"Why did I not know you had returned?" she said. "When did you arrive?"
"Last night," Bertha answered. "You see I come to you early."
It was a cold day and she was muffled2 in velvet3 and furs. She sat down, loosened her wrap and let it slip backward, and as its sumptuous4 fulness left her figure it revealed it slender to fragility, and showed that the outline of her cheek had lost all its roundness. She smiled faintly, meeting Agnes' anxious eyes.
"Don't look at me," she said. "I am not pretty. I have been ill. You heard I was not well in Newport? It was a sort of low fever, and I am not entirely5 well yet. Malaria6, you know, is always troublesome. But you are very well?"
"Yes, I am well," Agnes replied.
"And you begin to like Washington again?"
"I began last winter."
"How did you enjoy the spring? You were here until the end of June."
"It was lovely."
"And now you are here once more, and how pretty everything about you is!" Bertha said, glancing around the room. "And you are ready to be happy all winter[Pg 424] until June again. Do you know, you look happy. Not excitably happy, but gently, calmly happy, as if the present were enough for you."
"It is," said Agnes, "I don't think I want any future."
"It would be as well to abolish it if one could," Bertha answered; "but it comes—it comes!"
She sat and looked at the fire a few seconds under the soft shadow of her lashes7, and then spoke8 again.
"As for me," she said, "I am going to give dinner-parties to Senator Planefield's friends."
"Bertha!" exclaimed Agnes.
"Yes," said Bertha, nodding gently. "It appears somehow that Richard belongs to Senator Planefield, and, as I belong to Richard, why, you see"—
She ended with a dramatic little gesture, and looked at Agnes once more.
"It took me some time to understand it," she said. "I am not quite sure that I understand it quite thoroughly9 even now. It is a little puzzling, or, perhaps, I am dull of comprehension. At all events, Richard has talked to me a great deal. It is plainly my duty to be agreeable and hospitable10 to the people he wishes to please and bring in contact with each other."
"And those people?" asked Agnes.
"They are political men: they are members of committees, members of the House, members of the Senate; and their only claim to existence in our eyes is that they are either in favor of or opposed to a certain bill not indirectly11 connected with the welfare of the owners of Westoria lands."
"Bertha," said Agnes, quickly, "you are not yourself."
"Thank you," was the response, "that is always satisfactory, but the compliment would be more definite if you told me who I happened to be. But I can tell you that I am that glittering being, the female lobbyist. I used to wonder last winter if I was not on the verge12 of it; but now I know. I wonder if they all begin as innocently as I did, and find the descent—isn't it a[Pg 425] descent?—as easy and natural. I feel queer, but not exactly disreputable. It is merely a matter of being a dutiful wife and smiling upon one set of men instead of another. Still, I am slightly uncertain as to just how disreputable I am. I was beginning to be quite reconciled to my atmosphere until I saw Colonel Tredennis, and I confess he unsettled my mind and embarrassed me a little in my decision."
"You have seen him already?"
"Accidentally, yes. He did not know I had returned, and came to see Richard. He is quite intimate with Richard now. He entered the parlor and found me there. I do not think he was glad to see me. I left him very soon."
She drew off her glove, and smoothed it out upon her knee, with a thin and fragile little hand upon which the rings hung loosely. Agnes bent14 forward and involuntarily laid her own hand upon it.
"Dear," she said.
Bertha hurriedly lifted her eyes.
"What I wish to say," she said, "was that the week after next we give a little dinner to Senator Blundel, and I wanted to be sure I might count on you. If you are there—and Colonel Tredennis—you will give it an unprofessional aspect, which is what we want. But perhaps you will refuse to come?"
"Bertha," said Mrs. Sylvestre, "I will be with you at any time—at all times—you wish for or need me."
"Yes," said Bertha, reflecting upon her a moment, "I think you would."
She got up and kissed her lightly and without effusion, and then Agnes rose, too, and they stood together.
"You were always good," Bertha said. "I think life has made you better instead of worse. It is not so always. Things are so different—everything seems to depend upon circumstances. What is good in me would be far enough from your standards to be called wickedness."
She paused abruptly15, and Agnes felt that she did so[Pg 426] to place a check upon herself; she had seen her do it before. When she spoke again it was in an entirely different tone, and the remaining half-hour of her visit was spent in the discussion of every-day subjects. Agnes listened, and replied to her with a sense of actual anguish16. She could have borne better to have seen her less self-controlled; or she fancied so, at least. The summer had made an alteration17 in her, which it was almost impossible to describe. Every moment revealed some new, sad change in her, and yet she sat and talked commonplaces, and was bright, and witty18, and epigrammatic until the last.
"When we get our bill through," she said, with a little smile, just before her departure, "I am to go abroad for a year,—for two, for three, if I wish. I think that is the bribe19 which has been offered me. One must always be bribed20, you know."
As she stood at the window watching the carriage drive away, Agnes was conscious of a depression which was very hard to bear. The brightness of her own atmosphere seemed to have become heavy,—the sun hid itself behind the drifting, wintry clouds,—she glanced around her room with a sense of dreariness21. Something carried her back to the memories which were the one burden of her present life.
"Such grief cannot enter a room and not leave its shadow behind it," she said. And she put her hand against the window-side, and leaned her brow upon it sadly. It was curious, she thought, the moment after, that the mere13 sight of a familiar figure should bring such a sense of comfort with it as did the sight of the one she saw approaching. It was that of Laurence Arbuthnot, who came with a business communication for Mrs. Merriam, having been enabled, by chance, to leave his work for an hour. He held a roll of music in one hand and a bunch of violets in the other, and when he entered the room was accompanied by the fresh fragrance22 of the latter offering.
[Pg 427]
Agnes made a swift involuntary movement toward him.
"Ah!" she said, "I could scarcely believe that it was you."
He detected the emotion in her manner and tone at once.
"Something has disturbed you," he said. "What is it?"
"I have seen Bertha," she answered, and the words had a sound of appeal in them, which she herself no more realized or understood than she comprehended the impulse which impelled24 her to speak.
"She has been here! She looks so ill—so worn. Everything is so sad! I"—
She stopped and stood looking at him.
"Must I go away?" he said, quietly. "Perhaps you would prefer to be alone. I understand what you mean, I think."
"Oh, no!" she said, impulsively25, putting out her hand. "Don't go. I am unhappy. It was—it was a relief to see you."
And when she sank on the sofa, he took a seat near her and laid the violets on her lap, and there was a faint flush on his face.
The little dinner, which was the first occasion of Senator Blundel's introduction to the Amory establishment, was a decided26 success.
"We will make it a success," Bertha had said. "It must be one." And there was a ring in her voice which was a great relief to her husband.
"It will be one," he said. "There is no fear of your failing when you begin in this way." And his spirits rose to such an extent that he became genial27 and fascinating once more, and almost forgot his late trials and uncertainties28. He had always felt great confidence in Bertha.
On the afternoon of the eventful day Bertha did not[Pg 428] go out. She spent the hours between luncheon29 and the time for dressing30 with her children. Once, as he passed the open door of the nursery, Richard saw her sitting upon the carpet, building a house of cards, while Jack31, and Janey, and Meg sat about her enchanted32. A braid of her hair had become loosened and hung over her shoulder; her cheeks were flushed by the fire; she looked almost like a child herself, with her air of serious absorbed interest in the frail33 structure growing beneath her hands.
"Won't that tire you?" Richard asked.
She glanced up with a smile.
"No," she said, "it will rest me."
He heard her singing to them afterward34, and later, when she went to her dressing-room, he heard the pretty lullaby die away gradually as she moved through the corridor.
When she appeared again she was dressed for dinner, and came in buttoning her glove, and at the sight of her he uttered an exclamation35 of pleasure.
"What a perfect dress!" he said. "What is the idea? There must be one."
She paused and turned slowly round so that he might obtain the full effect.
"You should detect it," she replied. "It is meant to convey one."
"It has a kind of dove-like look," he said.
She faced him again.
"That is it," she said, serenely36. "In the true artist spirit, I have attired37 myself with a view to expressing the perfect candor38 and simplicity39 of my nature. Should you find it possible to fear or suspect me of ulterior motives40—if you were a senator, for instance?"
"Ah, come now!" said Richard, not quite so easily, "that is nonsense! You have no ulterior motives."
She opened her plumy, dove-colored fan and came nearer him.
"There is nothing meretricious41 about me," she said.
[Pg 429]
"I am softly clad in dove color; a few clusters of pansies adorn42 me; I am covered from throat to wrists; I have not a jewel about me. Could the effect be better?"
"No, it could not," he replied, but suddenly he felt a trifle uncomfortable again, and wondered what was hidden behind the inscrutable little gaze she afterwards fixed43 upon the fire.
But when Blundel appeared, which he did rather early, he felt relieved again. Nothing could have been prettier than her greeting of him, or more perfect in its attainment44 of the object of setting him at his ease. It must be confessed that he was not entirely at his ease when he entered, his experience not having been of a nature to develop in him any latent love for general society. He had fought too hard a fight to leave him much time to know women well, and his superficial knowledge of them made him a trifle awkward, as it occasionally renders other men astonishingly bold. In a party of men all his gifts displayed themselves; in the presence of women he was afraid that less substantial fellows had the advantage of him,—men who could not tell half so good a story or make half so exhilarating a joke. As to this special dinner he had not been particularly anxious to count himself among the guests, and was not very certain as to how Planefield had beguiled45 him into accepting the invitation.
But ten minutes after he had entered the room he began to feel mollified. Outside the night was wet and unpleasant, and not calculated to improve a man's temper; the parlors46 glowing with fire-light and twinkling wax candles were a vivid and agreeable contrast to the sloppy47 rawness. The slender, dove-colored figure, with its soft, trailing draperies, assumed more definitely pleasant proportions, and in his vague, inexperienced, middle-aged48 fashion he felt the effect of it. She had a nice way, this little woman, he decided; no nonsense or airs and graces about her: an easy manner, a gay little[Pg 430] laugh. He did not remember exactly afterward what it was she said which first wakened him up, but he found himself laughing and greatly amused, and when he made a witticism49 he felt he had reason to be proud of, the gay little peal23 of laughter which broke forth50 in response had the most amazingly exhilarating effect upon him, and set him upon his feet for the evening. Women seldom got all the flavor of his jokes. He had an idea that some of them were a little afraid of them and of him, too. The genuine mirth in Bertha's unstudied laughter was like wine to him, and was better than the guffaws51 of a dozen men, because it had a finer and a novel flavor. After the joke and the laugh the ice was melted, and he knew that he was in the humor to distinguish himself.
Planefield discovered this the moment he saw him, and glanced at Richard, who was brilliant with good spirits.
"She's begun well," he said, when he had an opportunity to speak to him. "I never saw him in a better humor. She's pleased him somehow. Women don't touch him usually."
"She will end better," said Richard. "He pleases her."
He did not displease52 her, at all events. She saw the force and humor of his stalwart jokes, and was impressed by the shrewd, business-like good-nature which betrayed nothing. When he began to enjoy himself she liked the genuineness of his enjoyment53 all the more because it was a personal matter with him, and he seemed to revel54 in it.
"He enjoys himself," was her mental comment, "really himself, not exactly the rest of us, except as we stimulate55 him, and make him say good things."
Among the chief of her gifts had always been counted the power of stimulating56 people, and making them say their best things, and she made the most of this power now. She listened with her brightest look, she uttered her little exclamations57 of pleasure and interest at [Pg 431]exactly the right moment, and the gay ring of her spontaneous sounding laugh was perfection. Miss Varien, who was one of her guests, sat and regarded her with untempered admiration58.
"Your wife," she said to Amory, in an undertone, "is simply incomparable. It is not necessary to tell you that, of course; but it strikes me with fresh force this evening. She really seems to enjoy things. That air of gay, candid59 delight is irresistible60. It makes her seem to that man like a charming little girl—a harmless, bright, sympathetic little girl. How he likes her!"
When she went in to dinner with him, and he sat by her side, he liked her still more. He had never been in better spirits in his life; he had never said so many things worth remembering; he had never heard such sparkling and vivacious61 talk as went on round this particular table. It never paused or lagged. There was Amory, all alight and stirred by every conversational62 ripple63 which passed him; there was Miss Varien, scintillating64 and casting off showers of sparks in the prettiest and most careless fashion; there was Laurence Arbuthnot, doing his share without any apparent effort, and appreciating his neighbors to the full; there was Mrs. Sylvestre, her beautiful eyes making speech almost superfluous65, and Mrs. Merriam, occasionally casting into the pool some neatly66 weighted pebble67, which sent its circles to the shore; and in the midst of the coruscations Blundel found himself, somehow, doing quite his portion of the illumination. Really these people and their dinner-party pleased him wonderfully well, and he was far from sorry that he had come, and far from sure that he should not come again if he were asked. He was shrewd enough, too, to see how much the success of everything depended upon his own little companion at the head of the table, and, respecting success beyond all things, after the manner of his kind, he liked her all the better for it. There was something[Pg 432] about her which, as Miss Varien had said, made him feel that she was like a bright, sympathetic little girl, and engendered68 a feeling of fatherly patronage69 which was entirely comfortable. But, though she rather led others to talk than talked herself, he noticed that she said a sharp thing now and then; and he liked that, too, and was greatly amused by it. He liked women to be sharp, if they were not keen enough to interfere70 with masculine prerogatives71. There was only one person in the company he did not find exhilarating, and that was a large, brown-faced fellow, who sat next to Mrs. Merriam, and said less than might have been expected of him, though, when he spoke, his remarks were well enough in their way. Blundel mentioned him afterward to Bertha when they returned to the parlor.
"That colonel, who is he?" he asked her. "I didn't catch his name exactly. Handsome fellow; but he'd be handsomer if"—
"It is the part of wisdom to stop you," said Bertha, "and tell you that he is a sort of cousin of mine, and his perfections are such as I regard with awe72. His name is Colonel Tredennis, and you have read of him in the newspapers."
"What!" he exclaimed, turning his sharp little eyes upon Tredennis,—"the Indian man? I'm glad you told me that. I want to talk to him." And, an opportunity being given him, he proceeded to do so with much animation73, ruffling74 his stiff hair up at intervals75 in his interest, his little eyes twinkling like those of some alert animal.
He left the house late and in the best of humors. He had forgotten for the time being all questions of bills and subsidies76. Nothing had occurred to remind him of such subjects. Their very existence seemed a trifle problematical, or, rather, perhaps it seemed desirable that it should be so.
"I feel," he said to Planefield, as he was shrugging himself into his overcoat, "as if I had rather missed it by not coming here before."
[Pg 433]
"You were asked," answered Planefield.
"So I was," he replied, attacking the top button of the overcoat. "Well, the next time I am asked I suppose I shall come."
Then he gave his attention to the rest of the buttons.
"A man in public life ought to see all sides of his public," he said, having disposed of the last one. "Said some good things, didn't they? The little woman isn't without a mind of her own, either. When is it she receives?"
"Thursdays," said Planefield.
"Ah, Thursdays."
And they went out in company.
Her guests having all departed, Bertha remained for a few minutes in the parlor. Arbuthnot and Tredennis went out last, and as the door closed upon them she looked at Richard.
"Well?" she said.
"Well!" exclaimed Richard. "It could not have been better!"
"Couldn't it?" she said, looking down a little meditatively77.
"No," he responded, with excellent good cheer, "and you see how simple it was, and—and how unnecessary it is to exaggerate it and call it by unpleasant names. What we want is merely to come in contact with these people, and show them how perfectly78 harmless we are, and that when the time comes they may favor us without injury to themselves or any one else. That's it in a nutshell."
"We always say 'us,' don't we?" said Bertha,—"as if we were part-proprietors of the Westoria lands ourselves. It is a little confusing, don't you think so?"
She paused and looked up with one of her sudden smiles.
"Still I don't feel exactly sure that I have been—but no, I am not to call it lobbying, am I? What must I call it? It really ought to have a name."
[Pg 434]
"Don't call it anything," said Richard, faintly conscious of his dubiousness79 again.
"Why, what a good idea!" she answered. "What a good way of getting round a difficulty—not to give it a name! It almost obliterates80 it, doesn't it? It is an actual inspiration. We won't call it anything. There is so much in a name—too much, on the whole, really. But—without giving it a name—I have behaved pretty well and advanced our—your—whose interests?"
"Everybody's," he replied, with an effort at lightness. "Mine particularly. I own that my view of the matter is a purely81 selfish one. There is a career before me, you know, if all goes well."
He detected at once the expression of gentleness which softened82 her eyes as she watched him.
"You always wanted a career, didn't you?" she said.
"It isn't pleasant," he said, "for a man to know that he is not a success."
"If I can give you your career," she said, "you shall have it, Richard. It is a simpler thing than I thought, after all." And she went upstairs to her room, stopping on the way to spend a few minutes in the nursery.
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1
parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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sumptuous
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| adj.豪华的，奢侈的，华丽的 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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malaria
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| n.疟疾 | |
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lashes
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| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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hospitable
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| adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的 | |
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indirectly
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| adv.间接地，不直接了当地 | |
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verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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alteration
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| n.变更，改变；蚀变 | |
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witty
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| adj.机智的，风趣的 | |
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bribe
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| n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通 | |
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bribed
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| v.贿赂( bribe的过去式和过去分词 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂 | |
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dreariness
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| 沉寂，可怕，凄凉 | |
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fragrance
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| n.芬芳，香味，香气 | |
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peal
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| n.钟声；v.鸣响 | |
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impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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impulsively
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| adv.冲动地 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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genial
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| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
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uncertainties
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| 无把握( uncertainty的名词复数 )； 不确定； 变化不定； 无把握、不确定的事物 | |
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luncheon
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| n.午宴，午餐，便宴 | |
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dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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frail
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| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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serenely
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| adv.安详地，宁静地，平静地 | |
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attired
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| adj.穿着整齐的v.使穿上衣服，使穿上盛装( attire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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candor
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| n.坦白，率真 | |
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simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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meretricious
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| adj.华而不实的，俗艳的 | |
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adorn
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| vt.使美化，装饰 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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attainment
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| n.达到，到达；［常pl.］成就，造诣 | |
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45
beguiled
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| v.欺骗( beguile的过去式和过去分词 )；使陶醉；使高兴；消磨（时间等） | |
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parlors
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| 客厅( parlor的名词复数 )； 起居室； （旅馆中的）休息室； （通常用来构成合成词）店 | |
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sloppy
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| adj.邋遢的，不整洁的 | |
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middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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witticism
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| n.谐语，妙语 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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guffaws
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| n.大笑，狂笑( guffaw的名词复数 )v.大笑，狂笑( guffaw的第三人称单数 ) | |
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displease
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| vt.使不高兴，惹怒；n.不悦，不满，生气 | |
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enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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revel
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| vi.狂欢作乐，陶醉；n.作乐，狂欢 | |
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stimulate
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| vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋 | |
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stimulating
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| adj.有启发性的，能激发人思考的 | |
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exclamations
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| n.呼喊( exclamation的名词复数 )；感叹；感叹语；感叹词 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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candid
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| adj.公正的，正直的；坦率的 | |
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irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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vivacious
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| adj.活泼的，快活的 | |
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conversational
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| adj.对话的，会话的 | |
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ripple
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| n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进 | |
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scintillating
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| adj．才气横溢的,闪闪发光的; 闪烁的 | |
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superfluous
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| adj.过多的，过剩的，多余的 | |
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neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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pebble
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| n.卵石，小圆石 | |
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engendered
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| v.产生（某形势或状况），造成，引起( engender的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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patronage
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| n.赞助，支援，援助；光顾，捧场 | |
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interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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prerogatives
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| n.权利( prerogative的名词复数 )；特权；大主教法庭；总督委任组成的法庭 | |
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awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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animation
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| n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作 | |
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ruffling
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| 弄皱( ruffle的现在分词 )； 弄乱； 激怒； 扰乱 | |
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intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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subsidies
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| n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 ) | |
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meditatively
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| adv.冥想地 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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dubiousness
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| n.dubious（令人怀疑的）的变形 | |
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obliterates
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| v.除去( obliterate的第三人称单数 )；涂去；擦掉；彻底破坏或毁灭 | |
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purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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