第2章

"Buthehasn\'t。Richardhasn\'ttoldmeanything。"

"Ethel！Thenwhatisthematter？"

"Itoldhimsomething。ItoldhimthatifitwasgoingtobeanystoryaboutaboutsomethingIshouldn\'tlike，Ishouldsimplyfollowitwithastoryabouthimthathewouldn\'tlike。"

"Ethel！Youdarling！"

"Oh，yes，andIsaidIwassureyouwouldalllisten，eventhoughIwasnotanauthormyself。AndIhaveitready，youknow，andit\'sawfullylikeRichard，onlyadifferentsideofhimfromtheburglarone。"

"But，mydear，whatdidhedowhenyou"

Thisenquirywas，however，cutshortbytheentranceofthemen。AndfromtheglancethatcamefromRichard\'seyesastheyimmediatelysoughtouthiswife，Mrs。DavenportknewthathecouldnothavedoneanythingveryseveretoEthelwhenshemadethatthreattohimduringtheirdrive。

Richardatoncemadehiswaytotheeasy-chairarrangedeachnightinagoodpositionforthenarratoroftheevening，andbaptised"TheSingstool"byMr。Graves。Mr。GraveswasanardentWagnerian，andespeciallydevotedtoTheMastersingersofNuremberg。

"Shallwehave，"hewhisperedtoMr。Hillard，"aBeckmesserfiascoto-night，orwillitbeaWaltersuccess？"

ButMr。Hillard，besidesbeinganauthorandacritic，caredlittleforthetooliteraryclevernessofMr。Graves。Hethereforeheavilycrushedthatgentleman\'sallusiontoWagner\'sopera。"Iremember，"hesaid，"thesingingcontestbetweenBeckmesserandWalter，andIdoubtifwearetobeafflictedwithanythingsodullinthishouse。"

Richardhadsettledhimselfintheeasy-chair，andwaslookingthoughtfullyatvariousobjectsintheroom，whilethesmall-talkwassubsidingaroundhim。

"Why，Mr。Field，"saidMrs。Davenport，"youlookasifyoucouldfindnothingtosuggestyourstorytoyou。"

"Onthecontrary，"saidRichard，"itisthenumberofthingsthatsuggestit。Thisnewspaperhere，thathasarrivedsinceIwaslastintheroom，hasacolumnwhichremindsmeveryforciblyoftheexperiencethatIhaveselectedtotellyou。ButIthinkthemostappropriateofallisthatpicture。"Hepointedtothelargestpictureonthewall。"\'BreakingHomeTies\'isitstitle，Irememberverywell。ItisareplicaoftheoriginalthatdrewsuchcrowdsintheArtBuildingattheWorld\'sFair。"

WhileRichardwassayingthis，hiswifehadpossessedherselfofthenewspaper，andhenowobservedhoweagerlyshewasscanningitspages。

"Itisthefinancialcolumn，Ethel，thatrecallsmystory。"

Ethel，afterahopelessglanceatthis，resumedherseatnearthesofabyMrs。Davenport。

"Thereweremanypaintings，"continuedRichard，"inthatArtBuilding，ofmeritincomparablygreaterthan\'BreakingHomeTies\'；andyetthecrowdneverlookedatthose，becauseitdidnotunderstandthem。Butatanyhouroftheday，ifyouhappenedtopassthispicture，ittookyousometimetodoso。YoucouldpassanyofJohnSargeant\'spictures，forinstance，ataspeedlimitedonlybyyourownpowersofrunning；butyoucouldneverrunpast\'BreakingHomeTies。\'Youhadtoworkyourwaythroughthecrowdinfrontofthatjustasyouhavetodoatafire，oranewsofficeduringafootballgame。TheAmericanpeoplecouldnevergetenoughofthatmotherkissingherboygoodbye，whilethewagonwaitsattheopendoortotakehimawayfromheruponhisfirstjourneyintotheworld。Theideaheldadailypathosforthem。Manyhadthemselvesbeenthroughsuchleavetakings；andnowordsostirsthegeneralheartastheword\'mother\'。Songwritersknowthis；andtheartistknewitwhenhedecidedtopaint\'BreakingHomeTies。\'And\'Mother\'isthetitleofmystoryto-night。"

"Mother！"ThiswasEthel\'sbewilderedecho，"WhoseMother？"shesoftlymurmuredtoherself。

Richardcontinued。"ItconcernsthecircumstancesunderwhichIbecameengagedtomywife。"

TherewasamovementfromEthelasshesatbythesofa。

"Notallthecircumstances，ofcourse，"thenarratorcontinued，withacertainguardedcandourinhistone。"Therearecertaincircumstanceswhichnaturallyattendeveryengagementbetweenhappyandanddevoted

youngpeoplethattheykeeptothemselvesquitecarefully，inspiteofthefactthatanyonewhohasbeenthroughtheexperienceofbeingengagedtwoorthreetimes"

TherewasanothermovementfromEthelbythesofa。

"orevenonlyonce，asismycase，"thenarratorwenton，"anybody，I

say，whohasbeenthroughtheexperienceofbeingengagedonlyonce，canformaverycorrectideaofthecircumstancesthatattendthehappyengagementsofallyoungpeople。Iimaginetheyprevailinallcountries，justasthefeelingabout\'mother\'prevails。Yes，\'Mother\'istherighttitleformystory，asyoushallsee。Isitnotstrangethatifyouadd\'in-law\'totheword\'mother，\'howimmediatelythesentimentofthetermisaltered？asstronglyindeedaswhenyouprefixtheword\'step\'toit。

Butitiswithneitherofthesecompositeformsofmotherthatanystorydeals。

"EthelhasalwaysmaintainedthatifIhadreallyunderstoodher，itneverwouldhavehappened。Shesays"

"Richard，I"

"Mydear，youshalltellyourstoryafterwards，andIpromisetolistenwithoutaworduntilyouarefinished。Mrs。FieldsaysthatifIhadunderstoodhernatureasamanoughttounderstandthegirlhehasbeenthinkingaboutforseveralyears，Ishouldhaveknownshecarednothingaboutmyincome。"

"Ididn\'tcare！I\'dhave"butMr。Fieldcheckedheroutburst。

"Shewasgoingtosay，"saidMr。Field，"thathadIaskedhertomarrymewhenIbecamesurethatIwishedtomarryher，shewouldhavebeenwillingtoleaveNewYorkandgotothewastelandinMichiganthatwasherinheritancefromagrandfather，andtherebuildacabinandliveinitwithme；andthatwhileIshotprairiechickensfordinnershewouldhavemilkedthecowwhichsomememberofthefamilywouldhavebeenwillingtogiveusasaweddingpresentinsteadofastatueoftheWingedVictory，orsilverspoonsandforks，hadwesodesired。"

Richardmadeapausehere，andlookedathiswifeasifheexpectedhertocorrecthim。ButEthelwasplainlysatisfiedwithhisstatement，andhethereforecontinued。

"Ithinkitisidealwhenagirlisreadytodosomuchasthatforaman。ButIshouldnotthinkitidealinamantoallowthegirlhelovedtodoitforhim。NordidIthenknowanythingaboutthelandsinMichiganthoughthiswouldhavemadenodifference。Ethelhadbeenaccustomedtoahouseseveralstorieshigh，withhotandcoldwaterinmostofthem，andsomebodytoanswerthedoor-bell。"

"Thedoor-bell！"exclaimedEthel。"Icouldhavegonewithouthearingthat。"

"Yes，Ethel，onlytohearthewelkinringwouldhavebeenenoughforyou。