第57章
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  “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?

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