“HewasgoingtowriteaboutitforthatpaperinParis。”Thegirlhadtheeffectofgatheringhercourageupforaboldplunge。Shelookedsteadilyatherfather，andadded：“Hesaidhecamebackbecausehecouldn’thelpit。He——wishedtospeakwithme，HesaidheknewhehadnorighttosupposeIcaredanythingaboutwhathadhappenedwithhimandMr。Stoller。Hewantedtocomebackandtellme——that。”
Herfatherwaitedforhertogoon，butapparentlyshewasgoingtoleavethewordtohim，now。Hehesitatedtotakeit，butheaskedatlastwithamildnessthatseemedtosurpriseher，“Haveyouheardanythingfromhimsince？”
“No。”
“Whereishe？”
“Idon’tknow。ItoldhimIcouldnotsaywhathewished；thatImusttellyouaboutit。”
ThecasewaslesssimplethanitwouldoncehavebeenforGeneralTriscoe。Therewasstillhisaffectionforhisdaughter，hiswishforherhappiness，butthishadalwaysbeensubordinatetohissenseofhisowninterestandcomfort，andaquestionhadrecentlyarisenwhichputhispaternalloveanddutyinanewlight。Hewasnomoreexplicitwithhimselfthanothermenare，andthemostwhichcouldeverbesaidofhimwithoutinjusticewasthatinhisdependenceuponherhewouldratherhavekepthisdaughtertohimselfifshecouldnothavebeenveryprosperouslymarried。Ontheotherhand，ifhedislikedthemanforwhomshenowhardlyhidherliking，hewasnotjustthenreadytogotoextremesconcerninghim。
“Hewasveryanxious。”shewenton，“thatyoushouldknowjusthowitwas。Hethinkseverythingofyourjudgmentand——and——opinion。”Thegeneralmadeaconsentingnoiseinhisthroat。“Hesaidthathedidnotwishmeto’whitewash’himtoyou。Hedidn’tthinkhehaddoneright；hedidn’texcusehimself，oraskyoutoexcusehimunlessyoucouldfromthestand-pointofagentleman。”
Thegeneralmadealessconsentingnoiseinhisthroat，andasked，“Howdoyoulookatit，yourself，Agatha？”
“Idon’tbelieveIquiteunderstandit；butMrs。March——“
“Oh，Mrs。March！”thegeneralsnorted。
“——saysthatMr。MarchdoesnotthinksobadlyofitasMr。Burnamydoes。”
“Idoubtit。Atanyrate，IunderstoodMarchquitedifferently。”
“ShesaysthathethinkshebehavedverynoblyafterwardswhenMr。
Stollerwantedhimtohelphimputafalsecomplexiononit；thatitwasallthemoredifficultforhimtodorightthen，becauseofhisremorseforwhathehaddonebefore。”Asshespokeonshehadbecomemoreeager。
“There’ssomethinginthat。”thegeneraladmitted，withacandorthathemadethemostofbothtohimselfandtoher。“ButIshouldliketoknowwhatStollerhadtosayofitall。Isthereanything。”heinquired，“anyreasonwhyIneedbemoreexplicitaboutit，justnow？”
“N——no。Only，Ithought——Hethinkssomuchofyouropinionthat——if——“
“Oh，hecanverywellaffordtowait。Ifhevaluesmyopinionsohighlyhecangivemetimetomakeupmymind。”
“Ofcourse——“
“AndI’mnotresponsible。”thegeneralcontinued，significantly，“forthedelayaltogether。Ifyouhadtoldmethisbefore——Now，Idon’tknowwhetherStollerisstillintown。”
Hewasnotbehavingopenlywithher；butshehadnotbehavedopenlywithhim。Sheownedthattoherself，andshegotwhatcomfortshecouldfromhismakingtheaffairaquestionofwhatBurnamyhaddonetoStollerratherthanofwhatBurnamyhadsaidtoher，andwhatshehadansweredhim。Ifshewasnotperfectlyclearastowhatshewantedtodo，orwishedtohavehappen，therewasnowtimeandplaceinwhichshecoulddelayandmakesure。Theacceptedtheoryofsuchmattersisthatpeopleknowtheirmindsfromthebeginning，andthattheydonotchangethem。
Butexperienceseemstocontradictthistheory，orelsepeopleoftenactcontrarytotheirconvictionsandimpulses。Ifthestatisticswereaccessible，itmightbefoundthatmanypotentialengagementshoveredinadoubtfulair，andbeforetheytouchedtheearthinactualpromiseweredissipatedbytheplayofmeteorologicalchances。
WhenGeneralTriscoeputdownhisnapkininrisinghesaidthathewouldsteproundtoPupp’sandseeifStollerwerestillthere。ButonthewayhesteppeduptoMrs。Adding’shotelonthehill，andhecameback，afteranintervalwhichheseemednottohavefoundlong，toreportrathercasuallythatStollerhadleftCarlsbadthedaybefore。BythistimethefactseemednottoconcernAgathaherselfveryvitally。
HeaskediftheMarcheshadleftanyaddresswithher，andsheansweredthattheyhadnot。TheyweregoingtospendafewdaysinNuremberg，andthenpushontoHollandforMr。March’safter-cure。TherewasnorelevanceinhisquestionunlessitintimatedhisbeliefthatshewasinconfidentialcorrespondencewithMrs。March，andshemetthisbysayingthatshewasgoingtowriteherincareoftheirbankers；sheaskedwhetherhewishedtosendanyword。
“No。Iunderstand。”heintimated，“thatthereisnothingatallinthenatureofa——a——anunderstanding，then，with——“
“No，nothing。”
“Hm！”Thegeneralwaitedamoment。Thenheventured，“Doyoucaretosay——doyouwishmetoknow——howhetookit？”
Thetearscameintothegirl’seyes，butshegovernedherselftosay，“He——hewasdisappointed。”
“Hehadnorighttobedisappointed。”
Itwasaquestion，andsheanswered：“Hethoughthehad。Hesaid——thathewouldn’t——troublemeanymore。”
Thegeneraldidnotaskatonce，“Andyoudon’tknowwhereheisnow——youhaven’theardanythingfromhimsince？”
Agathaflashedthroughhertears，“Papa！”
“Oh！Ibegyourpardon。Ithinkyoutoldme。”
EndTheirSilverWeddingJourneyV3
byWilliamDeanHowellsPARTIII。
Atthefirststationwherethetrainstopped，ayoungGermanbowedhimselfintothecompartmentwiththeMarches，andsovisiblyresistedanimpulsetosmokethatMarchbeggedhimtolighthiscigarette。Inthetalkwhichthisfriendlyovertureledtobetweenthemheexplainedthathewasarailwayarchitect，employedbythegovernmentonthatlineofroad，andwastravellingofficially。MarchspokeofNuremberg；heownedthesortofsurfeithehadsufferedfromitsexcessivemediaevalism，andtheyoungmansaiditwaspartofthenewimperialpatriotismtocherishtheGothicthroughoutGermany；noothersortofarchitecturewaspermittedinNuremberg。ButtheywouldfindenoughclassicismatAnsbach，hepromisedthem，andheenteredwithsympatheticintelligenceintotheirwishtoseethisformercapitalwhenMarchtoldhimtheyweregoingtostopthere，inhopesofsomethingtypicaloftheolddisjointedGermanyofthepettyprincipalities，thelittlepaternaldespotismsnowextinct。
Astheytalkedon，partlyinGermanandpartlyinEnglish，theirpurposeinvisitingAnsbachappearedtotheMarchesmoremeditatedthanitwas。
Infactitwassomewhataccidental；AnsbachwasnearNuremberg；itwasnotmuchoutofthewaytoHolland。Theytookmoreandmorecredittothemselvesforareasonedanddefinitemotive，inthelightoftheircompanion’senthusiasmfortheplace，anditscharmbeganforthemwiththedrivefromthestationthroughstreetswhosesentimentwasbothItalianandFrench，andwheretherewasayellowishcastinthegrayofthearchitecturewhichwasalmostMantuan。Theyrestedtheirsensibilities，sobruisedandfrettedbyGothicanglesandpoints，againstthesmoothsurfacesoftheprevailingclassicisticfacadesofthehousesastheypassed，andwhentheyarrivedattheirhotel，anoldmansionofVersaillestype，frontingonalongirregularsquareplantedwithpollardsycamores，theysaidthatitmightaswellhavebeenLucca。
ThearchwayandstairwayofthehotelweredrapedwiththeBavariancolors，andtheywereobscurelyflatteredtolearnthatPrinceLeopold，thebrotherofthePrince-Regentofthekingdom，hadtakenroomsthere，onhiswaytothemanoeuvresatNuremberg，andwasmomentlyexpectedwithhissuite。Theyrealizedthattheywerenotoftheprincelyparty，however，whentheyweretoldthathehadsolepossessionofthedining-
room，andtheywentouttoanotherhotel，andhadtheirsupperinkeepingdelightfullynative。Peopleseemedtocometheretowritetheirlettersandmakeuptheiraccounts，aswellastoeattheirsuppers；theycalledforstationerylikecharactersinoldcomedy，andtheclatterofcrockeryandthescratchingofpenswentontogether；andfortuneofferedtheMarchesadelicatereparationfortheirexclusionfromtheirownhotelinthecoldpopularreceptionoftheprincewhichtheygotbackjustintimetowitness。Averysmallgroupofpeople，mostlywomenandboys，hadgatheredtoseehimarrive，buttherewasnocheeringoranysignofpublicinterest。Perhapshepersonallymeritednone；helookedadull，sadman，withhisplain，stubbedfeatures；andafterhehadmountedtohisapartment，theofficersofhisstaffstoodquiteacrossthelanding，andbarredthepassageoftheAmericans，ignoringevenMrs。March’spresence，astheytalkedtogether。
“Well，mydear。”saidherhusband，“hereyouhaveitatlast。Thisiswhatyou’vebeenlivingfor，eversincewecametoGermany。It’sagreatmoment。”
“Yes。Whatareyougoingtodo？”
“Who？I？Oh，nothing！Thisisyouraffair；it’sforyoutoact。”
Ifshehadbeenyoung，shemighthavewitheredthemwithaglance；shedoubtednowifherdimeyeswouldhaveanysuchpower；butsheadvancedsteadilyuponthem，andthentheofficersseemedawareofher，andstoodaside。