at so, in blighted moments of presumptuous youth,
by big cold public men, but never, so far as he
could recall, by any private lady. More than any
thing yet it gave him the measure of his compan
ion's subtlety, and thereby of Kate's possible career.
"Don't be too impossible! " he feared from his
friend, for a moment, some such answer as that;
and then felt, as she spoke otherwise, as if she were
letting him off easily. " I want her to marry a great
man." That was all; but, more and more, it was
enough; and if it hadn't been her next words would
have made it so. " And I think of her what I think.
There you are."

They sat for a little face to face upon it, and he
was conscious of something deeper still, of some
thing she wished him to understand if he only
would. To that extent she did appeal appealed
to the intelligence she desired to show she believed
him to possess. He was meanwhile, at all events,
not the man wholly to fail of comprehension. " Of
course I'm aware how little I can answer to any
fond, proud dream. You ve a view a magnificent
one; into which I perfectly enter. I thoroughly un
derstand what I'm not, and I'm much obliged to
you for not reminding me of it in any rougher
way." She said nothing she kept that up; it
might even have been to let him go further, if he
was capable of it, in the way of poorness of spirit.
It was one of those cases in which a man couldn't
show, if he showed at all, save for poor; unless

[[93]]

p092 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p093w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p094

v?