The Emancipated

subdued mourning indicated widowhood already at the stage when it is permitted to make quiet suggestion of freedom rather than distressful reference to loss; the dress,

acter and capacity, beautiful in chaste control. Sorrowful it was not, but its paleness and thinness expressed something more than imperfect health of body; the blue-grey eyes, when they wandered for a moment in an effort of recollection, had a look of weariness, even of ennui; the lips moved as if in nervous impatience until s

e stove served at present to support leafy plants, a row of which also stood on the balcony before the window. Round the ceiling ran a painted border of foliage and flowers. The chief ornament of the walls was a large and indifferent copy of Raphael's "St. Cecilia;" there were, too, s

ierce old Puritans, half shame-faced modifications of logic which, at all events, was wont to conceal no consequence of its savage premises. More noticeable were some architectural plans unrolled upon a settee; the uppermost r

ntended for her sister-in-law, a lady of middle age, who shared in the occupancy of Redheck House. At length she penned the introductory formula, but again became a

ths Since I lived my real life there; during my illness I might as well have been absent, then came those weeks in the Isle of Wight, and now this exile. I feel it as exile, bitterly. To be sure Naples is beautiful, but it does not interest me. You ne

pleased to hear of their absenting themselves from chapel. I have a very good mind to write to Mr. Higginson and beg him to suspend the girl from his employment until s

he shall not set foot on the premises. If he is in want, he has only himself to blame. I do not like to think of his wife suffering, but it is the attribute of sins such as

rence to me in public. This is the result of my abse

oor, and, on Mrs. Baske's giving permission, a lady entered. This was Mrs. Spence, a cousin of the young widow; she and her husband had an apartment here in the Villa Sannazaro, and were able to devote certain rooms to the

have a

the other, in a ton

and Mrs. Lessingham are too tired to do anything but get se

pen, and asked in the

l I c

ile, "I should think you must have a certain curiosity to s

come in

r she chanced to see her image in a mirror-two of a large size adorned the room-and it checked her

reflection. His companion, a man of five-and-thirty, had a far more striking countenance. His complexion was of the kind which used to be called adust-burnt up with inner fires; his visage was long and somewhat harshly designed, very apt, it would seem, to the expression of hitter ironies or stern resentments, but at present bright with friendly pleasure.

" He bowed ungracefully; then, with a manner naturally frank but

ard," she said in a self-possessed t

, knitting his brows into a scowl as he smiled and returned her look

thank

oices, Mrs. Baske and Mallard resembled each other in s

after their journey," Mir

t all; but Mrs. Lessingham is r

e journey at Florence or

een desire to get to Naples and misery at not being able to see the towns we passed. At last s

and see her in the

on no account to go. They will come here quite early. Miss D

ority has prevailed?" inquired Spence. "Yo

on't undertake to lay down rules for the young lady of eighteen as I could for t

Miriam smiled rather coldly, but continued t

he asked presently, in her

and had a couple of days to wai

u also are stayin

mine high up in the town, Vico Brancacc

t?" inquir

work at Amalfi

of you," said Mrs. Spence. "Pray, do y

no m

re is no need to go back to Vico Brancaccio. I am sur

accepted. A little while after, Spence pr

id Mallard, rising abruptly. "I

Mallard grew less restr

nswer to your expectat

her photogra

he

t me-one taken at the

gar doing a

t Victoria Station, and he seemed to have just slept off a great deal of heavy drinking. Told me he was going down to Brighton to see about selling a houseful of furniture there-his own property

s heard nothing of him for two years at least, and

s, He would be sure to make a

elder man, with fee

him much. And as for brains, why, I have scarcely known a man who so impressed me with a sense of h

ught of him trouble

looks

of Bartles are troubled concerning their chapel; it isn't large enough. So Miriam proposes to pull down her own house, and build them a chapel on the site, of course at her own expense. The ground being her freeh

the speaker wit

this will impoverish her. She is not so wealthy as to be able

s only for her reli

nical spirit in a rather rare degree. I daily thank the fates that my wife grew up apart from that branc

mused Mallard. "The sit

benefits her; she won't allow an expression of interest in anything Italian to escape her. I doubt whether we shall ever get her even to Pompeii. One afternoon I persuaded

t is the badge o

them in their rooms, and they held a dissident service. The hours she spent here were passed in the solitude of her own room, lest she should witness our profane enjoyment of the fine weather. Eleanor refrained from touching the piano, and at meals

arkable face, it seem

me to talk o

o; at a point where it is parted only by a low wall from the wes

aned for a moment on the wall. "It always amuses me. Only in thi

re at the hamlet of Bagnoli. Follow the enclosing ridge to the left, to where its slope cuts athwart plain and sea and sky; there close upon the coast lies the island rock of Nisida, meeting-place of Cicero and Brutus after Caesar's death. Turn to the opposite quarter of the plain. First rises the cliff of Camaldoli, where from their oak-shadowed lawn the monks look forth upon as fair a prospect as is beheld by man. Lower hills succeed, hiding Pozzuoli and the inner curve of its bay; behind them,

owed upon tract of colour that each moment underwent a subtle change, darkening here, there fading into exquisite transparencies of distance, till by degrees the islands lost projection and became mere films against the declining day. The plain was ruddy with de

ction, "the pagan associations of Naples are a great

dmits

ely to be the relations b

ms of easy correspondence. But doesn't Cec

a pause bef

u yourself have. Naturally, since she has ceased to be a child, I have kept my distance. In fact, I sha

nce, with a smile which recognized

fortune! It oppresses me-the sense of responsibility; I want to get the weight o

unlikely event of Trench's death left you sole trustee. If Dora

he other's look; his eyes

ational repudiation of debt; I imagine dock-companies failing and banks stopping payment. It disturbs my work; I am tired of it. Why can't I transfer the af

ledger; who was the model of a r

Mallard. "But you know

don?" asked the other, after a pause, during which h

rejudices, and, in the vulgar sense of the word, no principles. She is familiar with the Latin classics and with the Parisian feuilletons; she knows all about the newest religion, and can tell you Sarcey's opinion of the newest play. Miss Doran will discuss with you the merits of Sarah Bernhar

ed him with a bu

ar fellow, simply

s turn, interr

e so advanced. What have I to do with heiresses and fashionable ladies? I have

be half against Mrs. Lessingh

e more mistaken. It's with

at acc

o so befriended me, and put such trust in me, and paid me so well in advance for the duties I was to undertake-didn't take it for granted th

gh severe with his own womankind. But as you have given me no description of what Cecily really is, I

is no denyin

oss Mallard is a singular person

When did I say that the

for the system which makes of

impartiality. "Have I been faithful to my stewardship? When I consented to Cecily's-to M

including your artistic character, is this conscientiousness. Without it, you would have had worldly success long ago. Without it, you would

is a

insipid refinement, a taste for culture

y that I am troubled in this way. But I heart

f yours. What possessed you to come here just now, if it d

y sense of responsibility, I suppose. But,

us a 'definite good-

d before them lay that portion of the great gulf which pictures have made so familiar. The landscape was still visible in all its main details, still softly suffused with warm colours from the west. About the cone of Vesuvius a darkly purple cloud was gathering; the twin height of Somma stood clear and of a rich b