Page 660 - the-portrait-of-a-lady

yourselves thinking very differently,’ he continued.
‘That may easily happen, among the most united cou-
ples!’ She took up her parasol; he saw she was nervous, afraid
of what he might say. ‘It’s a matter we can hardly quarrel
about, however,’ she added; ‘for almost all the interest is on
his side. That’s very natural. Pansy’s after all his daughter-
not mine.’ And she put out her hand to wish him good-bye.
Ralph took an inward resolution that she shouldn’t leave
him without his letting her know that he knew everything:
it seemed too great an opportunity to lose. ‘Do you know
what his interest will make him say?’ he asked as he took her
hand. She shook her head, rather dryly-not discouragingly-
and he went on. ‘It will make him say that your want of zeal
is owing to jealousy.’ He stopped a moment; her face made
him afraid.
‘To jealousy?’
‘To jealousy of his daughter.’
She blushed red and threw back her head. ‘You’re not
kind,’ she said in a voice that he had never heard on her
lips.
‘Be frank with me and you’ll see,’ he answered.
But she made no reply; she only pulled her hand out of
his own, which he tried still to hold, and rapidly withdrew
from the room. She made up her mind to speak to Pansy,
and she took an occasion on the same day, going to the
girl’s room before dinner. Pansy was already dressed; she
was always in advance of the time: it seemed to illustrate
her pretty patience and the graceful stillness with which she
could sit and wait. At present she was seated, in her fresh ar-

660 The Portrait of a Lady