The Convert

his entrance into Mrs. Freddy's drawing-room with

afterwards to say good-bye to some people who are leaving for abroad. So

oo?' he interrupted. 'What a te

t her Sunday, Sophia, like an angel, has gone to the club. And I'm

say I'm a tr

ed fewer difficulties than t

give her a few minute

fference to Mrs Freddy's precise programme lent his eyes a misleading look of a

claim to good looks which nobody had dreamed of denying seemed to rest mainly upon the lower part of his face. The lips, over-full, perhaps, were firmly moulded, but the best lines were those curves from the ear to the quite beautiful chin. The gloss on the straight light-brown hair may have stood to the barber's credit, but only health could keep so much grace still in the carriage of a figure heavier than should be in a man of forty-one who, without a struggle, had declined from polo unto golf. There

en were in the garden expecting you, you w

And in that lifting of his cloud, t

that was not to be repressed called for some explanation. 'Mrs. Freddy says that she and Mr. Fredd

ple ready enough, as a rule, to clutch at excuse for a tête-à-tête. Although she had flushed with mingled embarrassment and e

ke? Oh

t th

to look him full in the face as she said, '

' he s

eoffrey Stonor when he smiled. They felt relieved from som

. 'Oh, yes, very alarming indee

ou make t

afraid of having said something that sounded like impious fault-finding, 'Anybody'

he objected mendacious

'Though I had made up my mind that I wouldn't be af

hat's

h which he brought them out, so much that the girl turned

eading any more

N

Why

ad. 'It doesn't

spoilt it

ut with something shy, half-frightened in he

the children. They aren't in the garden ye

ad for their little di

much credit as though he had don

low the Ulland links, and the crossing of a swo

mione had gone on and forgotten the puppy hadn't

go across,' he said, as if

e mischievous. 'I nev

he de

his too solid flesh-or might it even be upon the weight of years? But the uncritical admiration in her face m

on her. 'Are you

would be rather too

as if through them he too had caught a glimpse of Paradise. 'I remember thinking

Ulland. But I'

r looks b

m this delightful London to Scotland. I s

do yo

don. And his dreary old house on a hor

all. I see.' He seemed to

e it at all. It's like those people you care to be with for a little while,

en with slow reflectiveness, lik

o to Scotlan

u! Wha

Inverne

s where we

I drop down upo

etrayal. 'There are walks about my grandfather's more beautiful than anything

lks than

own trout stream that goes racing down our hill. There's a moor o

haps stop sho

er and a real friend. McTaggart "has the Gaelic." But

d I prefer

ed the character of that country. Its very inhabitants were now perceived to be enlivenin

Taggart is a travelle

er. 'I'm not sure travel or experienc

know how dreadfully you might miss the terribl

erribly clever people

n (who seemed by implication to have steered clear of Mrs.

ling me for no

sure yo

possible shadow o

even go so far as to call on the McTaggarts if you'll u

s here for six whole months. And she got something out of

ertainly neve

e passed an examination before she left. The subject was: "Incidents in the Life of

uits of Metropolitan Ausbildung. But I think

moors in this glorified light all of a sudden, she went on, 'I'll show you a special place where white heather grows, and the rabbits tumble about as tame as kittens. It's miles away from the sea, but the gull

ce.' His face was wond

Earthly-William Morr

'd given up re

t poetry, yes, better than anybody but the

orse than Mr

had a notion of what poetry really was till down at

o steps at a time. He caught up with his wife just outside the drawing-room door, as she paused to take off her veil in front of that mirror which Mrs. Freddy said should be placed between the front door and the drawing-room in every house in the land for the reassurance of the timid feminine creature. She was known to add privately that it

alf an hour,' said Mr. Freddy, bre

darli

o confound her. 'You te

r she pushed open the door, and went briskly through the double drawing-room to where Mr

rs. Freddy's shower

ss Dunbarton that in another age she would have been a sort of Dinah Morris

ve told him about m

nd shook hands with his two kinsmen. He sa

nality, to note how his action seemed not only to dim her vividness but actually to efface the girl. In the fi

poke of his Scottish plans and fell to considering dates. Then all of a sudden she saw that again and yet more woundingly his attention had wandered. The moment came wh

shall I ring and say

r caught her brother-in-law's. 'Freddy'-she arrested her husband

.' And it was at that point that Je

was conscious of something in

im, I suppose, even if you haven't met her. Jea

why I took this.' He set down

else,' said the girl, i

obody h

scussed who had already been sent away, a

iss Levering of theirs is to the fore. You

as wondering if the children wer

ed up wit

d her little circle. 'They must have thought I

Miss Levering,'

ians of yours before I go,' sa

ot, Miss Heriot, Captain Beeching,' Mr. Freddy, the usually gracious host, was leading the way through the back drawing-room,

prise at the tacit assumption on the part of his relations that Geoffrey Stonor could never be expected to sit there as common mortals might, making hi

een thin air! It was the kind of insolence that used to be more common, because safer, than it is likely to be in future-a form of condoned brutality that used to inspire more awe than disgust. People were guilty even of a slavish admi

ain of your fellow-creatures was very much the traditional one towards royalty. You were not to speak unless you were spoken to. And yet this man who with impunity snubbe

fusion, the girl had run forward to greet her aunt, and to do her little

ough a nervous stream of talk trickled on, Mrs. Freddy's face did not lose its flustered look nor did the company regain its ease, un

time to help me out of my hansom,

'insisted on being further

' whispered Jean, partl

said Lord Borrod

w imagined he

itter gloom. 'You would never know in the l

?' he said, indulgent to a mood which hardly

it!' said Mrs. Heri

gave acquaintance to be in doubt whe

't for me,

ee, you're

incor

man?' Jean asked, as thos

overlooked, even if he had not those twinkling jewel-like eyes, and two strands of coal-black hair

her niece to Lord Borrodaile. 'What foundation is there,' she demanded, 'f

ps them till the ladi

Mrs. Heriot, reaching out for the b

oints-a good judge of wine, and knows more ab

re him.' Mrs. Heriot jerked her head away and faced the group round the tea-t

nduce me to go and listen to su

new arrivals, and drawing after her a portion of the company, including Lady Whyteleafe and Richard Farnborough, who one after another had

he replied, 'About Miss

of thing alto

id the lady herself,

which he had just deposited himself at

ou.' Farnborough seemed unable to bear the mom

ed back again-'your froc

an exploded notion that the Suffr

aid Mr. G

pretty,' Farnborough said. 'I didn'

sophisticated; you mis

athers on the

n, at a pinch, see past unbecoming clothes, can't we, Lady Whyteleafe?

out their looks. Now, if we got our maids to do those women's hair for them-if we lent them our French hats-ah, then'-Lady Whyteleafe nodde

mpulse, she bent forward to say, with her lips near Lady Whyteleafe's pearl drop: 'What

dge

n tongue. A world where beauty exists for beauty's sake-which is love's sake-and not for tricking

deputation of women who h

He fiddled with

d, 'I remember I thought at the time, in my modest way, it was nothing

off!' He wagged

I thought they insisted on b

going to be bother

ou refused to go

ldn't have done it for worlds! But a fri

ughed,'did he

id. "Don't you think of bothering," he said. "I've looked over

conversation. 'Have they told you about Mrs. Freddy's friend who came to tea here in the winter?' she asked Hermione. 'H

men smiled, and all the women,

d, with marked severity, 'that he was too

sat on the poor gentlem

ne with him. Aunt Ellen was here. She told him with her

urmured Miss Leveri

in Beeching. 'Awful idea

ting,' agreed

d Jean, 'and he thought h

f which it

words quite pleasantly, but s

looked

wing you had made yourself immen

ope you don't think I

o Lord Borrodaile's contented pronouncement: 'I'm afraid the new-fangled seed fal

'Mrs. Tunbridge! God bless

he honour of the house-'she doesn't, as a rule, obtrude her opinions. There are people

nbridge! Lord, the perils that beset the feet o

flitted over to remonstrate. '

es; I'm

d bewildered at t

your character,' said Lord Borrod

r giving her a chance to clear herself-'what

frie

disorder

rs. Freddy, with dignity, 'but I

them for worrying the Liberals'-he threw a laugh

ed to a different class?' s

rd Borrodaile. 'They've become nothing less than a public nuisanc

dy, with a harassed air-'I

ey did!' Grea

what they do,' said Mrs.

le of agitated steps. 'Yes, and if ever I muster up courage to come back, it wil

Freddy, meekly. 'Don't think

faint accent of impatience, 'you are a

t beat

emen,' Grea

'you might have seen in any paper that we lost no time in dissociating ourselves from the two or thre

Greatorex made his good-byes. Mr

visit. Beeching carried off the reluctant Farnborough. Mrs. Freddy kept up her spirits until after the exodus; then, with a sigh, she

lly exciting. I wish I'

as t

s bad as the

oked through the grille of the Woman's Gallery-cries-insults-scuffling-the police-the ignominious turning out of the women-us as well as the-- Oh, I can't think of it without--' She jumped up and walked to and fro. 'Then the next morning!' She paused. 'The people gloating. Our friends antagonized-people who were wavering-nearly won over-all thrown back! Heart-breaking! Even my husband! Freddy's been an angel about letting

y, 'that it should be women who've given t

y years destroyed

said the girl, 'when they waked up

thinking of the penalty all women have

d. 'It must be dreadful to find you've done such a lot

ttes sitting in sack-cloth?'

help realizing now

in every paper, and discussed under every roof, from Land's End to John-o'-Groats? Don't you think they kno

was a good way to get what the

a bad way to get it known they do want somet

y who had so wounded her sensibilities a little wh

horrid scene everything was favou

'we never had so many fri

d the other woman,

u say it l

favour of the Women's Bill, and as he came back half an hour later he heard some members talking in the lobby about the astonishing number who were going to vo

in-law appeared in the doorway. But she turned her back on him and affected absorption in the tableau

o,' said the hostess, 'but I thin

eflected his course in order to take up from the tabl

the new photographs of the children. He's thinking of some reproductions Herbert Tunbri

le Saras and Cecils. When he came back to his corner of the sofa he made no motion to undo his packet, but 'Now then!' he said, as he of

me small social judgment. This time when he uttered his 'Now then,' with that anticipatory air, she an

atronage and affection. 'And did you find ther

mething differently looked at. Why do we pretend that all con

l! I begin to

e that I had a thing that was r

thinking it,' he

heard that. And it was one of

the mental suppleness that is capable of the ironic

felt rather superior. I'm conscious now that it's been a piece of h

rswear pride? For you ca

eel I want to smile at. And yet to you it'

long, whimsical face on one side as he settle

hy I was lat

ty of doubting th

t wasn't even m

me hang very heav

already the outer aspect of the thing is changing. At the first meetings very few women of any class. Now there are dozens-scores. Soon there'll be hundreds. Th

ppose

t passionate feeling, all that fixed determination to bri

k civilized society

won

won

isn't only these women in Hyde Park. They have a Feministe Movement in Fra

and uprisings. I

ting a greater share

cy Persians clamouring for a represent

nefits." And now everywhere, as if by s

the world, a sort of wave of revolt against the constituted author

at he persisted, 'I'd be sorry if we came to it-but if this

s control. Suppose it ends in

the Moral Aristocracy-the smallest and most rigid in the world. This thing that you're just opening your eyes to, is

he first of the great nations

mile airily relegated the Woman's Moveme

the second time she said, 'I wonder. For mysel

ime. Not eve

hy

l never let it c

ou say that. You justify th

he appealed to his friend's better taste. A confession of sheer physical loathing crept into his face as he let fall two or thre

think--' she prayed, and stumbling against the new hardness in his face, broke off, withdrew her eyes and changed the form of what she had meant to say. 'I

ly defend th

of cowardice. 'The old rule used to be patience-with no matter what wrong. The new feeling is: shame on any one who weakly suffers wrong! Isn't it too cheap an idea of morals that women should take credit

person of some intelligence. You will open your eyes before you go too far. You belong to the people who are responsible for handing on

pleasantest things may b

uld die off the f

are too

ho come after, instead of having to go back to barbarism, may start from where the best of their day left off. We do for manners and the arts in general what the Moors did for learning when the wild hordes came down. There were capital chaps among the barbarians,' he smile

aned forward. 'I begin to see! They are more keen about it than the mass of men

, I don't mind. No, not a little bit. And I really b

l'-she rose and began to draw on her glove-'just as well that each of us should know where to find the ot

mea

nd University degrees

hastily. 'Back. Yes,

've brought something to show you. This foolish discussion put it out of my head.' But the revealing word he had flung out-it seemed to have struck wide some window that had been shuttered close before. The woman stood there i

f Knossos came upon the first authentic picture of a man belonging to that mysterious and forgotten race that had raised up a civilization in some things rivalling the Greek-a race that had watched Minoan power wane and die, and all but the dimmest legend of it vanish, before the builders of Argos and Mycen? began laying their foundation stones. Borrodaile, with an accent that for him was almost emotion, emphasized the strangeness to the scholar of having to abandon the old idea of the Greek being the sole flower of Mediterranean civilization. For here was this wonderful island folk-a people standing between and bri

rrying in that vase?' Vida as

ee of civilization. But think, you know, a man like that walking the earth so long before the

M. Raoul to ondulé and dress it.' 'Amazing!-was there ever anything so modern dug out of the earth before?' 'No, nothing l

at strange company. 'It is nothing less than uncanny

t do

Why couldn't people like these go further still? Why di

ings go i

y? Why should we be so content to go the old way to destruction? If I were "the Englis

ps we

ld. It was a game they had played at before, with Etruscan vases and ivories from Ephesus-the man bringing to it his learn

ight-hearted part-'It all ca

so sh

behind to "hold fast to the clue,

English down. Then somewhere else on o

oked up suddenly into his face. 'You are wise. Tell me what you think the story of the world means, with its successive cl

rhythm that all things move

she wiped the old experiments out? What if the meaning of history is

those eyes of his. 'I

window, 'till you've seen the children's pictures.' Vida's eye had once more fallen on

daile asked, lookin

her thought. 'Even Lady Whyteleafe,' she said, 'would b

got the really beautiful pictures, showing them to Geoffrey.

off

the very nicest side of Geoffrey, do they?' she appealed

ren,' said Vida, buttoning

him with Sara and Cecil.

t's to

er friend to the window. '

there taking in the picture of Sara and Cecil climbing about

hil-- They're too absorbed to notice,' she said apologetically, turning

ked up a piece of folded paper off the sofa. 'Did I drop that?' He opened it. 'Votes for--' He read the two words o

ously removes some unsavoury litter out of the way of those who w

His look adjured

I wa

r?' he p

an address th