Page 174 - the-portrait-of-a-lady

the stem of his rose; as an intercessor he must find her want-
ing in tact.’
Two days after he had sent his invitation he received a
very short note from Caspar Goodwood, thanking him for
it, regretting that other engagements made a visit to Gar-
dencourt impossible and presenting many compliments to
Miss Stackpole. Ralph handed the note to Henrietta, who,
when she had read it, exclaimed: ‘Well, I never have heard
of anything so stiff!’
‘I’m afraid he doesn’t care so much about my cousin as
you suppose,’ Ralph observed.
‘No, it’s not that; it’s some subtler motive. His nature’s
very deep. But I’m determined to fathom it, and I shall write
to him to know what he means.’
His refusal of Ralph’s overtures was vaguely disconcert-
ing; from the moment he declined to come to Gardencourt
our friend began to think him of importance. He asked
himself what it signified to him whether Isabel’s admir-
ers should be desperadoes or laggards; they were not rivals
of his and were perfectly welcome to act out their genius.
Nevertheless he felt much curiosity as to the result of Miss
Stackpole’s promised enquiry into the causes of Mr. Good-
wood’s stiffness—a curiosity for the present ungratified,
inasmuch as when he asked her three days later if she had
written to London she was obliged to confess she had writ-
ten in vain. Mr. Goodwood had not replied.
‘I suppose he’s thinking it over,’ she said; ‘he thinks
everything over; he’s not really at all impetuous. But I’m ac-
customed to having my letters answered the same day.’ She

174 The Portrait of a Lady