Page 210 - the-portrait-of-a-lady

‘You want to see, but not to feel,’ Ralph remarked.
‘I don’t think that if one’s a sentient being one can make
the distinction. I’m a good deal like Henrietta. The other
day when I asked her if she wished to marry she said: ‘Not
till I’ve seen Europe!’ I too don’t wish to marry till I’ve seen
Europe.’
‘You evidently expect a crowned head will be struck with
you.’
‘No, that would be worse than marrying Lord Warbur-
ton. But it’s getting very dark,’ Isabel continued, ‘and I must
go home.’ She rose from her place, but Ralph only sat still
and looked at her. As he remained there she stopped, and
they exchanged a gaze that was full on either side, but espe-
cially on Ralph’s, of utterances too vague for words.
‘You’ve answered my question,’ he said at last. ‘You’ve
told me what I wanted. I’m greatly obliged to you.’
‘It seems to me I’ve told you very little.’
‘You’ve told me the great thing: that the world interests
you and that you want to throw yourself into it.’
Her silvery eyes shone a moment in the dusk. ‘I never
said that.’
‘I think you meant it. Don’t repudiate it. It’s so fine!’
‘I don’t know what you’re trying to fasten upon me, for
I’m not in the least an adventurous spirit. Women are not
like men.’
Ralph slowly rose from his seat and they walked together
to the gate of the square. ‘No,’ he said; ‘women rarely boast
of their courage. Men do so with a certain frequency.’
‘Men have it to boast of!

210 The Portrait of a Lady