The Point of View

n he had selected two or three, he drew a chair up to the other side of the table and

so for per

, as Katherine had not uttered a word. "One w

e responded, without looking up. He began

so?-On wh

ses a usef

facu

ise of will, because if there was no effort

msically; thi

ry intricate charity, of doubtful use to mankind,

looking at it.-Did you say quarterly

pers-"the confounded thing!

ninterruptedly. Kathe

haped head?-And what wonderful hands-in these days of athletic, weather-beaten paws! She would be very stately, too

g woman before! She thinks, too! That was a curious reflection ab

d his eyes eagerly dev

rst steady gaze of her eyes had struck tinder, the flame of interest was ignited, and the more difficult she made things no

ing effort?" he asked, in a moment or two. "You

rt; it is second

ject is as unint

t one's mechanical brain tackle it,

ere

f paper-and now glanced at

drea

ughts and of chilling surprises. It would be very imperti

e. You are dictating a letter to the

Lord Mayor of London, compelling me to branch off from this very in

n her, and she permitted one of her faint sphinxlike smiles

a little nearer-he fel

o type until you tell me about your

are only to stay until five-had you not

itude of respectful atten

r at Blissington-" And then he stopped abruptly-L?o Delemar would be there! He had melted her into a mood from which everything could be hoped during this week of uneventful family party-Beatrice would

nce, concluding the letter to the Lord Mayor. He had bet

tioning so suddenly. She smiled again a little. It had the desired eff

hinking about?" he d

ld I be thinking about?" Her eyes a

ver work-dull, tedious work like this, statistics of bodies who are to benefit by this

ermitted sometimes

confessing wh

tion-" taking up a paper. "On the first list t

he Mayor of

gent

t dreamland and crypt

raceful creature, not so tall or so ideally perfect of form as Lord Algy, but a

. How glad she was that he had not remarked her in her raw days! How wise she had been to have made ready-and then waited! The whole thing was the more effective because of the complete absence of all dram

to say, "I am only an employer. I cannot force you to work if you

de you smile?-We can drift

mile, because I do not know exactly; t

s gloomy back room all day-W

in what one is bored by-and one must show attention to

ust keep from laughing at things-a very difficult matter generally." He lay back against the brown

a human being understood with he

er of us takes the least interest-I am dictating fulsome letters to Lord Mayors to induce them to influence others to open their purses-I don't care a jot whether they do or

wed her hands to fall idly in her l

see," he went on, "is the contemplation of your really beautiful h

and regarded

y father was an auctioneer, you know,

ertained. She was certainly a very

t them closel

e held them out quite naturally, and he rose and took them in his own. Their touch was cool and firm, and every inch of his being tingled with pleasure. H

he thought he had felt emotion enough for the occasion

n a tone of speculative matter-of-factness. "I am so often seeing contra

d away by his sensations, and he knew very well that to indulge them further

gave fine ears and fine ankles and f

ve been dis

ry-have

l where a side cross comes in, or what will be the eff

ppose

ral qualities su

een and heard what I would have thought w

ho had attended the tableaux r

in the abstract, I suppose we are

but not all of them, as I had imagined. You must have opened t

nt; we no longer care ab

u have become effete like the nobles before the revolution in F

. This from the granddaughter

eflected presently. "And yet-look at her strange fac

id you find it-'die like gentl

hinking and reading about them-so

tage in England? Perhaps you are right; we want

otherwise, and it w

are good eno

Ladyship-you are, I should think, the

g her out and was very

us-what have we

m which the Radical statesmen are drawn has naturally the quality of looking ahead; he has to be told about it, and then get it if he can-it is not in his blo

re a student of here

myself; I am always combating ordinary and

nteres

e-unless perhaps he were a Jew like Disraeli-but they have sense enoug

ever air these views to my

employer and she knows my place. I

, then?-That we are letting our birthrig

creep in with lies and promises-you let them alter all the standards of public honour without a pro

forgot that he was wasting valuable time in the most agreeable task of exploiting the id

a tone of deep interest. "That

have caught fire-at least, those whom the smoke has not suffocated first. You ought to

ted-bu

ng my class, for instance! They have false perspectives about everything-not because they are bad; in the mass they are much better than you-but because they are so frightfully ignorant of the meani

ddress meetin

tell them would wound their vanity; it would only be in the sc

think

I could never teach them anything, and there are millions i

t sound hop

ion at all, or a better one-but the present system looks as if i

Tory, it

rding to his capacity; and I certainly don't think the scum of the earth of

d, no?

to strive for. You see, if they were stamped out, it would be like cutting down all the old trees in Kensington Gardens; they could not be produced again

right. I am more than wit

has-you only laugh when she is saying splendid things sometim

shame

y had been serious long enough, she thought. His caug

down from Parnassus to teach us poor devils of aristocrats to stic

y-And I did come from Bindon's Green-and I am going back there by the six o'clock train from Vic

nd stood qu

do at the party? I

there are a whole lot of new nigger song records for the gramophone, and my brother Bert will recite imitations of Harry Lauder, and my future sister-in-law, Miss Mabel Cawber, will sing 'The Chocolate Soldier' out of tune-We shall ma

ideal; but you return

a favourite at home. Now will y

y well that it would be much wiser now to resume attention to business. So he took up his memoranda and started once

wn in shorthand, and then I could finish all this to-morrow, some time. Her

she was so capable and practical, a person to be relied upon. He wo

ruck five all was done and ready for this admirable young woma

ly lad and turn him into the Prime Minister. You would make an idea

for your wishes-but I have other views. I shall n

o wh

est curtsey, and went with a bundle of receipts to the cupboard in

llow marble steps to his aunt's sittin