“Idon’tlosethings，“saidHewet。“Imislaythem。ThatwasthereasonwhyHirstrefusedtoshareacabinwithmeonthevoyageout。“
“Youcameouttogether？“Helenenquired。
“Iproposethateachmemberofthispartynowgivesashortbiographicalsketchofhimselforherself，“saidHirst，sittingupright。
“MissVinrace，youcomefirst；begin。“
Rachelstatedthatshewastwenty-fouryearsofage，thedaughterofaship-owner，thatshehadneverbeenproperlyeducated；
playedthepiano，hadnobrothersorsisters，andlivedatRichmondwithaunts，hermotherbeingdead。
“Next，“saidHirst，havingtakeninthesefacts；hepointedatHewet。
“IamthesonofanEnglishgentleman。Iamtwenty-seven，“
Hewetbegan。“Myfatherwasafox-huntingsquire。HediedwhenI
wasteninthehuntingfield。Icanrememberhisbodycominghome，onashutterIsuppose，justasIwasgoingdowntotea，andnoticingthattherewasjamfortea，andwonderingwhetherI
shouldbeallowed——“
“Yes；butkeeptothefacts，“Hirstputin。
“IwaseducatedatWinchesterandCambridge，whichIhadtoleaveafteratime。Ihavedoneagoodmanythingssince——“
“Profession？“
“None——atleast——“
“Tastes？“
“Literary。I’mwritinganovel。“
“Brothersandsisters？“
“Threesisters，nobrother，andamother。“
“Isthatallwe’retohearaboutyou？“saidHelen。Shestatedthatshewasveryold——fortylastOctober，andherfatherhadbeenasolicitorinthecitywhohadgonebankrupt，forwhichreasonshehadneverhadmucheducation——theylivedinoneplaceafteranother——
butanelderbrotherusedtolendherbooks。
“IfIweretotellyoueverything——“shestoppedandsmiled。
“Itwouldtaketoolong，“sheconcluded。“ImarriedwhenIwasthirty，andIhavetwochildren。Myhusbandisascholar。Andnow——
it’syourturn，“shenoddedatHirst。
“You’veleftoutagreatdeal，“hereprovedher。“MynameisSt。JohnAlaricHirst，“hebeganinajauntytoneofvoice。
“I’mtwenty-fouryearsold。I’mthesonoftheReverendSidneyHirst，vicarofGreatWappynginNorfolk。Oh，Igotscholarshipseverywhere——Westminster——King’s。I’mnowafellowofKing’s。Don’titsounddreary？Parentsbothalive(alas)。
Twobrothersandonesister。I’maverydistinguishedyoungman，“headded。
“Oneofthethree，orisitfive，mostdistinguishedmeninEngland，“
Hewetremarked。
“Quitecorrect，“saidHirst。
“That’sallveryinteresting，“saidHelenafterapause。
“Butofcoursewe’veleftouttheonlyquestionsthatmatter。
Forinstance，areweChristians？“
“Iamnot，““Iamnot，“boththeyoungmenreplied。
“Iam，“Rachelstated。
“YoubelieveinapersonalGod？“Hirstdemanded，turningroundandfixingherwithhiseyeglasses。
“Ibelieve——Ibelieve，“Rachelstammered，“Ibelievetherearethingswedon’tknowabout，andtheworldmightchangeinaminuteandanythingappear。“
AtthisHelenlaughedoutright。“Nonsense，“shesaid。“You’renotaChristian。You’veneverthoughtwhatyouare——Andtherearelotsofotherquestions，“shecontinued，“thoughperhapswecan’taskthemyet。“Althoughtheyhadtalkedsofreelytheywerealluncomfortablyconsciousthattheyreallyknewnothingabouteachother。
“Theimportantquestions，“Hewetpondered，“thereallyinterestingones。
Idoubtthatoneeverdoesaskthem。“
Rachel，whowasslowtoacceptthefactthatonlyaveryfewthingscanbesaidevenbypeoplewhoknoweachotherwell，insistedonknowingwhathemeant。
“Whetherwe’veeverbeeninlove？“sheenquired。“Isthatthekindofquestionyoumean？“
AgainHelenlaughedather，benignantlystrewingherwithhandfulsofthelongtasselledgrass，forshewassobraveandsofoolish。
“Oh，Rachel，“shecried。“It’slikehavingapuppyinthehousehavingyouwithone——apuppythatbringsone’sunderclothesdownintothehall。“
Butagainthesunnyearthinfrontofthemwascrossedbyfantasticwaveringfigures，theshadowsofmenandwomen。
“Theretheyare！“exclaimedMrs。Elliot。Therewasatouchofpeevishnessinhervoice。“Andwe’vehad_such_ahunttofindyou。
Doyouknowwhatthetimeis？“
Mrs。ElliotandMr。andMrs。Thornburynowconfrontedthem；Mrs。Elliotwasholdingoutherwatch，andplayfullytappingitupontheface。
Hewetwasrecalledtothefactthatthiswasapartyforwhichhewasresponsible，andheimmediatelyledthembacktothewatch-tower，wheretheyweretohaveteabeforestartinghomeagain。Abrightcrimsonscarfflutteredfromthetopofthewall，whichMr。PerrottandEvelynweretyingtoastoneastheotherscameup。Theheathadchangedjustsofarthatinsteadofsittingintheshadowtheysatinthesun，whichwasstillhotenoughtopainttheirfacesredandyellow，andtocolourgreatsectionsoftheearthbeneaththem。
“There’snothinghalfsoniceastea！“saidMrs。Thornbury，takinghercup。
“Nothing，“saidHelen。“Can’tyourememberasachildchoppinguphay——“shespokemuchmorequicklythanusual，andkepthereyefixeduponMrs。Thornbury，“andpretendingitwastea，andgettingscoldedbythenurses——whyIcan’timagine，exceptthatnursesaresuchbrutes，won’tallowpepperinsteadofsaltthoughthere’snoearthlyharminit。Weren’tyournursesjustthesame？“
DuringthisspeechSusancameintothegroup，andsatdownbyHelen’sside。AfewminuteslaterMr。Venningstrolledupfromtheoppositedirection。Hewasalittleflushed，andinthemoodtoanswerhilariouslywhateverwassaidtohim。
“Whathaveyoubeendoingtothatoldchap’sgrave？“heasked，pointingtotheredflagwhichfloatedfromthetopofthestones。
“Wehavetriedtomakehimforgethismisfortuneinhavingdiedthreehundredyearsago，“saidMr。Perrott。
“Itwouldbeawful——tobedead！“ejaculatedEvelynM。
“Tobedead？“saidHewet。“Idon’tthinkitwouldbeawful。
It’squiteeasytoimagine。Whenyougotobedto-nightfoldyourhandsso——breatheslowerandslower——“Helaybackwithhishandsclaspeduponhisbreast，andhiseyesshut，“Now，“hemurmuredinanevenmonotonousvoice，“Ishallnever，never，nevermoveagain。“
Hisbody，lyingflatamongthem，didforamomentsuggestdeath。
“Thisisahorribleexhibition，Mr。Hewet！“criedMrs。Thornbury。
“Morecakeforus！“saidArthur。
“Iassureyouthere’snothinghorribleaboutit，“saidHewet，sittingupandlayinghandsuponthecake。
“It’ssonatural，“herepeated。“Peoplewithchildrenshouldmakethemdothatexerciseeverynight……NotthatIlookforwardtobeingdead。“
“Andwhenyoualludetoagrave，“saidMr。Thornbury，whospokealmostforthefirsttime，“haveyouanyauthorityforcallingthatruinagrave？
IamquitewithyouinrefusingtoacceptthecommoninterpretationwhichdeclaresittobetheremainsofanElizabethanwatch-tower——
anymorethanIbelievethatthecircularmoundsorbarrowswhichwefindonthetopofourEnglishdownswerecamps。
Theantiquariescalleverythingacamp。Iamalwaysaskingthem，Wellthen，wheredoyouthinkourancestorskepttheircattle？
HalfthecampsinEnglandaremerelytheancientpoundorbartonaswecallitinmypartoftheworld。Theargumentthatnoonewouldkeephiscattleinsuchexposedandinaccessiblespotshasnoweightatall，ifyoureflectthatinthosedaysaman’scattlewerehiscapital，hisstock-in-trade，hisdaughter’sdowries。
Withoutcattlehewasaserf，anotherman’sman……“Hiseyesslowlylosttheirintensity，andhemutteredafewconcludingwordsunderhisbreath，lookingcuriouslyoldandforlorn。
HughlingElliot，whomighthavebeenexpectedtoengagetheoldgentlemaninargument，wasabsentatthemoment。Henowcameupholdingoutalargesquareofcottonuponwhichafinedesignwasprintedinpleasantbrightcoloursthatmadehishandlookpale。
“Abargain，“heannounced，layingitdownonthecloth。“I’vejustboughtitfromthebigmanwiththeear-rings。Fine，isn’tit？
Itwouldn’tsuiteveryone，ofcourse，butit’sjustthething——
isn’tit，Hilda？——forMrs。RaymondParry。“
“Mrs。RaymondParry！“criedHelenandMrs。Thornburyatthesamemoment。
Theylookedateachotherasthoughamisthithertoobscuringtheirfaceshadbeenblownaway。
“Ah——youhavebeentothosewonderfulpartiestoo？“Mrs。Elliotaskedwithinterest。
Mrs。Parry’sdrawing-room，thoughthousandsofmilesaway，behindavastcurveofwateronatinypieceofearth，camebeforetheireyes。Theywhohadhadnosolidityoranchoragebeforeseemedtobeattachedtoitsomehow，andatoncegrownmoresubstantial。
Perhapstheyhadbeeninthedrawing-roomatthesamemoment；
perhapstheyhadpassedeachotheronthestairs；atanyratetheyknewsomeofthesamepeople。Theylookedoneanotherupanddownwithnewinterest。Buttheycoulddonomorethanlookateachother，fortherewasnotimetoenjoythefruitsofthediscovery。
Thedonkeyswereadvancing，anditwasadvisabletobeginthedescentimmediately，forthenightfellsoquicklythatitwouldbedarkbeforetheywerehomeagain。
Accordingly，remountinginorder，theyfiledoffdownthehillside。
Scrapsoftalkcamefloatingbackfromonetoanother。Therewerejokestobeginwith，andlaughter；somewalkedpartoftheway，andpickedflowers，andsentstonesboundingbeforethem。
“WhowritesthebestLatinverseinyourcollege，Hirst？“Mr。Elliotcalledbackincongruously，andMr。Hirstreturnedthathehadnoidea。
Theduskfellassuddenlyasthenativeshadwarnedthem，thehollowsofthemountainoneithersidefillingupwithdarknessandthepathbecomingsodimthatitwassurprisingtohearthedonkeys’hoovesstillstrikingonhardrock。Silencefelluponone，andthenuponanother，untiltheywereallsilent，theirmindsspillingoutintothedeepblueair。Thewayseemedshorterinthedarkthanintheday；
andsoonthelightsofthetownwereseenontheflatfarbeneaththem。
Suddenlysomeonecried，“Ah！“
Inamomenttheslowyellowdroproseagainfromtheplainbelow；
itrose，paused，openedlikeaflower，andfellinashowerofdrops。
“Fireworks，“theycried。
Anotherwentupmorequickly；andthenanother；theycouldalmosthearittwistandroar。
“SomeSaint’sday，Isuppose，“saidavoice。Therushandembraceoftherocketsastheysoaredupintotheairseemedlikethefierywayinwhichloverssuddenlyroseandunited，leavingthecrowdgazingupatthemwithstrainedwhitefaces。ButSusanandArthur，ridingdownthehill，neversaidawordtoeachother，andkeptaccuratelyapart。
Thenthefireworksbecameerratic，andsoontheyceasedaltogether，andtherestofthejourneywasmadealmostindarkness，themountainbeingagreatshadowbehindthem，andbushesandtreeslittleshadowswhichthrewdarknessacrosstheroad。Amongtheplane-treestheyseparated，bundlingintocarriagesanddrivingoff，withoutsayinggood-night，orsayingitonlyinahalf-muffledway。
Itwassolatethattherewasnotimefornormalconversationbetweentheirarrivalatthehotelandtheirretirementtobed。
ButHirstwanderedintoHewet’sroomwithacollarinhishand。
“Well，Hewet，“heremarked，onthecrestofagiganticyawn，“thatwasagreatsuccess，Iconsider。“Heyawned。“Buttakecareyou’renotlandedwiththatyoungwoman……Idon’treallylikeyoungwomen……“
Hewetwastoomuchdruggedbyhoursintheopenairtomakeanyreply。
Infacteveryoneofthepartywassoundasleepwithintenminutesorsoofeachother，withtheexceptionofSusanWarrington。
Shelayforaconsiderabletimelookingblanklyatthewallopposite，herhandsclaspedaboveherheart，andherlightburningbyherside。
Allarticulatethoughthadlongagodesertedher；herheartseemedtohavegrowntothesizeofasun，andtoilluminateherentirebody，sheddinglikethesunasteadytideofwarmth。
“I’mhappy，I’mhappy，I’mhappy，“sherepeated。“Iloveeveryone。
I’mhappy。“
