“No,heonlylivestodogood。”Mrs。Addingreturned。“He’swithRose;
won’tyoucomeinandseethem?”
Rosewaslyingbackonthepillowsofasofa,fromwhichtheywouldnotlethimgetup。HewasfullofthetriptoHolland,andhadalreadypushedKenby,asKenbyowned,beyondtheboundsofhisverygeneralknowledgeoftheDutchlanguage,whichRosehadplansfortakingupaftertheyweresettledinSchevleningen。Theboyscoffedatthenotionthathewasnotperfectlywell,andhewishedtotalkwithMarchonthepointswherehehadfoundKenbywanting。
“Kenbyisanencyclopaediacomparedwithme,Rose。”theeditorprotested,andheamplifiedhisignorancefortheboy’sgoodtoanextentwhichRosesawwasajoke。HeleftHollandtotalkaboutotherthingswhichhismotherthoughtquiteasbadforhim。HewishedtoknowifMarchdidnotthinkthatthestatueofthebishopwiththesparrowonitsfingerwasasubjectforapoem;andMarchsaidgaylythatifRosewouldwriteithewouldprintitin’EveryOtherWeek’。
Theboyflushedwithpleasureathisbanter。“No,Icouldn’tdoit。
ButIwishMr。Burnamyhadseenit。Hecould。Willyoutellhimaboutit?”HewantedtoknowifMarchhadheardfromBurnamylately,andinthemidstofhisvividinteresthegaveawearysigh。
Hismothersaidthatnowhehadtalkedenough,andbadehimsaygood-bytotheMarches,whowerecomingsosoontoHolland,anyway。Mrs。Marchputherarmsroundhimtokisshim,andwhenshelethimsinkbackhereyesweredim。
“Youseehowfrailheis?”saidMrs。Adding。“Ishallnotlethimoutofmysight,afterthis,tillhe’swellagain。”
ShehadakindofauthorityinsendingKenbyawaywiththemwhichwasnotlostuponthewitnesses。Heaskedthemtocomeintothereading-roomamomentwithhim,andMrs。Marchwonderedifheweregoingtomakesomeexcusetoherforhimself;buthesaid:“Idon’tknowhowwe’retomanageabouttheTriscoes。Thegeneralwillhavearoomtohimself,butifMrs。
AddingtakesRoseinwithher,itleavesMissTriscoeout,andthereisn’taroomtobehadinthishouseforloveormoney。Doyouthink。”
heappealeddirectlytoMrs。March,“thatitwoulddotoofferhermyroomattheSwan?”
“Why,yes。”sheassented,withareluctanceratherforthecomplicityinwhichhehadalreadyinvolvedher,andforwhichhewasstillunpunished,thanforwhathewasnowproposing。“Orshecouldcomeinwithme,andMr。Marchcouldtakeit。”
“Whicheveryouthink。”saidKenbysosubmissivelythatsherelented,toask:
“Andwhatwillyoudo?”
Helaughed。“Well,peoplehavebeenknowntosleepinachair。Ishallmanagesomehow。”
“Youmightoffertogoinwiththegeneral。”Marchsuggested,andthemenapparentlythoughtthiswasajoke。Mrs。Marchdidnotlaughinherfeminineworryaboutwaysandmeans。
“WhereisMissTriscoe?”sheasked。“Wehaven’tseenthem。”
“Didn’tMrs。Addingtellyou?Theywenttosupperatarestaurant;thegeneraldoesn’tlikethecookinghere。Theyoughttohavebeenbackbeforethis。”
Helookedupattheclockonthewall,andshesaid,“Isupposeyouwouldlikeustowait。”
“Itwouldbeverykindofyou。”
“Oh,it’squiteessential。”shereturnedwithanairyfreshnesswhichKenbydidnotseemtofeelaspainfullyasheought。
Theyallsatdown,andtheTriscoescameinafterafewminutes,andacloudonthegeneral’sfaceliftedatthepropositionKenbyleftMrs。
Marchtomake。
“Ithoughtthatchildoughttobeinhismother’scharge。”hesaid。Withhisowncomfortprovidedfor,hemadenoobjectionstoMrs。March’splan;
andAgathawenttotakeleaveofRoseandhismother。“By-the-way。”thegeneralturnedtoMarch,“IfoundStollerattherestaurantwherewesupped。Heofferedmeaplaceinhiscarriageforthemanoeuvres。Howareyougoing?”
“IthinkIshallgobytrain。Idon’tfancythelongdrive。”
“Well,Idon’tknowthatit’sworsethanthelongwalkafteryouleavethetrain。”saidthegeneralfromtheoffencewhichanydifferenceoftastewasapttogivehim。“Areyougoingbytrain,too?”heaskedKenbywithindifference。
“I’mnotgoingatall。”saidKenby。“I’mleavingWurzburginthemorning。”
“Oh,indeed。”saidthegeneral。
Mrs。MarchcouldnotmakeoutwhetherheknewthatKenbywasgoingwithRoseandMrs。Adding,butshefeltthattheremustbeafullandopenrecognitionofthefactamongthem。“Yes。”shesaid,“isn’titfortunatethatMr。KenbyshouldbegoingtoHolland,too!IshouldhavebeensounhappyaboutthemifMrs。AddinghadbeenobligedtomakethatlongjourneywithpoorlittleRosealone。”
“Yes,yes;veryfortunate,certainly。”saidthegeneralcolorlessly。
Herhusbandgaveheraglanceofintelligentappreciation;butKenbywastoosimply,toodenselycontentwiththesituationtoknowthevalueofwhatshehaddone。Shethoughthemustcertainlyexplain,ashewalkedbackwithhertotheSwan,whetherhehadmisrepresentedhertoMrs。
Adding,orMrs。Addinghadmisunderstoodhim。Somewheretherehadbeenanerror,oraduplicitywhichitwasnowuselesstopunish;andKenbywassoapparentlyunconsciousofitthatshehadnotthehearttobecrosswithhim。SheheardMissTriscoebehindherwithMarchlaughinginthegayetywhichtheescapefromherfatherseemedtoinspireinher。
ShewaspromisingMarchtogowithhiminthemorningtoseetheEmperorandEmpressofGermanyarriveatthestation,andhewaswarningherthatifshelaughedthere,likethat,shewouldsubjecthimtofineandimprisonment。Shepretendedthatshewouldliketoseehimledoffbetweentwogendarmes,butconsentedtobealittlecarefulwhenheaskedherhowsheexpectedtogetbacktoherhotelwithouthim,ifsuchathinghappened。
Afterall,MissTriscoedidnotgowithMarch;shepreferredtosleep。
Theimperialpartywastoarriveathalfpastseven,butatsixthecrowdwasalreadydensebeforethestation,andallalongthestreetleadingtotheResidenz。Itwasabrilliantday,withthepromiseofsunshine,throughwhichachillywindblew,forthemanoeuvres。ThecolorsofalltheGermanstatesflappedinthisbreezefromthepoleswreathedwithevergreenwhichencircledthesquare;theworkmenputtingthelasttouchesonthebronzedallegoryhurriedmadlytobedone,andtheyhad,scarcelyfinishedtheirlaborswhentwotroopsofdragoonsrodeintotheplaceandformedbeforethestation,andwaitedasmotionlesslyastheirhorseswouldallow。
Theseanimalswerenotsoconsciousaslionsattheapproachofprinces;
theytossedandstampedimpatientlyinthelongintervalbeforetheRegentandhisdaughter-in-lawcametowelcometheirguests。Allthehumanbeings,boththosewhowereinchargeandthosewhowereundercharge,wereinaquiverofanxietytoplaytheirpartswell,asifthereweresomeheavypenaltyforfailureintheleastpoint。Thepolicemenkeepingthepeople,inlinebehindtheropeswhichrestrainedthemtrembledwitheagerness;thefacesofsomeofthetrooperstwitched。
AninvoluntarysighwentupfromthecrowdastheRegent’scarriageappeared,heraldedbyoutriders,andfollowedbyotherplaincarriagesofBavarianbluewithliveriesofblueandsilver。ThenthewhistleoftheKaiser’strainsounded;atrumpeteradvancedandbegantoblowhistrumpetastheydointhetheatre;andexactlyattheappointedmomenttheEmperorandEmpresscameoutofthestationthroughthebrillianthumanalleyleadingfromit,mountedtheircarriages,withthestagetrumpeteralwaysblowing,andwhirledswiftlyroundhalfthesquareandflashedintothecornertowardtheResidenzoutofsight。ThesamehollowgroansofHo-o-o-chgreetedandfollowedthemfromthespectatorsashadwelcomedtheRegentwhenhefirstarrivedamonghisfellow-
townsmen,withthesameeffectofbeingtheconventionalcriesofastagemobbehindthescenes。
TheEmperorwaslikemostofhisinnumerablepictures,withaswarthyfacefromwhichhisblueeyesglancedpleasantly;helookedgood-humoredifnotgood-natured;theEmpresssmiledamiablybeneathherdeeplyfringedwhiteparasol,andtheybothbowedrightandleftinacknowledgmentofthosehollowgroans;butagainitseemed,toMarchthatsovereignty,gavethepopularcuriosity,nottocallitdevotion,ascantierreturnthanitmerited。HehadperhapsbeeninsensiblyworkingtowardsomesuchperceptionasnowcametohimthatthegreatdifferencebetweenEuropeandAmericawasthatinEuropelifeishistrionicanddramatized,andthatinAmerica,exceptwhenitistryingtobeEuropean,itisdirectandsincere。Hewonderedwhethertheinnateconvictionofequality,thedeep,underlyingsenseofacommonhumanitytranscendingallsocialandcivicpretences,waswhatgavetheirtheatricaleffecttotheshowsofdeferencefromlowtohigh,andofcondescensionfromhightolow。Ifinsuchencountersofsovereignsandsubjects,theprincedidnotplayhispartsowellasthepeople,itmightbethathehadaharderparttoplay,andthattosupporthisdignityatall,tokeepfrombeingfoundouttheshamthatheessentiallywas,hehadtohurryacrossthestageamidstthedistractingthundersoftheorchestra。Ifthestarstaidtobescrutinizedbythesoldiers,citizens,andsoforth,eventhepoorsupernumerariesandscene-shiftersmightseethathewasatallowcandlelikethemselves。
Inthecensoriousmoodinducedbythereflectionthathehadwaitedanhourandahalfforhalfaminute’sglimpseoftheimperialparty,Marchnowdecidednottogotothemanoeuvres,wherehemightbesubjectedtostillgreaterhumiliationanddisappointment。HehadcertainlycometoWurzburgforthemanoeuvres,butWurzburghadbeenrichlyrepayinginitself;andwhyshouldhestiflehalfanhourinanovercrowdedtrain,andstruggleforthreemilesonfootagainstthatharshwind,toseeamultitudeofmengiveproofsoftheirfitnesstodomanifoldmurder?