“I’vetakenituponmyself，Mr。Ambrose，“shesaid，“topromisethatyouwillbesokindastogiveMrs。Flushingthebenefitofyourexperience。I’msurenoonehereknowsthecountryaswellasyoudo。Noonetakessuchwonderfullongwalks。Noone，I’msure，hasyourencyclopaedicknowledgeuponeverysubject。
　　Mr。WilfridFlushingisacollector。Hehasdiscoveredreallybeautifulthingsalready。Ihadnonotionthatthepeasantsweresoartistic——
　　thoughofcourseinthepast——“
　　“Notoldthings——newthings，“interruptedMrs。Flushingcurtly。
　　“Thatis，ifhetakesmyadvice。“
　　TheAmbroseshadnotlivedformanyyearsinLondonwithoutknowingsomethingofagoodmanypeople，bynameatleast，andHelenrememberedhearingoftheFlushings。Mr。Flushingwasamanwhokeptanoldfurnitureshop；hehadalwayssaidhewouldnotmarrybecausemostwomenhaveredcheeks，andwouldnottakeahousebecausemosthouseshavenarrowstaircases，andwouldnoteatmeatbecausemostanimalsbleedwhentheyarekilled；andthenhehadmarriedaneccentricaristocraticlady，whocertainlywasnotpale，wholookedasifsheatemeat，whohadforcedhimtodoallthethingshemostdisliked——
　　andthisthenwasthelady。Helenlookedatherwithinterest。
　　Theyhadmovedoutintothegarden，wheretheteawaslaidunderatree，andMrs。Flushingwashelpingherselftocherryjam。
　　Shehadapeculiarjerkingmovementofthebodywhenshespoke，whichcausedthecanary-colouredplumeonherhattojerktoo。
　　Hersmallbutfinely-cutandvigorousfeatures，togetherwiththedeepredoflipsandcheeks，pointedtomanygenerationsofwell-trainedandwell-nourishedancestorsbehindher。
　　“Nothin’that’smorethantwentyyearsoldinterestsme，“
　　shecontinued。“Mouldyoldpictures，dirtyoldbooks，theystick’eminmuseumswhenthey’reonlyfitforburnin’。“
　　“Iquiteagree，“Helenlaughed。“Butmyhusbandspendshislifeindiggingupmanuscriptswhichnobodywants。“ShewasamusedbyRidley’sexpressionofstartleddisapproval。
　　“There’saclevermaninLondoncalledJohnwhopaintseversomuchbetterthantheoldmasters，“Mrs。Flushingcontinued。
　　“Hispicturesexciteme——nothin’that’soldexcitesme。“
　　“Butevenhispictureswillbecomeold，“Mrs。Thornburyintervened。
　　“ThenI’llhave’emburnt，orI’llputitinmywill，“saidMrs。Flushing。
　　“AndMrs。FlushinglivedinoneofthemostbeautifuloldhousesinEngland——Chillingley，“Mrs。Thornburyexplainedtotherestofthem。
　　“IfI’dmywayI’dburnthatto-morrow，“Mrs。Flushinglaughed。
　　Shehadalaughlikethecryofajay，atoncestartlingandjoyless。
　　“Whatdoesanysanepersonwantwiththosegreatbighouses？“
　　shedemanded。“Ifyougodownstairsafterdarkyou’recoveredwithblackbeetles，andtheelectriclightsalwaysgoin’out。
　　Whatwouldyoudoifspiderscameoutofthetapwhenyouturnedonthehotwater？“shedemanded，fixinghereyeonHelen。
　　Mrs。Ambroseshruggedhershoulderswithasmile。
　　“ThisiswhatIlike，“saidMrs。Flushing。ShejerkedherheadattheVilla。“Alittlehouseinagarden。IhadoneonceinIreland。
　　Onecouldlieinbedinthemornin’andpickrosesoutsidethewindowwithone’stoes。“
　　“Andthegardeners，weren’ttheysurprised？“Mrs。Thornburyenquired。
　　“Therewerenogardeners，“Mrs。Flushingchuckled。“Nobodybutmeandanoldwomanwithoutanyteeth。YouknowthepoorinIrelandlosetheirteethafterthey’retwenty。Butyouwouldn’texpectapoliticiantounderstandthat——ArthurBalfourwouldn’tunderstandthat。“
　　Ridleysighedthatheneverexpectedanyonetounderstandanything，leastofallpoliticians。
　　“However，“heconcluded，“there’soneadvantageIfindinextremeoldage——nothingmattersahangexceptone’sfoodandone’sdigestion。
　　AllIaskistobeleftalonetomoulderawayinsolitude。It’sobviousthattheworld’sgoingasfastasitcanto——theNethermostPit，andallIcandoistositstillandconsumeasmuchofmyownsmokeaspossible。“Hegroaned，andwithamelancholyglancelaidthejamonhisbread，forhefelttheatmosphereofthisabruptladydistinctlyunsympathetic。
　　“Ialwayscontradictmyhusbandwhenhesaysthat，“saidMrs。Thornburysweetly。“Youmen！Wherewouldyoubeifitweren’tforthewomen！“
　　“Readthe_Symposium_，“saidRidleygrimly。
　　“_Symposium_？“criedMrs。Flushing。“That’sLatinorGreek？
　　Tellme，isthereagoodtranslation？“
　　“No，“saidRidley。“YouwillhavetolearnGreek。“
　　Mrs。Flushingcried，“Ah，ah，ah！I’dratherbreakstonesintheroad。
　　Ialwaysenvythemenwhobreakstonesandsitonthosenicelittleheapsalldaywearin’spectacles。I’dinfinitelyratherbreakstonesthancleanoutpoultryruns，orfeedthecows，or——“
　　HereRachelcameupfromthelowergardenwithabookinherhand。
　　“What’sthatbook？“saidRidley，whenshehadshakenhands。
　　“It’sGibbon，“saidRachelasshesatdown。
　　“_The__Decline__and__Fall__of__the__Roman__Empire_？“
　　saidMrs。Thornbury。“Averywonderfulbook，Iknow。Mydearfatherwasalwaysquotingitatus，withtheresultthatweresolvednevertoreadaline。“
　　“Gibbonthehistorian？“enquiredMrs。Flushing。“Iconnecthimwithsomeofthehappiesthoursofmylife。WeusedtolieinbedandreadGibbon——aboutthemassacresoftheChristians，Iremember——
　　whenweweresupposedtobeasleep。It’snojoke，Icantellyou，readin’agreatbigbook，indoublecolumns，byanight-light，andthelightthatcomesthroughachinkinthedoor。Thentherewerethemoths——tigermoths，yellowmoths，andhorridcockchafers。
　　Louisa，mysister，wouldhavethewindowopen。Iwanteditshut。
　　Wefoughteverynightofourlivesoverthatwindow。Haveyoueverseenamothdyin’inanight-light？“sheenquired。
　　Againtherewasaninterruption。HewetandHirstappearedatthedrawing-roomwindowandcameuptothetea-table。
　　Rachel’sheartbeathard。Shewasconsciousofanextraordinaryintensityineverything，asthoughtheirpresencestrippedsomecoveroffthesurfaceofthings；butthegreetingswereremarkablycommonplace。
　　“Excuseme，“saidHirst，risingfromhischairdirectlyhehadsatdown。Hewentintothedrawing-room，andreturnedwithacushionwhichheplacedcarefullyuponhisseat。
　　“Rheumatism，“heremarked，ashesatdownforthesecondtime。
　　“Theresultofthedance？“Helenenquired。
　　“WheneverIgetatallrundownItendtoberheumatic，“Hirststated。
　　Hebenthiswristbacksharply。“Ihearlittlepiecesofchalkgrindingtogether！“
　　Rachellookedathim。Shewasamused，andyetshewasrespectful；
　　ifsuchathingcouldbe，theupperpartofherfaceseemedtolaugh，andthelowerparttocheckitslaughter。
　　Hewetpickedupthebookthatlayontheground。
　　“Youlikethis？“heaskedinanundertone。
　　“No，Idon’tlikeit，“shereplied。Shehadindeedbeentryingalltheafternoontoreadit，andforsomereasontheglorywhichshehadperceivedatfirsthadfaded，and，readasshewould，shecouldnotgraspthemeaningwithhermind。
　　“Itgoesround，round，round，likearollofoil-cloth，“shehazarded。
　　EvidentlyshemeantHewetalonetohearherwords，butHirstdemanded，“Whatd’youmean？“
　　Shewasinstantlyashamedofherfigureofspeech，forshecouldnotexplainitinwordsofsobercriticism。
　　“Surelyit’sthemostperfectstyle，sofarasstylegoes，that’severbeeninvented，“hecontinued。“Everysentenceispracticallyperfect，andthewit——“
　　“Uglyinbody，repulsiveinmind，“shethought，insteadofthinkingaboutGibbon’sstyle。“Yes，butstrong，searching，unyieldinginmind。“
　　Shelookedathisbighead，adisproportionatepartofwhichwasoccupiedbytheforehead，andatthedirect，severeeyes。
　　“Igiveyouupindespair，“hesaid。Hemeantitlightly，butshetookitseriously，andbelievedthathervalueasahumanbeingwaslessenedbecauseshedidnothappentoadmirethestyleofGibbon。
　　TheothersweretalkingnowinagroupaboutthenativevillageswhichMrs。Flushingoughttovisit。
　　“Idespairtoo，“shesaidimpetuously。“Howareyougoingtojudgepeoplemerelybytheirminds？“
　　“YouagreewithmyspinsterAunt，Iexpect，“saidSt。Johninhisjauntymanner，whichwasalwaysirritatingbecauseitmadethepersonhetalkedtoappearundulyclumsyandinearnest。“’Begood，sweetmaid’——IthoughtMr。KingsleyandmyAuntwerenowobsolete。“
　　“Onecanbeverynicewithouthavingreadabook，“sheasserted。
　　Verysillyandsimpleherwordssounded，andlaidheropentoderision。
　　“DidIeverdenyit？“Hirstenquired，raisinghiseyebrows。
　　MostunexpectedlyMrs。Thornburyhereintervened，eitherbecauseitwashermissiontokeepthingssmoothorbecauseshehadlongwishedtospeaktoMr。Hirst，feelingasshedidthatyoungmenwerehersons。
　　“IhavelivedallmylifewithpeoplelikeyourAunt，Mr。Hirst，“
　　shesaid，leaningforwardinherchair。Herbrownsquirrel-likeeyesbecameevenbrighterthanusual。“TheyhaveneverheardofGibbon。Theyonlycarefortheirpheasantsandtheirpeasants。
　　Theyaregreatbigmenwholooksofineonhorseback，aspeoplemusthavedone，Ithink，inthedaysofthegreatwars。Saywhatyoulikeagainstthem——theyareanimal，theyareunintellectual；
　　theydon’treadthemselves，andtheydon’twantotherstoread，buttheyaresomeofthefinestandthekindesthumanbeingsonthefaceoftheearth！YouwouldbesurprisedatsomeofthestoriesIcouldtell。Youhaveneverguessed，perhaps，atalltheromancesthatgoonintheheartofthecountry。Therearethepeople，Ifeel，amongwhomShakespearewillbebornifheiseverbornagain。
　　Inthoseoldhouses，upamongtheDowns——“
　　“MyAunt，“Hirstinterrupted，“spendsherlifeinEastLambethamongthedegradedpoor。IonlyquotedmyAuntbecausesheisinclinedtopersecutepeopleshecalls’intellectual，’whichiswhatIsuspectMissVinraceofdoing。It’sallthefashionnow。
　　Ifyou’recleverit’salwaystakenforgrantedthatyou’recompletelywithoutsympathy，understanding，affection——allthethingsthatreallymatter。Oh，youChristians！You’rethemostconceited，patronising，hypocriticalsetofoldhumbugsinthekingdom！Ofcourse，“
　　hecontinued，“I’mthefirsttoallowyourcountrygentlemengreatmerits。
　　Foronething，they’reprobablyquitefrankabouttheirpassions，whichwearenot。Myfather，whoisaclergymaninNorfolk，saysthatthereishardlyasquireinthecountrywhodoesnot——“
　　“ButaboutGibbon？“Hewetinterrupted。Thelookofnervoustensionwhichhadcomeovereveryfacewasrelaxedbytheinterruption。
　　“Youfindhimmonotonous，Isuppose。Butyouknow——“Heopenedthebook，andbegansearchingforpassagestoreadaloud，andinalittletimehefoundagoodonewhichheconsideredsuitable。
　　ButtherewasnothingintheworldthatboredRidleymorethanbeingreadaloudto，andhewasbesidesscrupulouslyfastidiousastothedressandbehaviourofladies。InthespaceoffifteenminuteshehaddecidedagainstMrs。Flushingonthegroundthatherorangeplumedidnotsuithercomplexion，thatshespoketooloud，thatshecrossedherlegs，andfinally，whenhesawheracceptacigarettethatHewetofferedher，hejumpedup，exclaimingsomethingabout“barparlours，“andleftthem。Mrs。Flushingwasevidentlyrelievedbyhisdeparture。Shepuffedhercigarette，stuckherlegsout，andexaminedHelencloselyastothecharacterandreputationoftheircommonfriendMrs。RaymondParry。ByaseriesoflittlestrategemsshedrovehertodefineMrs。Parryassomewhatelderly，bynomeansbeautiful，verymuchmadeup——aninsolentoldharridan，inshort，whosepartieswereamusingbecauseonemetoddpeople；
　　butHelenherselfalwayspitiedpoorMr。Parry，whowasunderstoodtobeshutupdownstairswithcasesfullofgems，whilehiswifeenjoyedherselfinthedrawing-room。“NotthatIbelievewhatpeoplesayagainsther——althoughshehints，ofcourse——“