Tellmewhy？“
“She’sso——so——well，solikeatightplait，“Rachelfloundered。
“Ah——Iseewhatyoumean。ButIdon’tagree。Andyouwon’twhenyou’reolder。AtyourageIonlylikedShelley。Icanremembersobbingoverhiminthegarden。
Hehasoutsoaredtheshadowofournight，Envyandcalumnyandhateandpain——youremember？
CantouchhimnotandtorturenotagainFromthecontagionoftheworld’sslowstain。
Howdivine！——andyetwhatnonsense！“Shelookedlightlyroundtheroom。
“Ialwaysthinkit’s_living_，notdying，thatcounts。Ireallyrespectsomesnuffyoldstockbrokerwho’sgoneonaddingupcolumnaftercolumnallhisdays，andtrottingbacktohisvillaatBrixtonwithsomeoldpugdogheworships，andadrearylittlewifesittingattheendofthetable，andgoingofftoMargateforafortnight——
IassureyouIknowheapslikethat——well，theyseemtome_really_
noblerthanpoetswhomeveryoneworships，justbecausethey’regeniusesanddieyoung。ButIdon’texpect_you_toagreewithme！“
ShepressedRachel’sshoulder。
“Um-m-m——“shewentonquoting——
Unrestwhichmenmiscalldelight——
“whenyou’remyageyou’llseethattheworldis_crammed_withdelightfulthings。Ithinkyoungpeoplemakesuchamistakeaboutthat——
notlettingthemselvesbehappy。Isometimesthinkthathappinessistheonlythingthatcounts。Idon’tknowyouwellenoughtosay，butIshouldguessyoumightbealittleinclinedto——whenone’syoungandattractive——I’mgoingtosayit！——_every_thing’satone’sfeet。“
Sheglancedroundasmuchastosay，“notonlyafewstuffybooksandBach。“
“Ilongtoaskquestions，“shecontinued。“Youinterestmesomuch。
IfI’mimpertinent，youmustjustboxmyears。“
“AndI——Iwanttoaskquestions，“saidRachelwithsuchearnestnessthatMrs。Dallowayhadtocheckhersmile。
“D’youmindifwewalk？“shesaid。“Theair’ssodelicious。“
Shesnuffeditlikearacehorseastheyshutthedoorandstoodondeck。
“Isn’titgoodtobealive？“sheexclaimed，anddrewRachel’sarmwithinhers。
“Look，look！Howexquisite！“
TheshoresofPortugalwerebeginningtolosetheirsubstance；
butthelandwasstilltheland，thoughatagreatdistance。
Theycoulddistinguishthelittletownsthatweresprinkledinthefoldsofthehills，andthesmokerisingfaintly。Thetownsappearedtobeverysmallincomparisonwiththegreatpurplemountainsbehindthem。
“Honestly，though，“saidClarissa，havinglooked，“Idon’tlikeviews。
They’retooinhuman。“Theywalkedon。
“Howodditis！“shecontinuedimpulsively。“Thistimeyesterdaywe’dnevermet。Iwaspackinginastuffylittleroominthehotel。
Weknowabsolutelynothingabouteachother——andyet——IfeelasifI
_did_knowyou！“
“Youhavechildren——yourhusbandwasinParliament？“
“You’veneverbeentoschool，andyoulive——？“
“WithmyauntsatRichmond。“
“Richmond？“
“Yousee，myauntslikethePark。Theylikethequiet。“
“Andyoudon’t！Iunderstand！“Clarissalaughed。
“IlikewalkingintheParkalone；butnot——withthedogs，“
shefinished。
“No；andsomepeople_are_dogs；aren’tthey？“saidClarissa，asifshehadguessedasecret。“Butnoteveryone——ohno，noteveryone。“
“Noteveryone，“saidRachel，andstopped。
“Icanquiteimagineyouwalkingalone，“saidClarissa:“andthinking——
inalittleworldofyourown。Buthowyouwillenjoyit——
someday！“
“Ishallenjoywalkingwithaman——isthatwhatyoumean？“saidRachel，regardingMrs。Dallowaywithherlargeenquiringeyes。
“Iwasn’tthinkingofamanparticularly，“saidClarissa。
“Butyouwill。“
“No。Ishallnevermarry，“Racheldetermined。
“Ishouldn’tbesosureofthat，“saidClarissa。HersidelongglancetoldRachelthatshefoundherattractivealthoughshewasinexplicablyamused。
“Whydopeoplemarry？“Rachelasked。
“That’swhatyou’regoingtofindout，“Clarissalaughed。
Rachelfollowedhereyesandfoundthattheyrestedforasecond，ontherobustfigureofRichardDalloway，whowasengagedinstrikingamatchonthesoleofhisboot；whileWilloughbyexpoundedsomething，whichseemedtobeofgreatinteresttothemboth。
“There’snothinglikeit，“sheconcluded。“DotellmeabouttheAmbroses。OramIaskingtoomanyquestions？“
“Ifindyoueasytotalkto，“saidRachel。
TheshortsketchoftheAmbroseswas，however，somewhatperfunctory，andcontainedlittlebutthefactthatMr。Ambrosewasheruncle。
“Yourmother’sbrother？“
Whenanamehasdroppedoutofuse，thelightesttouchuponittells。
Mrs。Dallowaywenton:
“Areyoulikeyourmother？“
“No；shewasdifferent，“saidRachel。
ShewasovercomebyanintensedesiretotellMrs。Dallowaythingsshehadnevertoldanyone——thingsshehadnotrealisedherselfuntilthismoment。
“Iamlonely，“shebegan。“Iwant——“Shedidnotknowwhatshewanted，sothatshecouldnotfinishthesentence；butherlipquivered。
ButitseemedthatMrs。Dallowaywasabletounderstandwithoutwords。
“Iknow，“shesaid，actuallyputtingonearmroundRachel’sshoulder。
“WhenIwasyourageIwantedtoo。NooneunderstooduntilI
metRichard。HegavemeallIwanted。He’smanandwomanaswell。“
HereyesresteduponMr。Dalloway，leaningupontherail，stilltalking。“Don’tthinkIsaythatbecauseI’mhiswife——
IseehisfaultsmoreclearlythanIseeanyoneelse’s。Whatonewantsinthepersononeliveswithisthattheyshouldkeeponeatone’sbest。IoftenwonderwhatI’vedonetobesohappy！“
sheexclaimed，andatearsliddownhercheek。Shewipeditaway，squeezedRachel’shand，andexclaimed:
“Howgoodlifeis！“Atthatmoment，standingoutinthefreshbreeze，withthesunuponthewaves，andMrs。Dalloway’shanduponherarm，itseemedindeedasiflifewhichhadbeenunnamedbeforewasinfinitelywonderful，andtoogoodtobetrue。
HereHelenpassedthem，andseeingRachelarm-in-armwithacomparativestranger，lookingexcited，wasamused，butatthesametimeslightlyirritated。ButtheywereimmediatelyjoinedbyRichard，whohadenjoyedaveryinterestingtalkwithWilloughbyandwasinasociablemood。
“ObservemyPanama，“hesaid，touchingthebrimofhishat。
“Areyouaware，MissVinrace，howmuchcanbedonetoinducefineweatherbyappropriateheaddress？Ihavedeterminedthatitisahotsummerday；Iwarnyouthatnothingyoucansaywillshakeme。
ThereforeIamgoingtositdown。Iadviseyoutofollowmyexample。“
Threechairsinarowinvitedthemtobeseated。
Leaningback，Richardsurveyedthewaves。
“That’saveryprettyblue，“hesaid。“Butthere’salittletoomuchofit。Varietyisessentialtoaview。Thus，ifyouhavehillsyououghttohaveariver；ifariver，hills。ThebestviewintheworldinmyopinionisthatfromBoarsHillonafineday——
itmustbeafineday，markyou——Arug？——Oh，thankyou，mydear……inthatcaseyouhavealsotheadvantageofassociations——
thePast。“
“D’youwanttotalk，Dick，orshallIreadaloud？“
Clarissahadfetchedabookwiththerugs。
“_Persuasion_，“announcedRichard，examiningthevolume。
“That’sforMissVinrace，“saidClarissa。“Shecan’tbearourbelovedJane。“
“That——ifImaysayso——isbecauseyouhavenotreadher，“saidRichard。
“Sheisincomparablythegreatestfemalewriterwepossess。“
“Sheisthegreatest，“hecontinued，“andforthisreason:
shedoesnotattempttowritelikeaman。Everyotherwomandoes；
onthataccount，Idon’tread’em。“
“Produceyourinstances，MissVinrace，“hewenton，joininghisfinger-tips。“I’mreadytobeconverted。“
Hewaited，whileRachelvainlytriedtovindicatehersexfromtheslightheputuponit。
“I’mafraidhe’sright，“saidClarissa。“Hegenerallyis——
thewretch！“
“Ibrought_Persuasion_，“shewenton，“becauseIthoughtitwasalittlelessthreadbarethantheothers——though，Dick，it’snogood_your_pretendingtoknowJanebyheart，consideringthatshealwayssendsyoutosleep！“
“Afterthelaboursoflegislation，Ideservesleep，“saidRichard。
“You’renottothinkaboutthoseguns，“saidClarissa，seeingthathiseye，passingoverthewaves，stillsoughtthelandmeditatively，“oraboutnavies，orempires，oranything。“Sosayingsheopenedthebookandbegantoread:
“’SirWalterElliott，ofKellynchHall，inSomersetshire，wasamanwho，forhisownamusement，nevertookupanybookbutthe_Baronetage_’——
don’tyouknowSirWalter？——’Therehefoundoccupationforanidlehour，andconsolationinadistressedone。’Shedoeswritewell，doesn’tshe？’There——’“Shereadoninalighthumorousvoice。
ShewasdeterminedthatSirWaltershouldtakeherhusband’smindoffthegunsofBritain，anddiverthiminanexquisite，quaint，sprightly，andslightlyridiculousworld。Afteratimeitappearedthatthesunwassinkinginthatworld，andthepointsbecomingsofter。Rachellookeduptoseewhatcausedthechange。
Richard’seyelidswereclosingandopening；openingandclosing。
Aloudnasalbreathannouncedthathenolongerconsideredappearances，thathewassoundasleep。
“Triumph！“Clarissawhisperedattheendofasentence。Suddenlysheraisedherhandinprotest。Asailorhesitated；shegavethebooktoRachel，andsteppedlightlytotakethemessage——“Mr。Gricewishedtoknowifitwasconvenient，“etc。Shefollowedhim。
Ridley，whohadprowledunheeded，startedforward，stopped，and，withagestureofdisgust，strodeofftohisstudy。ThesleepingpoliticianwasleftinRachel’scharge。Shereadasentence，andtookalookathim。Insleephelookedlikeacoathangingattheendofabed；therewereallthewrinkles，andthesleevesandtrouserskepttheirshapethoughnolongerfilledoutbylegsandarms。Youcanthenbestjudgetheageandstateofthecoat。
Shelookedhimalloveruntilitseemedtoherthathemustprotest。
Hewasamanoffortyperhaps；andheretherewerelinesroundhiseyes，andtherecuriouscleftsinhischeeks。Slightlybatteredheappeared，butdoggedandintheprimeoflife。
“Sistersandadormouseandsomecanaries，“Rachelmurmured，nevertakinghereyesoffhim。“Iwonder，Iwonder“sheceased，herchinuponherhand，stilllookingathim。Abellchimedbehindthem，andRichardraisedhishead。Thenheopenedhiseyeswhichworeforasecondthequeerlookofashortsightedperson’swhosespectaclesarelost。Ittookhimamomenttorecoverfromtheimproprietyofhavingsnored，andpossiblygrunted，beforeayounglady。Towakeandfindoneselfleftalonewithonewasalsoslightlydisconcerting。
“IsupposeI’vebeendozing，“hesaid。“What’shappenedtoeveryone？Clarissa？“
“Mrs。DallowayhasgonetolookatMr。Grice’sfish，“Rachelreplied。
“Imighthaveguessed，“saidRichard。“It’sacommonoccurrence。
Andhowhaveyouimprovedtheshininghour？Haveyoubecomeaconvert？“
“Idon’tthinkI’vereadaline，“saidRachel。
“That’swhatIalwaysfind。Therearetoomanythingstolookat。
Ifindnatureverystimulatingmyself。Mybestideashavecometomeoutofdoors。“
“Whenyouwerewalking？“
“Walking——riding——yachting——IsupposethemostmomentousconversationsofmylifetookplacewhileperambulatingthegreatcourtatTrinity。
Iwasatbothuniversities。Itwasafadofmyfather’s。Hethoughtitbroadeningtothemind。IthinkIagreewithhim。Icanremember——
whatanageagoitseems！——settlingthebasisofafuturestatewiththepresentSecretaryforIndia。Wethoughtourselvesverywise。
I’mnotsureweweren’t。Wewerehappy，MissVinrace，andwewereyoung——
giftswhichmakeforwisdom。“