudon’tlikeme？“
　　“Idon’tknowyou，“saidHewet。
　　“IknowwhenIlikeapersondirectlyIseethem！IknewIlikedyoutheveryfirstnightatdinner。Ohdear，“shecontinuedimpatiently，“whatalotofbotherwouldbesavedifonlypeoplewouldsaythethingstheythinkstraightout！I’mmadelikethat。Ican’thelpit。“
　　“Butdon’tyoufinditleadstodifficulties？“Hewetasked。
　　“That’smen’sfault，“sheanswered。“Theyalwaysdragitin-love，Imean。“
　　“Andsoyou’vegoneonhavingoneproposalafteranother，“
　　saidHewet。
　　“Idon’tsupposeI’vehadmoreproposalsthanmostwomen，“
　　saidEvelyn，butshespokewithoutconviction。
　　“Five，six，ten？“Hewetventured。
　　Evelynseemedtointimatethatperhapstenwastherightfigure，butthatitreallywasnotahighone。
　　“Ibelieveyou’rethinkingmeaheartlessflirt，“sheprotested。
　　“ButIdon’tcareifyouare。Idon’tcarewhatanyonethinksofme。
　　Justbecauseone’sinterestedandlikestobefriendswithmen，andtalktothemasonetalkstowomen，one’scalledaflirt。“
　　“ButMissMurgatroyd——“
　　“Iwishyou’dcallmeEvelyn，“sheinterrupted。
　　“Aftertenproposalsdoyouhonestlythinkthatmenarethesameaswomen？“
　　“Honestly，honestly，——howIhatethatword！It’salwaysusedbyprigs，“
　　criedEvelyn。“HonestlyIthinktheyoughttobe。That’swhat’ssodisappointing。Everytimeonethinksit’snotgoingtohappen，andeverytimeitdoes。“
　　“ThepursuitofFriendship，“saidHewet。“Thetitleofacomedy。“
　　“You’rehorrid，“shecried。“Youdon’tcareabitreally。
　　YoumightbeMr。Hirst。“
　　“Well，“saidHewet，“let’sconsider。Letusconsider——“Hepaused，becauseforthemomenthecouldnotrememberwhatitwasthattheyhadtoconsider。Hewasfarmoreinterestedinherthaninherstory，forasshewentonspeakinghisnumbnesshaddisappeared，andhewasconsciousofamixtureofliking，pity，anddistrust。
　　“You’vepromisedtomarrybothOliverandPerrott？“heconcluded。
　　“Notexactlypromised，“saidEvelyn。“Ican’tmakeupmymindwhichI
　　reallylikebest。OhhowIdetestmodernlife！“sheflungoff。
　　“ItmusthavebeensomucheasierfortheElizabethans！IthoughttheotherdayonthatmountainhowI’dhavelikedtobeoneofthosecolonists，tocutdowntreesandmakelawsandallthat，insteadoffoolingaboutwithallthesepeoplewhothinkone’sjustaprettyyounglady。ThoughI’mnot。Ireallymight_do_something。“
　　Shereflectedinsilenceforaminute。Thenshesaid:
　　“I’mafraidrightdowninmyheartthatAlfredPerrot_won’t_do。
　　He’snotstrong，ishe？“
　　“Perhapshecouldn’tcutdownatree，“saidHewet。“Haveyounevercaredforanybody？“heasked。
　　“I’vecaredforheapsofpeople，butnottomarrythem，“shesaid。
　　“IsupposeI’mtoofastidious。AllmylifeI’vewantedsomebodyI
　　couldlookupto，somebodygreatandbigandsplendid。Mostmenaresosmall。“
　　“Whatd’youmeanbysplendid？“Hewetasked。“Peopleare——
　　nothingmore。“
　　Evelynwaspuzzled。
　　“Wedon’tcareforpeoplebecauseoftheirqualities，“
　　hetriedtoexplain。“It’sjustthemthatwecarefor，“——
　　hestruckamatch——“justthat，“hesaid，pointingtotheflames。
　　“Iseewhatyoumean，“shesaid，“butIdon’tagree。IdoknowwhyIcareforpeople，andIthinkI’mhardlyeverwrong。Iseeatoncewhatthey’vegotinthem。NowIthinkyoumustberathersplendid；
　　butnotMr。Hirst。“
　　Hewletshookhishead。
　　“He’snotnearlysounselfish，orsosympathetic，orsobig，orsounderstanding，“Evelyncontinued。
　　Hewetsatsilent，smokinghiscigarette。
　　“Ishouldhatecuttingdowntrees，“heremarked。
　　“I’mnottryingtoflirtwithyou，thoughIsupposeyouthinkIam！“
　　Evelynshotout。“I’dneverhavecometoyouifI’dthoughtyou’dmerelythinkodiousthingsofme！“Thetearscameintohereyes。
　　“Doyouneverflirt？“heasked。
　　“OfcourseIdon’t，“sheprotested。“Haven’tItoldyou？
　　Iwantfriendship；IwanttocareforsomeonegreaterandnoblerthanIam，andiftheyfallinlovewithmeitisn’tmyfault；
　　Idon’twantit；Ipositivelyhateit。“
　　Hewetcouldseethattherewasverylittleuseingoingonwiththeconversation，foritwasobviousthatEvelyndidnotwishtosayanythinginparticular，buttoimpressuponhimanimageofherself，being，forsomereasonwhichshewouldnotreveal，unhappy，orinsecure。
　　Hewasverytired，andapalewaiterkeptwalkingostentatiouslyintothemiddleoftheroomandlookingatthemmeaningly。
　　“Theywanttoshutup，“hesaid。“MyadviceisthatyoushouldtellOliverandPerrottto-morrowthatyou’vemadeupyourmindthatyoudon’tmeantomarryeitherofthem。I’mcertainyoudon’t。Ifyouchangeyourmindyoucanalwaystellthemso。They’rebothsensiblemen；
　　they’llunderstand。Andthenallthisbotherwillbeover。“
　　Hegotup。
　　ButEvelyndidnotmove。Shesatlookingupathimwithherbrighteagereyes，inthedepthsofwhichhethoughthedetectedsomedisappointment，ordissatisfaction。
　　“Good-night，“hesaid。
　　“ThereareheapsofthingsIwanttosaytoyoustill，“shesaid。
　　“AndI’mgoingto，sometime。Isupposeyoumustgotobednow？“
　　“Yes，“saidHewet。“I’mhalfasleep。“Heleftherstillsittingbyherselfintheemptyhall。
　　“Whyisitthatthey_won’t_behonest？“hemutteredtohimselfashewentupstairs。Whywasitthatrelationsbetweendifferentpeopleweresounsatisfactory，sofragmentary，sohazardous，andwordssodangerousthattheinstincttosympathisewithanotherhumanbeingwasaninstincttobeexaminedcarefullyandprobablycrushed？
　　WhathadEvelynreallywishedtosaytohim？Whatwasshefeelingleftaloneintheemptyhall？Themysteryoflifeandtheunrealityevenofone’sownsensationsovercamehimashewalkeddownthecorridorwhichledtohisroom。Itwasdimlylighted，butsufficientlyforhimtoseeafigureinabrightdressing-gownpassswiftlyinfrontofhim，thefigureofawomancrossingfromoneroomtoanother。
　　Whethertooslightortoovaguethetiesthatbindpeoplecasuallymeetinginahotelatmidnight，theypossessoneadvantageatleastoverthebondswhichunitetheelderly，whohavelivedtogetheronceandsomustliveforever。Slighttheymaybe，butvividandgenuine，merelybecausethepowertobreakthemiswithinthegraspofeach，andthereisnoreasonforcontinuanceexceptatruedesirethatcontinuetheyshall。Whentwopeoplehavebeenmarriedforyearstheyseemtobecomeunconsciousofeachother’sbodilypresencesothattheymoveasifalone，speakaloudthingswhichtheydonotexpecttobeanswered，andingeneralseemtoexperienceallthecomfortofsolitudewithoutitsloneliness。
　　ThejointlivesofRidleyandHelenhadarrivedatthisstageofcommunity，anditwasoftennecessaryforoneortheothertorecallwithaneffortwhetherathinghadbeensaidoronlythought，sharedordreamtinprivate。Atfouro’clockintheafternoontwoorthreedayslaterMrs。Ambrosewasstandingbrushingherhair，whileherhusbandwasinthedressing-roomwhichopenedoutofherroom，andoccasionally，throughthecascadeofwater——hewaswashinghisface——shecaughtexclamations，“Soitgoesonyearafteryear；
　　Iwish，Iwish，IwishIcouldmakeanendofit，“towhichshepaidnoattention。
　　“It’swhite？Oronlybrown？“Thussheherselfmurmured，examiningahairwhichgleamedsuspiciouslyamongthebrown。
　　Shepulleditoutandlaiditonthedressing-table。Shewascriticisingherownappearance，orratherapprovingofit，standingalittlewaybackfromtheglassandlookingatherownfacewithsuperbprideandmelancholy，whenherhusbandappearedinthedoorwayinhisshirtsleeves，hisfacehalfobscuredbyatowel。
　　“YouoftentellmeIdon’tnoticethings，“heremarked。
　　“Tellmeifthisisawhitehair，then？“shereplied。Shelaidthehaironhishand。
　　“There’snotawhitehaironyourhead，“heexclaimed。
　　“Ah，Ridley，Ibegintodoubt，“shesighed；andbowedherheadunderhiseyessothathemightjudge，buttheinspectionproducedonlyakisswherethelineofpartingran，andhusbandandwifethenproceededtomoveabouttheroom，casuallymurmuring。
　　“Whatwasthatyouweresaying？“Helenremarked，afteranintervalofconversationwhichnothirdpersoncouldhaveunderstood。
　　“Rachel——yououghttokeepaneyeuponRachel，“heobservedsignificantly，andHelen，thoughshewentonbrushingherhair，lookedathim。
　　Hisobservationswereapttobetrue。
　　“Younggentlemendon’tinterestthemselvesinyoungwomen’seducationwithoutamotive，“heremarked。
　　“Oh，Hirst，“saidHelen。
　　“HirstandHewet，they’reallthesametome——allcoveredwithspots，“
　　hereplied。“HeadviseshertoreadGibbon。Didyouknowthat？“
　　Helendidnotknowthat，butshewouldnotallowherselfinferiortoherhusbandinpowersofobservation。Shemerelysaid:
　　“Nothingwouldsurpriseme。Eventhatdreadfulflyingmanwemetatthedance——evenMr。Dalloway——even——“
　　“Iadviseyoutobecircumspect，“saidRidley。“There’sWilloughby，remember——Willoughby“；hepointedataletter。
　　Helenlookedwithasighatanenvelopewhichlayuponherdressing-table。
　　Yes，therelayWilloughby，curt，inexpressive，perpetuallyjocular，robbingawholecontinentofmystery，enquiringafterhisdaughter’smannersandmorals——hopingshewasn’tabore，andbiddingthempackherofftohimonboardtheverynextshipifshewere——
　　andthengratefulandaffectionatewithsuppressedemotion，andthenhalfapageabouthisowntriumphsoverwretchedlittlenativeswhowentonstrikeandrefusedtoloadhisships，untilheroaredEnglishoathsatthem，“poppingmyheadoutofthewindowjustasIwas，inmyshirtsleeves。Thebeggarshadthesensetoscatter。“
　　“IfTheresamarriedWilloughby，“sheremarked，turningthepagewithahairpin，“onedoesn’tseewhat’stopreventRachel——“
　　ButRidleywasnowoffongrievancesofhisownconnectedwiththewashingofhisshirts，whichsomehowledtothefrequentvisitsofHughlingElliot，whowasabore，apedant，adrystickofaman，andyetRidleycouldn’tsimplypointatthedoorandtellhimtogo。
　　Thetruthofitwas，theysawtoomanypeople。Andsoonandsoon，moreconjugaltalkpatteringsoftlyandunintelligibly，untiltheywerebothreadytogodowntotea。
　　ThefirstthingthatcaughtHelen’seyeasshecamedownstairswasacarriageatthedoor，filledwithskirtsandfeathersnoddingonthetopsofhats。Shehadonlytimetogainthedrawing-roombeforetwonameswereoddlymispronouncedbytheSpanishmaid，andMrs。ThornburycameinslightlyinadvanceofMrs。WilfridFlushing。
　　“Mrs。WilfridFlushing，“saidMrs。Thornbury，withawaveofherhand。
　　“AfriendofourcommonfriendMrs。RaymondParry。“
　　Mrs。Flushingshookhandsenergetically。Shewasawomanoffortyperhaps，verywellsetupanderect，splendidlyrobust，thoughnotastallastheuprightcarriageofherbodymadeherappear。
　　ShelookedHelenstraightinthefaceandsaid，“Youhaveacharmin’house。“
　　Shehadastronglymarkedface，hereyeslookedstraightatyou，andthoughnaturallyshewasimperiousinhermannershewasnervousatthesametime。Mrs。Thornburyactedasinterpreter，makingthingssmoothallroundbyaseriesofcharmingcommonplaceremarks。