“I’vetakenituponmyself，Mr。Ambrose，“shesaid，“topromisethatyouwillbesokindastogiveMrs。Flushingthebenefitofyourexperience。I’msurenoonehereknowsthecountryaswellasyoudo。Noonetakessuchwonderfullongwalks。Noone，I’msure，hasyourencyclopaedicknowledgeuponeverysubject。
Mr。WilfridFlushingisacollector。Hehasdiscoveredreallybeautifulthingsalready。Ihadnonotionthatthepeasantsweresoartistic——
thoughofcourseinthepast——“
“Notoldthings——newthings，“interruptedMrs。Flushingcurtly。
“Thatis，ifhetakesmyadvice。“
TheAmbroseshadnotlivedformanyyearsinLondonwithoutknowingsomethingofagoodmanypeople，bynameatleast，andHelenrememberedhearingoftheFlushings。Mr。Flushingwasamanwhokeptanoldfurnitureshop；hehadalwayssaidhewouldnotmarrybecausemostwomenhaveredcheeks，andwouldnottakeahousebecausemosthouseshavenarrowstaircases，andwouldnoteatmeatbecausemostanimalsbleedwhentheyarekilled；andthenhehadmarriedaneccentricaristocraticlady，whocertainlywasnotpale，wholookedasifsheatemeat，whohadforcedhimtodoallthethingshemostdisliked——
andthisthenwasthelady。Helenlookedatherwithinterest。
Theyhadmovedoutintothegarden，wheretheteawaslaidunderatree，andMrs。Flushingwashelpingherselftocherryjam。
Shehadapeculiarjerkingmovementofthebodywhenshespoke，whichcausedthecanary-colouredplumeonherhattojerktoo。
Hersmallbutfinely-cutandvigorousfeatures，togetherwiththedeepredoflipsandcheeks，pointedtomanygenerationsofwell-trainedandwell-nourishedancestorsbehindher。
“Nothin’that’smorethantwentyyearsoldinterestsme，“
shecontinued。“Mouldyoldpictures，dirtyoldbooks，theystick’eminmuseumswhenthey’reonlyfitforburnin’。“
“Iquiteagree，“Helenlaughed。“Butmyhusbandspendshislifeindiggingupmanuscriptswhichnobodywants。“ShewasamusedbyRidley’sexpressionofstartleddisapproval。
“There’saclevermaninLondoncalledJohnwhopaintseversomuchbetterthantheoldmasters，“Mrs。Flushingcontinued。
“Hispicturesexciteme——nothin’that’soldexcitesme。“
“Butevenhispictureswillbecomeold，“Mrs。Thornburyintervened。
“ThenI’llhave’emburnt，orI’llputitinmywill，“saidMrs。Flushing。
“AndMrs。FlushinglivedinoneofthemostbeautifuloldhousesinEngland——Chillingley，“Mrs。Thornburyexplainedtotherestofthem。
“IfI’dmywayI’dburnthatto-morrow，“Mrs。Flushinglaughed。
Shehadalaughlikethecryofajay，atoncestartlingandjoyless。
“Whatdoesanysanepersonwantwiththosegreatbighouses？“
shedemanded。“Ifyougodownstairsafterdarkyou’recoveredwithblackbeetles，andtheelectriclightsalwaysgoin’out。
Whatwouldyoudoifspiderscameoutofthetapwhenyouturnedonthehotwater？“shedemanded，fixinghereyeonHelen。
Mrs。Ambroseshruggedhershoulderswithasmile。
“ThisiswhatIlike，“saidMrs。Flushing。ShejerkedherheadattheVilla。“Alittlehouseinagarden。IhadoneonceinIreland。
Onecouldlieinbedinthemornin’andpickrosesoutsidethewindowwithone’stoes。“
“Andthegardeners，weren’ttheysurprised？“Mrs。Thornburyenquired。
“Therewerenogardeners，“Mrs。Flushingchuckled。“Nobodybutmeandanoldwomanwithoutanyteeth。YouknowthepoorinIrelandlosetheirteethafterthey’retwenty。Butyouwouldn’texpectapoliticiantounderstandthat——ArthurBalfourwouldn’tunderstandthat。“
Ridleysighedthatheneverexpectedanyonetounderstandanything，leastofallpoliticians。
“However，“heconcluded，“there’soneadvantageIfindinextremeoldage——nothingmattersahangexceptone’sfoodandone’sdigestion。
AllIaskistobeleftalonetomoulderawayinsolitude。It’sobviousthattheworld’sgoingasfastasitcanto——theNethermostPit，andallIcandoistositstillandconsumeasmuchofmyownsmokeaspossible。“Hegroaned，andwithamelancholyglancelaidthejamonhisbread，forhefelttheatmosphereofthisabruptladydistinctlyunsympathetic。
“Ialwayscontradictmyhusbandwhenhesaysthat，“saidMrs。Thornburysweetly。“Youmen！Wherewouldyoubeifitweren’tforthewomen！“
“Readthe_Symposium_，“saidRidleygrimly。
“_Symposium_？“criedMrs。Flushing。“That’sLatinorGreek？
Tellme，isthereagoodtranslation？“
“No，“saidRidley。“YouwillhavetolearnGreek。“
Mrs。Flushingcried，“Ah，ah，ah！I’dratherbreakstonesintheroad。
Ialwaysenvythemenwhobreakstonesandsitonthosenicelittleheapsalldaywearin’spectacles。I’dinfinitelyratherbreakstonesthancleanoutpoultryruns，orfeedthecows，or——“
HereRachelcameupfromthelowergardenwithabookinherhand。
“What’sthatbook？“saidRidley，whenshehadshakenhands。
“It’sGibbon，“saidRachelasshesatdown。
“_The__Decline__and__Fall__of__the__Roman__Empire_？“
saidMrs。Thornbury。“Averywonderfulbook，Iknow。Mydearfatherwasalwaysquotingitatus，withtheresultthatweresolvednevertoreadaline。“
“Gibbonthehistorian？“enquiredMrs。Flushing。“Iconnecthimwithsomeofthehappiesthoursofmylife。WeusedtolieinbedandreadGibbon——aboutthemassacresoftheChristians，Iremember——
whenweweresupposedtobeasleep。It’snojoke，Icantellyou，readin’agreatbigbook，indoublecolumns，byanight-light，andthelightthatcomesthroughachinkinthedoor。Thentherewerethemoths——tigermoths，yellowmoths，andhorridcockchafers。
Louisa，mysister，wouldhavethewindowopen。Iwanteditshut。
Wefoughteverynightofourlivesoverthatwindow。Haveyoueverseenamothdyin’inanight-light？“sheenquired。
Againtherewasaninterruption。HewetandHirstappearedatthedrawing-roomwindowandcameuptothetea-table。
Rachel’sheartbeathard。Shewasconsciousofanextraordinaryintensityineverything，asthoughtheirpresencestrippedsomecoveroffthesurfaceofthings；butthegreetingswereremarkablycommonplace。
“Excuseme，“saidHirst，risingfromhischairdirectlyhehadsatdown。Hewentintothedrawing-room，andreturnedwithacushionwhichheplacedcarefullyuponhisseat。
“Rheumatism，“heremarked，ashesatdownforthesecondtime。
“Theresultofthedance？“Helenenquired。
“WheneverIgetatallrundownItendtoberheumatic，“Hirststated。
Hebenthiswristbacksharply。“Ihearlittlepiecesofchalkgrindingtogether！“
Rachellookedathim。Shewasamused，andyetshewasrespectful；
ifsuchathingcouldbe，theupperpartofherfaceseemedtolaugh，andthelowerparttocheckitslaughter。
Hewetpickedupthebookthatlayontheground。
“Youlikethis？“heaskedinanundertone。
“No，Idon’tlikeit，“shereplied。Shehadindeedbeentryingalltheafternoontoreadit，andforsomereasontheglorywhichshehadperceivedatfirsthadfaded，and，readasshewould，shecouldnotgraspthemeaningwithhermind。
“Itgoesround，round，round，likearollofoil-cloth，“shehazarded。
EvidentlyshemeantHewetalonetohearherwords，butHirstdemanded，“Whatd’youmean？“
Shewasinstantlyashamedofherfigureofspeech，forshecouldnotexplainitinwordsofsobercriticism。
“Surelyit’sthemostperfectstyle，sofarasstylegoes，that’severbeeninvented，“hecontinued。“Everysentenceispracticallyperfect，andthewit——“
“Uglyinbody，repulsiveinmind，“shethought，insteadofthinkingaboutGibbon’sstyle。“Yes，butstrong，searching，unyieldinginmind。“
Shelookedathisbighead，adisproportionatepartofwhichwasoccupiedbytheforehead，andatthedirect，severeeyes。
“Igiveyouupindespair，“hesaid。Hemeantitlightly，butshetookitseriously，andbelievedthathervalueasahumanbeingwaslessenedbecauseshedidnothappentoadmirethestyleofGibbon。
TheothersweretalkingnowinagroupaboutthenativevillageswhichMrs。Flushingoughttovisit。
“Idespairtoo，“shesaidimpetuously。“Howareyougoingtojudgepeoplemerelybytheirminds？“
“YouagreewithmyspinsterAunt，Iexpect，“saidSt。Johninhisjauntymanner，whichwasalwaysirritatingbecauseitmadethepersonhetalkedtoappearundulyclumsyandinearnest。“’Begood，sweetmaid’——IthoughtMr。KingsleyandmyAuntwerenowobsolete。“
“Onecanbeverynicewithouthavingreadabook，“sheasserted。
Verysillyandsimpleherwordssounded，andlaidheropentoderision。
“DidIeverdenyit？“Hirstenquired，raisinghiseyebrows。
MostunexpectedlyMrs。Thornburyhereintervened，eitherbecauseitwashermissiontokeepthingssmoothorbecauseshehadlongwishedtospeaktoMr。Hirst，feelingasshedidthatyoungmenwerehersons。
“IhavelivedallmylifewithpeoplelikeyourAunt，Mr。Hirst，“
shesaid，leaningforwardinherchair。Herbrownsquirrel-likeeyesbecameevenbrighterthanusual。“TheyhaveneverheardofGibbon。Theyonlycarefortheirpheasantsandtheirpeasants。
Theyaregreatbigmenwholooksofineonhorseback，aspeoplemusthavedone，Ithink，inthedaysofthegreatwars。Saywhatyoulikeagainstthem——theyareanimal，theyareunintellectual；
theydon’treadthemselves，andtheydon’twantotherstoread，buttheyaresomeofthefinestandthekindesthumanbeingsonthefaceoftheearth！YouwouldbesurprisedatsomeofthestoriesIcouldtell。Youhaveneverguessed，perhaps，atalltheromancesthatgoonintheheartofthecountry。Therearethepeople，Ifeel，amongwhomShakespearewillbebornifheiseverbornagain。
Inthoseoldhouses，upamongtheDowns——“
“MyAunt，“Hirstinterrupted，“spendsherlifeinEastLambethamongthedegradedpoor。IonlyquotedmyAuntbecausesheisinclinedtopersecutepeopleshecalls’intellectual，’whichiswhatIsuspectMissVinraceofdoing。It’sallthefashionnow。
Ifyou’recleverit’salwaystakenforgrantedthatyou’recompletelywithoutsympathy，understanding，affection——allthethingsthatreallymatter。Oh，youChristians！You’rethemostconceited，patronising，hypocriticalsetofoldhumbugsinthekingdom！Ofcourse，“
hecontinued，“I’mthefirsttoallowyourcountrygentlemengreatmerits。
Foronething，they’reprobablyquitefrankabouttheirpassions，whichwearenot。Myfather，whoisaclergymaninNorfolk，saysthatthereishardlyasquireinthecountrywhodoesnot——“
“ButaboutGibbon？“Hewetinterrupted。Thelookofnervoustensionwhichhadcomeovereveryfacewasrelaxedbytheinterruption。
“Youfindhimmonotonous，Isuppose。Butyouknow——“Heopenedthebook，andbegansearchingforpassagestoreadaloud，andinalittletimehefoundagoodonewhichheconsideredsuitable。
ButtherewasnothingintheworldthatboredRidleymorethanbeingreadaloudto，andhewasbesidesscrupulouslyfastidiousastothedressandbehaviourofladies。InthespaceoffifteenminuteshehaddecidedagainstMrs。Flushingonthegroundthatherorangeplumedidnotsuithercomplexion，thatshespoketooloud，thatshecrossedherlegs，andfinally，whenhesawheracceptacigarettethatHewetofferedher，hejumpedup，exclaimingsomethingabout“barparlours，“andleftthem。Mrs。Flushingwasevidentlyrelievedbyhisdeparture。Shepuffedhercigarette，stuckherlegsout，andexaminedHelencloselyastothecharacterandreputationoftheircommonfriendMrs。RaymondParry。ByaseriesoflittlestrategemsshedrovehertodefineMrs。Parryassomewhatelderly，bynomeansbeautiful，verymuchmadeup——aninsolentoldharridan，inshort，whosepartieswereamusingbecauseonemetoddpeople；
butHelenherselfalwayspitiedpoorMr。Parry，whowasunderstoodtobeshutupdownstairswithcasesfullofgems，whilehiswifeenjoyedherselfinthedrawing-room。“NotthatIbelievewhatpeoplesayagainsther——althoughshehints，ofcourse——“