第11章

Thepivotalgirlcameinsight，tiltingandturninginararemomentofisolationatthecornerofthemusic-room，andhebowedabruptly，andhurriedofftojoinher。

MissTriscoedidnotlinger；sheallegedthenecessityoflookingupherfather，andwentawaywithasmilesofriendlythatMrs。MarchmighteasilyhaveconstruedittomeanthatnoblameattacheditselftoherinMissTriscoe’smind。

“Thenyoudon’tfeelthatitwasaverydistinctsuccess？”herhusbandaskedonhisreturn。

“Notonthesurface。”shesaid。

“Betterletillenoughalone。”headvised。

Shedidnotheedhim。“Allthesameshecaresforhim。Theveryfactthatshewassocoldshowsthat。”

“Anddoyouthinkherbeingcoldwillmakehimcareforher？”

“Ifshewantsitto。”

Atdinnerthatdaythequestionof’TheMaidenKnight’wasdebatedamongthenoisesandsilencesoftheband。YoungMrs。Leffershadbroughtthebooktothetablewithher；shesaidshehadnotbeenabletolayitdownbeforethelasthornsounded；infactshecouldhavebeenseenreadingittoherhusbandwherehesatunderthesameshawl，thewholeafternoon。

“Don’tyouthinkit’sperfectlyfascinating。”sheaskedMrs。Adding，withherpettedmouth。

“Well。”saidthewidow，doubtfully，“it’snearlyaweeksinceIreadit，andI’vehadtimetogetovertheglow。”

“Oh，Icouldjustreaditforever！”thebrideexclaimed。

“Ilikeabook。”saidherhusband，“thattakesmeoutofmyself。Idon’twanttothinkwhenI’mreading。”

Marchwasgoingtoattackthisideal，buthereflectedintimethatMr。

Leffershadreallystatedhisownmotiveinreading。Hecompromised。

“Well，Iliketheauthortodomythinkingforme。”

“Yes。”saidtheother，“thatiswhatImean。”

“Thequestioniswhether’TheMaidenKnight’fellowdoesit。”saidKenby，takingduckandpeasefromthestewardathisshoulder。

“Whatmywifelikesinitistoseewhatonewomancandoandbesingle-

handed。”saidMarch。

“No。”hiswifecorrectedhim，“whatamanthinksshecan。”

“Isuppose。”saidMr。Triscoe，unexpectedly，“thatwe’reliketheEnglishinourhabitofgoingoffaboutabooklikeatrainofpowder。”

“Ifyou’llsayarowofbricks。”Marchassented，“I’llagreewithyou。

It’scertainlyAnglo-Saxontofalloveroneanotheraswedo，whenwegetgoing。Itwouldbeinterestingtoknowjusthowmuchlikingthereisinthepopularityofagivenbook。”

“It’sliketherunofasong，isn’tit？”Kenbysuggested。“Youcan’tstandeither，whenitreachesagivenpoint。”

HespoketoMarchandignoredTriscoe，whohadhithertoignoredtherestofthetable。

“It’sverycurious。”Marchsaid。“Thebookorthesongcatchesamood，orfeedsacraving，andwhenonepassesortheotherisglutted——“

“Thediscouragingpartis。”Triscoeputin，stilllimitinghimselftotheMarches，“thatit’sneveraquestionofrealtaste。Thethingsthatgodownwithusaresocrude，socoarselyspiced；theyticklesuchavulgarpalate——NowinFrance，forinstance。”hesuggested。

“Well，Idon’tknow。”returnedtheeditor。“Afterall，weeatagooddealofbread，andwedrinkmorepurewaterthananyotherpeople。Evenwhenwedrinkiticed，Ifancyitisn’tsobadasabsinthe。”

Theyoungbridelookedathimgratefully，butshesaid，“Ifwecan’tgetice-waterinEurope，Idon’tknowwhatMr。Lefferswilldo。”andthetalkthreatenedtopassamongtheladiesintoacomparisonofAmericanandEuropeancustoms。

Burnamycouldnotbeartoletit。“Idon’tpretendtobeverywellupinFrenchliterature。”hebegan，“butIthinksuchabookas’TheMaidenKnight’isn’tsuchabadpieceofwork；peoplearelikingaprettywell-

builtstorywhentheylikeit。Ofcourseit’ssentimental，anditbegsthequestionagooddeal；butitimaginessomethingheroicincharacter，anditmakesthereaderimagineittoo。Themanwhowrotethatbookmaybeadonkeyhalfthetime，buthe’sageniustheotherhalf。By-and-byhe’lldosomething——afterhe’scometoseethathis’MaidenKnight’wasafool——thatIbelieveevenyouwon’tbedownon，Mr。March，ifhepaintsaheroictypeaspowerfullyashedoesinthisbook。”

Hespokewiththeauthorityofajournalist，andthoughhedeferredtoMarchintheend，hedeferredwithauthoritystill。Marchlikedhimforcomingtothedefenceofayoungwriterwhomhehadnothimselflearnedtolikeyet。“Yes。”hesaid，“ifhehasthepoweryousay，andcankeepitafterhecomestohisartisticconsciousness！”

Mrs。Leffers，asifshethoughtthingsweregoingherway，smiled；RoseAddinglistenedwithshiningeyesexpectantlyfixedonMarch；hismotherviewedhisrapturewithtenderamusement。ThestewardwasatKenby’sshoulderwiththesaladandhisentreating“Bleace！”andTriscoeseemedtobequestioningwhetherheshouldtakeanynoticeofBurnamy’sgeneraldisagreement。Hesaidatlast：“I’mafraidwehaven’tthedocuments。

Youdon’tseemtohavecaredmuchforFrenchbooks，andIhaven’tread’TheMaidenKnight’。”HeaddedtoMarch：“ButIdon’tdefendabsinthe。

Ice-waterisbetter。WhatIobjecttoisourindiscriminatetastebothforrawwhiskey——andformilk-and-water。”

Noonetookupthequestionagain，anditwasKenbywhospokenext。

“Thedoctorthinks，ifthisweatherholds，thatweshallbeintoPlymouthWednesdaymorning。Ialwaysliketogetaprofessionalopinionontheship’srun。”

Intheevening，asMrs。Marchwasputtingawayinherportfoliothejournal-letterwhichshewaswritingtosendbackfromPlymouthtoherchildren，MissTriscoedriftedtotheplacewhereshesatattheirtableinthedining-roombyacoincidencewhichtheybothrespectedascasual。

“Wehadquitealiterarydinner。”sheremarked，hoveringforamomentnearthechairwhichshelatersankinto。“Itmusthavemadeyoufeelverymuchathome。Orperhapsyou’resotiredofitathomethatyoudon’ttalkaboutbooks。”

“Wealwaystalkshop，insomeformorother。”saidMrs。March。

“Myhusbandnevertiresofit。Agoodmanyofthecontributorscometous，youknow。”

“Itmustbedelightful。”saidthegirl。Sheaddedasifsheoughttoexcuseherselfforneglectinganadvantagethatmighthavebeenhersifshehadchosen，“I’msorryoneseessolittleoftheartisticandliteraryset。ButNewYorkissuchabigplace。”

NewYorkpeopleseemtobeveryfondofit。”saidMrs。March。“Thosewhohavealwayslivedthere。”

“Wehaven’talwayslivedthere。”saidthegirl。“ButIthinkonehasagoodtimethere——thebesttimeagirlcanhave。It’sallverywellcomingoverforthesummer；onehastospendthesummersomewhere。Areyougoingoutforalongtime？”

“Onlyforthesummer。FirsttoCarlsbad。”

“Oh，yes。IsupposeweshalltravelaboutthroughGermany，andthengotoParis。Wealwaysdo；myfatherisveryfondofit。”

“Youmustknowitverywell。”saidMrs。March，aimlessly。

“Iwasbornthere，——ifthatmeansknowingit。Ilivedthere——tillIwaselevenyearsold。Wecamehomeaftermymotherdied。”

“Oh！”saidMrs。March。

Thegirldidnotgofurtherintoherfamilyhistory；butbyoneofthoseleapswhichseemtowomenaslogicalasotherprogressions，shearrivedatasking，“IsMr。Burnamyoneofthecontributors？”

Mrs。Marchlaughed。“Heisgoingtobe，assoonashispoemisprinted。”

“Poem？”

“Yes。Mr。Marchthinksit’sverygood。”

“Ithoughthespokeverynicelyabout’TheMaidenKnight’。Andhehasbeenverynicetopapa。Youknowtheyhavethesameroom。”

“IthinkMr。Burnamytoldme。”Mrs。Marchsaid。

Thegirlwenton。“Hehadthelowerberth，andhegaveituptopapa；

he’sdoneeverythingbutturnhimselfoutofdoors。”

“I’msurehe’sbeenveryglad。”Mrs。MarchventuredonBurnamy’sbehalf，butverysoftly，lestifshebreatheduponthesebuddingconfidencestheyshouldshrinkandwitheraway。