Page 304 - the-portrait-of-a-lady

ed this young lady on her augmentations and begged to be
excused from doing so.
‘If Mr. Touchett had consulted me about leaving you the
money,’ she frankly asserted, ‘I’d have said to him ‘Never!’
‘I see,’ Isabel had answered, ‘You think it will prove a
curse in disguise. Perhaps it will.’
‘Leave it to some one you care less for—that’s what I
should have said.’
‘To yourself for instance?’ Isabel suggested jocosely. And
then, ‘Do you really believe it will ruin me?’ she asked in
quite another tone.
‘I hope it won’t ruin you; but it will certainly confirm
your dangerous tendencies.’
‘Do you mean the love of luxury—of extravagance?’
‘No, no,’ said Henrietta; ‘I mean your exposure on the
moral side. I approve of luxury; I think we ought to be as
elegant as possible. Look at the luxury of our western cities;
I’ve seen nothing over here to compare with it. I hope you’ll
never become grossly sensual; but I’m not afraid of that. The
peril for you is that you live too much in the world of your
own dreams. You’re not enough in contact with reality-
with the toiling, striving, suffering, I may even say sinning,
world that surrounds you. You’re too fastidious; you’ve too
many graceful illusions. Your newly-acquired thousands
will shut you up more and more to the society of a few self-
ish and heartless people who will be interested in keeping
them up.’
Isabel’s eyes expanded as she gazed at this lurid scene.
‘What are my illusions?’ she asked. ‘I try so hard not to have

304 The Portrait of a Lady