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The
two
mothers-in-law
sat
in
May
's
drawing-room
on
the
afternoon
of
the
great
day
,
Mrs.
Archer
writing
out
the
menus
on
Tiffany
's
thickest
gilt-edged
bristol
,
while
Mrs.
Welland
superintended
the
placing
of
the
palms
and
standard
lamps.Archer
,
arriving
late
from
his
office
,
found
them
still
there
.
Mrs.
Archer
had
turned
her
attention
to
the
name-cards
for
the
table
,
and
Mrs.
Welland
was
considering
the
effect
of
bringing
forward
the
large
gilt
sofa
,
so
that
another
"
corner
"
might
be
created
between
the
piano
and
the
window.May
,
they
told
him
,
was
in
the
dining-room
inspecting
the
mound
of
Jacqueminot
roses
and
maidenhair
in
the
centre
of
the
long
table
,
and
the
placing
of
the
Maillard
bonbons
in
openwork
silver
baskets
between
the
candelabra
.
On
the
piano
stood
a
large
basket
of
orchids
which
Mr.
van
der
Luyden
had
had
sent
from
Skuytercliff
.
Everything
was
,
in
short
,
as
it
should
be
on
the
approach
of
so
considerable
an
event.Mrs
.
Archer
ran
thoughtfully
over
the
list
,
checking
off
each
name
with
her
sharp
gold
pen
.
"
Henry
van
der
Luyden
--
Louisa
--
the
Lovell
Mingotts
--
the
Reggie
Chiverses
--
Lawrence
Lefferts
and
Gertrude
--
(
yes
,
I
suppose
May
was
right
to
have
them
)
--
the
Selfridge
Merrys
,
Sillerton
Jackson
,
Van
Newland
and
his
wife
.
(
How
time
passes
!
It
seems
only
yesterday
that
he
was
your
best
man
,
Newland
)
--
and
Countess
Olenska
--
yes
,
I
think
that
's
all
...
"
Mrs.
Welland
surveyed
her
son-in-law
affectionately
.
"
No
one
can
say
,
Newland
,
that
you
and
May
are
not
giving
Ellen
a
handsome
send-off
.
"
"
Ah
,
well
,
"
said
Mrs.
Archer
,
"
I
understand
May
's
wanting
her
cousin
to
tell
people
abroad
that
we
're
not
quite
barbarians
.
"
"
I
'm
sure
Ellen
will
appreciate
it
.
She
was
to
arrive
this
morning
,
I
believe
.
It
will
make
a
most
charming
last
impression
.
The
evening
before
sailing
is
usually
so
dreary
,
"
Mrs.
Welland
cheerfully
continued.Archer
turned
toward
the
door
,
and
his
mother-in-law
called
to
him
:
"
Do
go
in
and
have
a
peep
at
the
table
.
And
do
n't
let
May
tire
herself
too
much
.
"
But
he
affected
not
to
hear
,
and
sprang
up
the
stairs
to
his
library
.
The
room
looked
at
him
like
an
alien
countenance
composed
into
a
polite
grimace
;
and
he
perceived
that
it
had
been
ruthlessly
"
tidied
,
"
and
prepared
,
by
a
judicious
distribution
of
ash-trays
and
cedar-wood
boxes
,
for
the
gentlemen
to
smoke
in
.
"
Ah
,
well
,
"
he
thought
,
"
it
's
not
for
long
--
"
and
he
went
on
to
his
dressing-room
.
Ten
days
had
passed
since
Madame
Olenska
's
departure
from
New
York
.
During
those
ten
days
Archer
had
had
no
sign
from
her
but
that
conveyed
by
the
return
of
a
key
wrapped
in
tissue
paper
,
and
sent
to
his
office
in
a
sealed
envelope
addressed
in
her
hand
.
This
retort
to
his
last
appeal
might
have
been
interpreted
as
a
classic
move
in
a
familiar
game
;
but
the
young
man
chose
to
give
it
a
different
meaning
.
She
was
still
fighting
against
her
fate
;
but
she
was
going
to
Europe
,
and
she
was
not
returning
to
her
husband
.
Nothing
,
therefore
,
was
to
prevent
his
following
her
;
and
once
he
had
taken
the
irrevocable
step
,
and
had
proved
to
her
that
it
was
irrevocable
,
he
believed
she
would
not
send
him
away
.
This
confidence
in
the
future
had
steadied
him
to
play
his
part
in
the
present
.
It
had
kept
him
from
writing
to
her
,
or
betraying
,
by
any
sign
or
act
,
his
misery
and
mortification
.
It
seemed
to
him
that
in
the
deadly
silent
game
between
them
the
trumps
were
still
in
his
hands
;
and
he
waited.There
had
been
,
nevertheless
,
moments
sufficiently
difficult
to
pass
;
as
when
Mr.
Letterblair
,
the
day
after
Madame
Olenska
's
departure
,
had
sent
for
him
to
go
over
the
details
of
the
trust
which
Mrs.
Manson
Mingott
wished
to
create
for
her
granddaughter
.
For
a
couple
of
hours
Archer
had
examined
the
terms
of
the
deed
with
his
senior
,
all
the
while
obscurely
feeling
that
if
he
had
been
consulted
it
was
for
some
reason
other
than
the
obvious
one
of
his
cousinship
;
and
that
the
close
of
the
conference
would
reveal
it
.
"
Well
,
the
lady
ca
n't
deny
that
it
's
a
handsome
arrangement
,
"
Mr.
Letterblair
had
summed
up
,
after
mumbling
over
a
summary
of
the
settlement
.
"
In
fact
I
'm
bound
to
say
she
's
been
treated
pretty
handsomely
all
round
.
"
"
All
round
?
"
Archer
echoed
with
a
touch
of
derision
.
"
Do
you
refer
to
her
husband
's
proposal
to
give
her
back
her
own
money
?
"
Mr.
Letterblair
's
bushy
eyebrows
went
up
a
fraction
of
an
inch
.
"
My
dear
sir
,
the
law
's
the
law
;
and
your
wife
's
cousin
was
married
under
the
French
law
.
It
's
to
be
presumed
she
knew
what
that
meant
.
"
"
Even
if
she
did
,
what
happened
subsequently
--
.
"
But
Archer
paused
.
Mr.
Letterblair
had
laid
his
pen-handle
against
his
big
corrugated
nose
,
and
was
looking
down
it
with
the
expression
assumed
by
virtuous
elderly
gentlemen
when
they
wish
their
youngers
to
understand
that
virtue
is
not
synonymous
with
ignorance
.
"
My
dear
sir
,
I
've
no
wish
to
extenuate
the
Count
's
transgressions
;
but
--
but
on
the
other
side
...
I
would
n't
put
my
hand
in
the
fire
...
well
,
that
there
had
n't
been
tit
for
tat
...
with
the
young
champion
...
"
Mr.
Letterblair
unlocked
a
drawer
and
pushed
a
folded
paper
toward
Archer
.
"
This
report
,
the
result
of
discreet
enquiries
...
"
And
then
,
as
Archer
made
no
effort
to
glance
at
the
paper
or
to
repudiate
the
suggestion
,
the
lawyer
somewhat
flatly
continued
:
"
I
do
n't
say
it
's
conclusive
,
you
observe
;
far
from
it
.
But
straws
show
...
and
on
the
whole
it
's
eminently
satisfactory
for
all
parties
that
this
dignified
solution
has
been
reached
.
"
"
Oh
,
eminently
,
"
Archer
assented
,
pushing
back
the
paper.A
day
or
two
later
,
on
responding
to
a
summons
from
Mrs.
Manson
Mingott
,
his
soul
had
been
more
deeply
tried.He
had
found
the
old
lady
depressed
and
querulous
.
"
You
know
she
's
deserted
me
?
"
she
began
at
once
;
and
without
waiting
for
his
reply
:
"
Oh
,
do
n't
ask
me
why
!
She
gave
so
many
reasons
that
I
've
forgotten
them
all
.
My
private
belief
is
that
she
could
n't
face
the
boredom
.
At
any
rate
that
's
what
Augusta
and
my
daughters-in-law
think
.
And
I
do
n't
know
that
I
altogether
blame
her
.
Olenski
's
a
finished
scoundrel
;
but
life
with
him
must
have
been
a
good
deal
gayer
than
it
is
in
Fifth
Avenue
.
Not
that
the
family
would
admit
that
:
they
think
Fifth
Avenue
is
Heaven
with
the
rue
de
la
Paix
thrown
in
.
And
poor
Ellen
,
of
course
,
has
no
idea
of
going
back
to
her
husband
.
She
held
out
as
firmly
as
ever
against
that
.
So
she
's
to
settle
down
in
Paris
with
that
fool
Medora
...
Well
,
Paris
is
Paris
;
and
you
can
keep
a
carriage
there
on
next
to
nothing
.
But
she
was
as
gay
as
a
bird
,
and
I
shall
miss
her
.
"
Two
tears
,
the
parched
tears
of
the
old
,
rolled
down
her
puffy
cheeks
and
vanished
in
the
abysses
of
her
bosom
.
"
All
I
ask
is
,
"
she
concluded
,
"
that
they
should
n't
bother
me
any
more
.
I
must
really
be
allowed
to
digest
my
gruel
...
"
And
she
twinkled
a
little
wistfully
at
Archer.It
was
that
evening
,
on
his
return
home
,
that
May
announced
her
intention
of
giving
a
farewell
dinner
to
her
cousin
.
Madame
Olenska
's
name
had
not
been
pronounced
between
them
since
the
night
of
her
flight
to
Washington
;
and
Archer
looked
at
his
wife
with
surprise
.
"
A
dinner
--
why
?
"
he
interrogated.Her
colour
rose
.
"
But
you
like
Ellen
--
I
thought
you
'd
be
pleased
.
"
"
It
's
awfully
nice
--
your
putting
it
in
that
way
.
But
I
really
do
n't
see
--
"
"
I
mean
to
do
it
,
Newland
,
"
she
said
,
quietly
rising
and
going
to
her
desk
.
"
Here
are
the
invitations
all
written
.
Mother
helped
me
--
she
agrees
that
we
ought
to
.
"
She
paused
,
embarrassed
and
yet
smiling
,
and
Archer
suddenly
saw
before
him
the
embodied
image
of
the
Family
.
"
Oh
,
all
right
,
"
he
said
,
staring
with
unseeing
eyes
at
the
list
of
guests
that
she
had
put
in
his
hand
.
When
he
entered
the
drawing-room
before
dinner
May
was
stooping
over
the
fire
and
trying
to
coax
the
logs
to
burn
in
their
unaccustomed
setting
of
immaculate
tiles.The
tall
lamps
were
all
lit
,
and
Mr.
van
der
Luyden
's
orchids
had
been
conspicuously
disposed
in
various
receptacles
of
modern
porcelain
and
knobby
silver
.
Mrs.
Newland
Archer
's
drawing-room
was
generally
thought
a
great
success
.
A
gilt
bamboo
jardiniere
,
in
which
the
primulas
and
cinerarias
were
punctually
renewed
,
blocked
the
access
to
the
bay
window
(
where
the
old-fashioned
would
have
preferred
a
bronze
reduction
of
the
Venus
of
Milo
)
;
the
sofas
and
arm-chairs
of
pale
brocade
were
cleverly
grouped
about
little
plush
tables
densely
covered
with
silver
toys
,
porcelain
animals
and
efflorescent
photograph
frames
;
and
tall
rosy-shaded
lamps
shot
up
like
tropical
flowers
among
the
palms
.
"
I
do
n't
think
Ellen
has
ever
seen
this
room
lighted
up
,
"
said
May
,
rising
flushed
from
her
struggle
,
and
sending
about
her
a
glance
of
pardonable
pride
.
The
brass
tongs
which
she
had
propped
against
the
side
of
the
chimney
fell
with
a
crash
that
drowned
her
husband
's
answer
;
and
before
he
could
restore
them
Mr.
and
Mrs.
van
der
Luyden
were
announced.The
other
guests
quickly
followed
,
for
it
was
known
that
the
van
der
Luydens
liked
to
dine
punctually
.
The
room
was
nearly
full
,
and
Archer
was
engaged
in
showing
to
Mrs.
Selfridge
Merry
a
small
highly-varnished
Verbeckhoven
"
Study
of
Sheep
,
"
which
Mr.
Welland
had
given
May
for
Christmas
,
when
he
found
Madame
Olenska
at
his
side.She
was
excessively
pale
,
and
her
pallor
made
her
dark
hair
seem
denser
and
heavier
than
ever
.
Perhaps
that
,
or
the
fact
that
she
had
wound
several
rows
of
amber
beads
about
her
neck
,
reminded
him
suddenly
of
the
little
Ellen
Mingott
he
had
danced
with
at
children
's
parties
,
when
Medora
Manson
had
first
brought
her
to
New
York.The
amber
beads
were
trying
to
her
complexion
,
or
her
dress
was
perhaps
unbecoming
:
her
face
looked
lustreless
and
almost
ugly
,
and
he
had
never
loved
it
as
he
did
at
that
minute
.
Their
hands
met
,
and
he
thought
he
heard
her
say
:
"
Yes
,
we
're
sailing
tomorrow
in
the
Russia
--
"
;
then
there
was
an
unmeaning
noise
of
opening
doors
,
and
after
an
interval
May
's
voice
:
"
Newland
!
Dinner
's
been
announced
.
Wo
n't
you
please
take
Ellen
in
?
"
Madame
Olenska
put
her
hand
on
his
arm
,
and
he
noticed
that
the
hand
was
ungloved
,
and
remembered
how
he
had
kept
his
eyes
fixed
on
it
the
evening
that
he
had
sat
with
her
in
the
little
Twenty-third
Street
drawing-room
.
All
the
beauty
that
had
forsaken
her
face
seemed
to
have
taken
refuge
in
the
long
pale
fingers
and
faintly
dimpled
knuckles
on
his
sleeve
,
and
he
said
to
himself
:
"
If
it
were
only
to
see
her
hand
again
I
should
have
to
follow
her
--
.
"
It
was
only
at
an
entertainment
ostensibly
offered
to
a
"
foreign
visitor
"
that
Mrs.
van
der
Luyden
could
suffer
the
diminution
of
being
placed
on
her
host
's
left
.
The
fact
of
Madame
Olenska
's
"
foreignness
"
could
hardly
have
been
more
adroitly
emphasised
than
by
this
farewell
tribute
;
and
Mrs.
van
der
Luyden
accepted
her
displacement
with
an
affability
which
left
no
doubt
as
to
her
approval
.
There
were
certain
things
that
had
to
be
done
,
and
if
done
at
all
,
done
handsomely
and
thoroughly
;
and
one
of
these
,
in
the
old
New
York
code
,
was
the
tribal
rally
around
a
kinswoman
about
to
be
eliminated
from
the
tribe
.
There
was
nothing
on
earth
that
the
Wellands
and
Mingotts
would
not
have
done
to
proclaim
their
unalterable
affection
for
the
Countess
Olenska
now
that
her
passage
for
Europe
was
engaged
;
and
Archer
,
at
the
head
of
his
table
,
sat
marvelling
at
the
silent
untiring
activity
with
which
her
popularity
had
been
retrieved
,
grievances
against
her
silenced
,
her
past
countenanced
,
and
her
present
irradiated
by
the
family
approval
.
Mrs.
van
der
Luyden
shone
on
her
with
the
dim
benevolence
which
was
her
nearest
approach
to
cordiality
,
and
Mr.
van
der
Luyden
,
from
his
seat
at
May
's
right
,
cast
down
the
table
glances
plainly
intended
to
justify
all
the
carnations
he
had
sent
from
Skuytercliff.Archer
,
who
seemed
to
be
assisting
at
the
scene
in
a
state
of
odd
imponderability
,
as
if
he
floated
somewhere
between
chandelier
and
ceiling
,
wondered
at
nothing
so
much
as
his
own
share
in
the
proceedings
.
As
his
glance
travelled
from
one
placid
well-fed
face
to
another
he
saw
all
the
harmless-looking
people
engaged
upon
May
's
canvas-backs
as
a
band
of
dumb
conspirators
,
and
himself
and
the
pale
woman
on
his
right
as
the
centre
of
their
conspiracy
.
And
then
it
came
over
him
,
in
a
vast
flash
made
up
of
many
broken
gleams
,
that
to
all
of
them
he
and
Madame
Olenska
were
lovers
,
lovers
in
the
extreme
sense
peculiar
to
"
foreign
"
vocabularies
.
He
guessed
himself
to
have
been
,
for
months
,
the
centre
of
countless
silently
observing
eyes
and
patiently
listening
ears
;
he
understood
that
,
by
means
as
yet
unknown
to
him
,
the
separation
between
himself
and
the
partner
of
his
guilt
had
been
achieved
,
and
that
now
the
whole
tribe
had
rallied
about
his
wife
on
the
tacit
assumption
that
nobody
knew
anything
,
or
had
ever
imagined
anything
,
and
that
the
occasion
of
the
entertainment
was
simply
May
Archer
's
natural
desire
to
take
an
affectionate
leave
of
her
friend
and
cousin.It
was
the
old
New
York
way
of
taking
life
"
without
effusion
of
blood
"
:
the
way
of
people
who
dreaded
scandal
more
than
disease
,
who
placed
decency
above
courage
,
and
who
considered
that
nothing
was
more
ill-bred
than
"
scenes
,
"
except
the
behaviour
of
those
who
gave
rise
to
them.As
these
thoughts
succeeded
each
other
in
his
mind
Archer
felt
like
a
prisoner
in
the
centre
of
an
armed
camp
.
He
looked
about
the
table
,
and
guessed
at
the
inexorableness
of
his
captors
from
the
tone
in
which
,
over
the
asparagus
from
Florida
,
they
were
dealing
with
Beaufort
and
his
wife
.
"
It
's
to
show
me
,
"
he
thought
,
"
what
would
happen
to
ME
--
"
and
a
deathly
sense
of
the
superiority
of
implication
and
analogy
over
direct
action
,
and
of
silence
over
rash
words
,
closed
in
on
him
like
the
doors
of
the
family
vault.He
laughed
,
and
met
Mrs.
van
der
Luyden
's
startled
eyes
.
"
You
think
it
laughable
?
"
she
said
with
a
pinched
smile
.
"
Of
course
poor
Regina
's
idea
of
remaining
in
New
York
has
its
ridiculous
side
,
I
suppose
;
"
and
Archer
muttered
:
"
Of
course
.
"
At
this
point
,
he
became
conscious
that
Madame
Olenska
's
other
neighbour
had
been
engaged
for
some
time
with
the
lady
on
his
right
.
At
the
same
moment
he
saw
that
May
,
serenely
enthroned
between
Mr.
van
der
Luyden
and
Mr.
Selfridge
Merry
,
had
cast
a
quick
glance
down
the
table
.
It
was
evident
that
the
host
and
the
lady
on
his
right
could
not
sit
through
the
whole
meal
in
silence
.
He
turned
to
Madame
Olenska
,
and
her
pale
smile
met
him
.
"
Oh
,
do
let
's
see
it
through
,
"
it
seemed
to
say
.
"
Did
you
find
the
journey
tiring
?
"
he
asked
in
a
voice
that
surprised
him
by
its
naturalness
;
and
she
answered
that
,
on
the
contrary
,
she
had
seldom
travelled
with
fewer
discomforts
.
"
Except
,
you
know
,
the
dreadful
heat
in
the
train
,
"
she
added
;
and
he
remarked
that
she
would
not
suffer
from
that
particular
hardship
in
the
country
she
was
going
to
.
"
I
never
,
"
he
declared
with
intensity
,
"
was
more
nearly
frozen
than
once
,
in
April
,
in
the
train
between
Calais
and
Paris
.
"
She
said
she
did
not
wonder
,
but
remarked
that
,
after
all
,
one
could
always
carry
an
extra
rug
,
and
that
every
form
of
travel
had
its
hardships
;
to
which
he
abruptly
returned
that
he
thought
them
all
of
no
account
compared
with
the
blessedness
of
getting
away
.
She
changed
colour
,
and
he
added
,
his
voice
suddenly
rising
in
pitch
:
"
I
mean
to
do
a
lot
of
travelling
myself
before
long
.
"
A
tremor
crossed
her
face
,
and
leaning
over
to
Reggie
Chivers
,
he
cried
out
:
"
I
say
,
Reggie
,
what
do
you
say
to
a
trip
round
the
world
:
now
,
next
month
,
I
mean
?
I
'm
game
if
you
are
--
"
at
which
Mrs.
