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But
as
he
stood
on
the
Beaufort
verandah
and
looked
out
on
the
brightly
peopled
lawn
it
came
home
to
him
with
a
shiver
that
he
was
not
going
to
like
it
at
all.It
was
not
May
's
fault
,
poor
dear
.
If
,
now
and
then
,
during
their
travels
,
they
had
fallen
slightly
out
of
step
,
harmony
had
been
restored
by
their
return
to
the
conditions
she
was
used
to
.
He
had
always
foreseen
that
she
would
not
disappoint
him
;
and
he
had
been
right
.
He
had
married
(
as
most
young
men
did
)
because
he
had
met
a
perfectly
charming
girl
at
the
moment
when
a
series
of
rather
aimless
sentimental
adventures
were
ending
in
premature
disgust
;
and
she
had
represented
peace
,
stability
,
comradeship
,
and
the
steadying
sense
of
an
unescapable
duty.He
could
not
say
that
he
had
been
mistaken
in
his
choice
,
for
she
had
fulfilled
all
that
he
had
expected
.
It
was
undoubtedly
gratifying
to
be
the
husband
of
one
of
the
handsomest
and
most
popular
young
married
women
in
New
York
,
especially
when
she
was
also
one
of
the
sweetest-tempered
and
most
reasonable
of
wives
;
and
Archer
had
never
been
insensible
to
such
advantages
.
As
for
the
momentary
madness
which
had
fallen
upon
him
on
the
eve
of
his
marriage
,
he
had
trained
himself
to
regard
it
as
the
last
of
his
discarded
experiments
.
The
idea
that
he
could
ever
,
in
his
senses
,
have
dreamed
of
marrying
the
Countess
Olenska
had
become
almost
unthinkable
,
and
she
remained
in
his
memory
simply
as
the
most
plaintive
and
poignant
of
a
line
of
ghosts
.
But
all
these
abstractions
and
eliminations
made
of
his
mind
a
rather
empty
and
echoing
place
,
and
he
supposed
that
was
one
of
the
reasons
why
the
busy
animated
people
on
the
Beaufort
lawn
shocked
him
as
if
they
had
been
children
playing
in
a
grave-yard
.
He
heard
a
murmur
of
skirts
beside
him
,
and
the
Marchioness
Manson
fluttered
out
of
the
drawing-room
window
.
As
usual
,
she
was
extraordinarily
festooned
and
bedizened
,
with
a
limp
Leghorn
hat
anchored
to
her
head
by
many
windings
of
faded
gauze
,
and
a
little
black
velvet
parasol
on
a
carved
ivory
handle
absurdly
balanced
over
her
much
larger
hatbrim
.
"
My
dear
Newland
,
I
had
no
idea
that
you
and
May
had
arrived
!
You
yourself
came
only
yesterday
,
you
say
?
Ah
,
business
--
business
--
professional
duties
...
I
understand
.
Many
husbands
,
I
know
,
find
it
impossible
to
join
their
wives
here
except
for
the
week-end
.
"
She
cocked
her
head
on
one
side
and
languished
at
him
through
screwed-up
eyes
.
"
But
marriage
is
one
long
sacrifice
,
as
I
used
often
to
remind
my
Ellen
--
"
Archer
's
heart
stopped
with
the
queer
jerk
which
it
had
given
once
before
,
and
which
seemed
suddenly
to
slam
a
door
between
himself
and
the
outer
world
;
but
this
break
of
continuity
must
have
been
of
the
briefest
,
for
he
presently
heard
Medora
answering
a
question
he
had
apparently
found
voice
to
put
.
"
No
,
I
am
not
staying
here
,
but
with
the
Blenkers
,
in
their
delicious
solitude
at
Portsmouth
.
Beaufort
was
kind
enough
to
send
his
famous
trotters
for
me
this
morning
,
so
that
I
might
have
at
least
a
glimpse
of
one
of
Regina
's
garden-parties
;
but
this
evening
I
go
back
to
rural
life
.
The
Blenkers
,
dear
original
beings
,
have
hired
a
primitive
old
farm-house
at
Portsmouth
where
they
gather
about
them
representative
people
...
"
She
drooped
slightly
beneath
her
protecting
brim
,
and
added
with
a
faint
blush
:
"
This
week
Dr.
Agathon
Carver
is
holding
a
series
of
Inner
Thought
meetings
there
.
A
contrast
indeed
to
this
gay
scene
of
worldly
pleasure
--
but
then
I
have
always
lived
on
contrasts
!
To
me
the
only
death
is
monotony
.
I
always
say
to
Ellen
:
Beware
of
monotony
;
it
's
the
mother
of
all
the
deadly
sins
.
But
my
poor
child
is
going
through
a
phase
of
exaltation
,
of
abhorrence
of
the
world
.
You
know
,
I
suppose
,
that
she
has
declined
all
invitations
to
stay
at
Newport
,
even
with
her
grandmother
Mingott
?
I
could
hardly
persuade
her
to
come
with
me
to
the
Blenkers
'
,
if
you
will
believe
it
!
The
life
she
leads
is
morbid
,
unnatural
.
Ah
,
if
she
had
only
listened
to
me
when
it
was
still
possible
...
When
the
door
was
still
open
...
But
shall
we
go
down
and
watch
this
absorbing
match
?
I
hear
your
May
is
one
of
the
competitors
.
"
Strolling
toward
them
from
the
tent
Beaufort
advanced
over
the
lawn
,
tall
,
heavy
,
too
tightly
buttoned
into
a
London
frock-coat
,
with
one
of
his
own
orchids
in
its
buttonhole
.
Archer
,
who
had
not
seen
him
for
two
or
three
months
,
was
struck
by
the
change
in
his
appearance
.
In
the
hot
summer
light
his
floridness
seemed
heavy
and
bloated
,
and
but
for
his
erect
square-shouldered
walk
he
would
have
looked
like
an
over-fed
and
over-dressed
old
man.There
were
all
sorts
of
rumours
afloat
about
Beaufort
.
In
the
spring
he
had
gone
off
on
a
long
cruise
to
the
West
Indies
in
his
new
steam-yacht
,
and
it
was
reported
that
,
at
various
points
where
he
had
touched
,
a
lady
resembling
Miss
Fanny
Ring
had
been
seen
in
his
company
.
The
steam-yacht
,
built
in
the
Clyde
,
and
fitted
with
tiled
bath-rooms
and
other
unheard-of
luxuries
,
was
said
to
have
cost
him
half
a
million
;
and
the
pearl
necklace
which
he
had
presented
to
his
wife
on
his
return
was
as
magnificent
as
such
expiatory
offerings
are
apt
to
be
.
Beaufort
's
fortune
was
substantial
enough
to
stand
the
strain
;
and
yet
the
disquieting
rumours
persisted
,
not
only
in
Fifth
Avenue
but
in
Wall
Street
.
Some
people
said
he
had
speculated
unfortunately
in
railways
,
others
that
he
was
being
bled
by
one
of
the
most
insatiable
members
of
her
profession
;
and
to
every
report
of
threatened
insolvency
Beaufort
replied
by
a
fresh
extravagance
:
the
building
of
a
new
row
of
orchid-houses
,
the
purchase
of
a
new
string
of
race-horses
,
or
the
addition
of
a
new
Meissonnier
or
Cabanel
to
his
picture-gallery
.
He
advanced
toward
the
Marchioness
and
Newland
with
his
usual
half-sneering
smile
.
"
Hullo
,
Medora
!
Did
the
trotters
do
their
business
?
Forty
minutes
,
eh
?
...
Well
,
that
's
not
so
bad
,
considering
your
nerves
had
to
be
spared
.
"
He
shook
hands
with
Archer
,
and
then
,
turning
back
with
them
,
placed
himself
on
Mrs.
Manson
's
other
side
,
and
said
,
in
a
low
voice
,
a
few
words
which
their
companion
did
not
catch
.
The
Marchioness
replied
by
one
of
her
queer
foreign
jerks
,
and
a
"
Que
voulez-vous
?
"
which
deepened
Beaufort
's
frown
;
but
he
produced
a
good
semblance
of
a
congratulatory
smile
as
he
glanced
at
Archer
to
say
:
"
You
know
May
's
going
to
carry
off
the
first
prize
.
"
"
Ah
,
then
it
remains
in
the
family
,
"
Medora
rippled
;
and
at
that
moment
they
reached
the
tent
and
Mrs.
Beaufort
met
them
in
a
girlish
cloud
of
mauve
muslin
and
floating
veils.May
Welland
was
just
coming
out
of
the
tent
.
In
her
white
dress
,
with
a
pale
green
ribbon
about
the
waist
and
a
wreath
of
ivy
on
her
hat
,
she
had
the
same
Diana-like
aloofness
as
when
she
had
entered
the
Beaufort
ball-room
on
the
night
of
her
engagement
.
In
the
interval
not
a
thought
seemed
to
have
passed
behind
her
eyes
or
a
feeling
through
her
heart
;
and
though
her
husband
knew
that
she
had
the
capacity
for
both
he
marvelled
afresh
at
the
way
in
which
experience
dropped
away
from
her.She
had
her
bow
and
arrow
in
her
hand
,
and
placing
herself
on
the
chalk-mark
traced
on
the
turf
she
lifted
the
bow
to
her
shoulder
and
took
aim
.
The
attitude
was
so
full
of
a
classic
grace
that
a
murmur
of
appreciation
followed
her
appearance
,
and
Archer
felt
the
glow
of
proprietorship
that
so
often
cheated
him
into
momentary
well-being
.
Her
rivals
--
Mrs.
Reggie
Chivers
,
the
Merry
girls
,
and
divers
rosy
Thorleys
,
Dagonets
and
Mingotts
,
stood
behind
her
in
a
lovely
anxious
group
,
brown
heads
and
golden
bent
above
the
scores
,
and
pale
muslins
and
flower-wreathed
hats
mingled
in
a
tender
rainbow
.
All
were
young
and
pretty
,
and
bathed
in
summer
bloom
;
but
not
one
had
the
nymph-like
ease
of
his
wife
,
when
,
with
tense
muscles
and
happy
frown
,
she
bent
her
soul
upon
some
feat
of
strength
.
"
Gad
,
"
Archer
heard
Lawrence
Lefferts
say
,
"
not
one
of
the
lot
holds
the
bow
as
she
does
"
;
and
Beaufort
retorted
:
"
Yes
;
but
that
's
the
only
kind
of
target
she
'll
ever
hit
.
"
Archer
felt
irrationally
angry
.
His
host
's
contemptuous
tribute
to
May
's
"
niceness
"
was
just
what
a
husband
should
have
wished
to
hear
said
of
his
wife
.
The
fact
that
a
coarseminded
man
found
her
lacking
in
attraction
was
simply
another
proof
of
her
quality
;
yet
the
words
sent
a
faint
shiver
through
his
heart
.
What
if
"
niceness
"
carried
to
that
supreme
degree
were
only
a
negation
,
the
curtain
dropped
before
an
emptiness
?
As
he
looked
at
May
,
returning
flushed
and
calm
from
her
final
bull
's
-
eye
,
he
had
the
feeling
that
he
had
never
yet
lifted
that
curtain.She
took
the
congratulations
of
her
rivals
and
of
the
rest
of
the
company
with
the
simplicity
that
was
her
crowning
grace
.
No
one
could
ever
be
jealous
of
her
triumphs
because
she
managed
to
give
the
feeling
that
she
would
have
been
just
as
serene
if
she
had
missed
them
.
But
when
her
eyes
met
her
husband
's
her
face
glowed
with
the
pleasure
she
saw
in
his.Mrs
.
Welland
's
basket-work
pony-carriage
was
waiting
for
them
,
and
they
drove
off
among
the
dispersing
carriages
,
May
handling
the
reins
and
Archer
sitting
at
her
side
.
The
afternoon
sunlight
still
lingered
upon
the
bright
lawns
and
shrubberies
,
and
up
and
down
Bellevue
Avenue
rolled
a
double
line
of
victorias
,
dog-carts
,
landaus
and
"
vis-a-vis
,
"
carrying
well-dressed
ladies
and
gentlemen
away
from
the
Beaufort
garden-party
,
or
homeward
from
their
daily
afternoon
turn
along
the
Ocean
Drive
.
"
Shall
we
go
to
see
Granny
?
"
May
suddenly
proposed
.
"
I
should
like
to
tell
her
myself
that
I
've
won
the
prize
.
There
's
lots
of
time
before
dinner
.
"
Archer
acquiesced
,
and
she
turned
the
ponies
down
Narragansett
Avenue
,
crossed
Spring
Street
and
drove
out
toward
the
rocky
moorland
beyond
.
In
this
unfashionable
region
Catherine
the
Great
,
always
indifferent
to
precedent
and
thrifty
of
purse
,
had
built
herself
in
her
youth
a
many-peaked
and
cross-beamed
cottage-orne
on
a
bit
of
cheap
land
overlooking
the
bay
.
Here
,
in
a
thicket
of
stunted
oaks
,
her
verandahs
spread
themselves
above
the
island-dotted
waters
.
A
winding
drive
led
up
between
iron
stags
and
blue
glass
balls
embedded
in
mounds
of
geraniums
to
a
front
door
of
highly-varnished
walnut
under
a
striped
verandah-roof
;
and
behind
it
ran
a
narrow
hall
with
a
black
and
yellow
star-patterned
parquet
floor
,
upon
which
opened
four
small
square
rooms
with
heavy
flock-papers
under
ceilings
on
which
an
Italian
house-painter
had
lavished
all
the
divinities
of
Olympus
.
One
of
these
rooms
had
been
turned
into
a
bedroom
by
Mrs.
Mingott
when
the
burden
of
flesh
descended
on
her
,
and
in
the
adjoining
one
she
spent
her
days
,
enthroned
in
a
large
armchair
between
the
open
door
and
window
,
and
perpetually
waving
a
palm-leaf
fan
which
the
prodigious
projection
of
her
bosom
kept
so
far
from
the
rest
of
her
person
that
the
air
it
set
in
motion
stirred
only
the
fringe
of
the
anti-macassars
on
the
chair-arms
.
Since
she
had
been
the
means
of
hastening
his
marriage
old
Catherine
had
shown
to
Archer
the
cordiality
which
a
service
rendered
excites
toward
the
person
served
.
She
was
persuaded
that
irrepressible
passion
was
the
cause
of
his
impatience
;
and
being
an
ardent
admirer
of
impulsiveness
(
when
it
did
not
lead
to
the
spending
of
money
)
she
always
received
him
with
a
genial
twinkle
of
complicity
and
a
play
of
allusion
to
which
May
seemed
fortunately
impervious.She
examined
and
appraised
with
much
interest
the
diamond-tipped
arrow
which
had
been
pinned
on
May
's
bosom
at
the
conclusion
of
the
match
,
remarking
that
in
her
day
a
filigree
brooch
would
have
been
thought
enough
,
but
that
there
was
no
denying
that
Beaufort
did
things
handsomely
.
"
Quite
an
heirloom
,
in
fact
,
my
dear
,
"
the
old
lady
chuckled
.
"
You
must
leave
it
in
fee
to
your
eldest
girl
.
"
She
pinched
May
's
white
arm
and
watched
the
colour
flood
her
face
.
"
Well
,
well
,
what
have
I
said
to
make
you
shake
out
the
red
flag
?
Ai
n't
there
going
to
be
any
daughters
--
only
boys
,
eh
?
Good
gracious
,
look
at
her
blushing
again
all
over
her
blushes
!
What
--
ca
n't
I
say
that
either
?
Mercy
me
--
when
my
children
beg
me
to
have
all
those
gods
and
goddesses
painted
out
overhead
I
always
say
I
'm
too
thankful
to
have
somebody
about
me
that
NOTHING
can
shock
!
"
Archer
burst
into
a
laugh
,
and
May
echoed
it
,
crimson
to
the
eyes
.
"
Well
,
now
tell
me
all
about
the
party
,
please
,
my
dears
,
for
I
shall
never
get
a
straight
word
about
it
out
of
that
silly
Medora
,
"
the
ancestress
continued
;
and
,
as
May
exclaimed
:
"
Cousin
Medora
?
But
I
thought
she
was
going
back
to
Portsmouth
?
"
she
answered
placidly
:
"
So
she
is
--
but
she
's
got
to
come
here
first
to
pick
up
Ellen
.
Ah
--
you
did
n't
know
Ellen
had
come
to
spend
the
day
with
me
?
Such
fol-de-rol
,
her
not
coming
for
the
summer
;
but
I
gave
up
arguing
with
young
people
about
fifty
years
ago
.
Ellen
--
ELLEN
!
"
she
cried
in
her
shrill
old
voice
,
trying
to
bend
forward
far
enough
to
catch
a
glimpse
of
the
lawn
beyond
the
verandah.There
was
no
answer
,
and
Mrs.
Mingott
rapped
impatiently
with
her
stick
on
the
shiny
floor
.
A
mulatto
maid-servant
in
a
bright
turban
,
replying
to
the
summons
,
informed
her
mistress
that
she
had
seen
"
Miss
Ellen
"
going
down
the
path
to
the
shore
;
and
Mrs.
Mingott
turned
to
Archer
.
"
Run
down
and
fetch
her
,
like
a
good
grandson
;
this
pretty
lady
will
describe
the
party
to
me
,
"
she
said
;
and
Archer
stood
up
as
if
in
a
dream
.
He
had
heard
the
Countess
Olenska
's
name
pronounced
often
enough
during
the
year
and
a
half
since
they
had
last
met
,
and
was
even
familiar
with
the
main
incidents
of
her
life
in
the
interval
.
He
knew
that
she
had
spent
the
previous
summer
at
Newport
,
where
she
appeared
to
have
gone
a
great
deal
into
society
,
but
that
in
the
autumn
she
had
suddenly
sub-let
the
"
perfect
house
"
which
Beaufort
had
been
at
such
pains
to
find
for
her
,
and
decided
to
establish
herself
in
Washington
.
There
,
during
the
winter
,
he
had
heard
of
her
(
as
one
always
heard
of
pretty
women
in
Washington
)
as
shining
in
the
"
brilliant
diplomatic
society
"
that
was
supposed
to
make
up
for
the
social
short-comings
of
the
Administration
.
He
had
listened
to
these
accounts
,
and
to
various
contradictory
reports
on
her
appearance
,
her
conversation
,
her
point
of
view
and
her
choice
of
friends
,
with
the
detachment
with
which
one
listens
to
reminiscences
of
some
one
long
since
dead
;
not
till
Medora
suddenly
spoke
her
name
at
the
archery
match
had
Ellen
Olenska
become
a
living
presence
to
him
again
.
The
Marchioness
's
foolish
lisp
had
called
up
a
vision
of
the
little
fire-lit
drawing-room
and
the
sound
of
the
carriage-wheels
returning
down
the
deserted
street
.
He
thought
of
a
story
he
had
read
,
of
some
peasant
children
in
Tuscany
lighting
a
bunch
of
straw
in
a
wayside
cavern
,
and
revealing
old
silent
images
in
their
painted
tomb
...
The
way
to
the
shore
descended
from
the
bank
on
which
the
house
was
perched
to
a
walk
above
the
water
planted
with
weeping
willows
.
