第21章

It\'ssickening。"

"Why，certainly，Alma。It\'sonlybecauseIknowyoudidcareforhimonce——"

"AndnowIdon\'t。Andhedidn\'tcareformeonce，andnowhedoes。Andsowe\'requits。"

"IfIcouldbelieve——"

"Youhadbetterbraceupandtry，mamma；forasMr。Fulkersonsays，it\'sassureasguns。Fromthecrownofhisheadtothesoleofhisfoot，he\'sloathsometome；andhekeepsgettingloathsomer。Ugh!Goodnight!"

XVI。

"Well，Iguessshe\'sgivenhimthegrandbounceatlast，"saidFulkersontoMarchinoneoftheirmomentsofconfidenceattheoffice。"That\'sMad\'sinferencefromappearances——anddisappearances；andsomelittlehintsfromAlmaLeighton。"

"Well，Idon\'tknowthatIhaveanycriticismstooffer，"saidMarch。

"ItmaybebadforBeaton，butit\'saverygoodthingforMissLeighton。

Uponthewhole，IbelieveIcongratulateher。"

"Well，Idon\'tknow。Ialwayskindofhopeditwouldturnouttheotherway。YouknowIalwayshadasneakingfondnessforthefellow。"

"MissLeightonseemsnottohavehad。"

"It\'sapityshehadn\'t。Itellyou，March，itain\'tsoeasyforagirltogetmarried，hereintheEast，thatshecanaffordtodespiseanychance。"

"Isn\'tthatratheralowviewofit?"

"It\'sacommon-senseview。Beatonhasthemakingofafirst-ratefellowinhim。He\'stherawmaterialofagreatartistandagoodcitizen。Allhewantsissomebodytotakehiminhandandkeephimfrommakin\'anassofhimselfandkickin\'overthetracesgenerally，andridin\'twoorthreehorsesbarebackatonce。"

"Itseemsasimpleproblem，thoughthemetaphorisrathercomplicated，"

saidMarch。"ButtalktoMissLeightonaboutit。Ihaven\'tgivenBeatonthegrandbounce。"

Hebegantoturnoverthemanuscriptsonhistable，andFulkersonwentaway。ButMarchfoundhimselfthinkingofthematterfromtimetotimeduringtheday，andhespoketohiswifeaboutitwhenhewenthome。ShesurprisedhimbytakingFulkerson\'sviewofit。

"Yes，it\'sapityshecouldn\'thavemadeuphermindtohavehim。It\'sbetterforawomantobemarried。"

"IthoughtPaulonlywentsofarastosayitwaswell。ButwhatwouldbecomeofMissLeighton\'sartisticcareerifshemarried?"

"Oh，herartisticcareer!"saidMrs。March，withmatronlycontemptofit。

"Butlookhere!"criedherhusband。"Supposeshedoesn\'tlikehim?"

"Howcanagirlofthatagetellwhethershelikesanyoneornot?"

"Itseemstomeyouwereabletotellat。thatage，Isabel。Butlet\'sexaminethisthing。(Thisthing!IbelieveFulkersonischaracterizingmywholeparlance，aswellasyourmorals。)Whyshouldn\'twerejoiceasmuchatanon-marriageasamarriage?Whenweconsidertheenormousriskspeopletakeinlinkingtheirlivestogether，afternothalfsomuchthoughtasgoestoanordinaryhorsetrade，Ithinkweoughttobegladwhenevertheydon\'tdoit。Ibelievethatthispopulardemandforthematrimonyofotherscomesfromournovel-reading。Wegettothinkingthatthereisnootherhappinessorgood-fortuneinlifeexceptmarriage；

andit\'sofferedinfictionasthehighestpremiumforvirtue，courage，beauty，learning，andsavinghumanlife。Weallknowitisn\'t。Weknowthatinrealitymarriageisdogcheap，andanybodycanhaveitfortheasking——ifhekeepsaskingenoughpeople。By-and-bysomefellowwillwakeupandseethatafirst-classstorycanbewrittenfromtheanti-

marriagepointofview；andhe\'llbeginwithanengagedcouple，anddevotehisnoveltodisengagingthemandrenderingthemseparatelyhappyeverafterinthedenouement。Itwillmakehiseverlastingfortune。"

"Whydon\'tyouwriteit，Basil?"sheasked。"It\'sadelightfulidea。

Youcoulddoitsplendidly。"

Hebecamefascinatedwiththenotion。Hedevelopeditindetail；butattheendhesighedandsaid:"Withthis\'EveryOtherWeek\'workonmyhands，ofcourseIcan\'tattemptanovel。ButperhapsIsha\'n\'thaveitlong。"

Shewasinstantlyanxioustoknowwhathemeant，andthenovelandMissLeighton\'saffairwerebothdroppedoutoftheirthoughts。"Whatdoyoumean?HasMr。Fulkersonsaidanythingyet?"

"Notaword。HeknowsnomoreaboutitthanIdo。Dryfooshasn\'tspoken，andwe\'rebothafraidtoaskhim。Ofcourse，Icouldn\'taskhim。"

"No。"

"Butit\'sprettyuncomfortable，tobekepthangingbythegillsso，asFulkersonsays。"

"Yes，wedon\'tknowwhattodo。"

MarchandFulkersonsaidthesametoeachother；andFulkersonsaidthatiftheoldmanpulledout，hedidnotknowwhatwouldhappen。Hehadnocapitaltocarrythethingon，andtheveryfactthattheoldmanhadpulledoutwoulddamageitsothatitwouldbehardtogetanybodyelsetoputit。InthemeantimeFulkersonwasrunningConrad\'soffice-work，whenheoughttobelookingaftertheoutsideinterestsofthething；andhecouldnotseethedaywhenhecouldgetmarried。

"Idon\'tknowwhichit\'sworsefor，March:youorme。Idon\'tknow，underthecircumstances，whetherit\'sworsetohaveafamilyortowanttohaveone。Ofcourse——ofcourse!Wecan\'thurrytheoldmanup。Itwouldn\'tbedecent，anditwouldbedangerous。Wegottowait。"

HealmostdecidedtodrawuponDryfoosforsomemoney；hedidnotneedany，but，hesaidmaybethedemandwouldactasahintuponhim。Oneday，aboutaweekafterAlma\'sfinalrejectionofBeaton，DryfooscameintoMarch\'soffice。Fulkersonwasout，buttheoldmanseemednottohavetriedtoseehim。

Heputhishatonthefloorbyhischair，afterhesatdown，andlookedatMarchawhilewithhisoldeyes，whichhadthevitreousglitterofold。

eyesstimulatedtosleeplessness。Thenhesaid，abruptly，"Mr。March，howwouldyouliketotakethisthingoffmyhands?"

"Idon\'tunderstand，exactly，"Marchbegan；butofcourseheunderstoodthatDryfooswasofferingtolethimhave\'EveryOtherWeek\'onsometermsorother，andhisheartleapedwithhope。

Theoldmanknewheunderstood，andsohedidnotexplain。Hesaid:

"IamgoingtoEurope，totakemyfamilythere。Thedoctorthinksitmightdomywifesomegood；andIain\'tverywellmyself，andmygirlsbothwanttogo；andsowe\'regoin\'。Ifyouwanttotakethisthingoffmyhands，IreckonIcanletyouhaveitin\'mostanyshapeyousay。

You\'reallsettledhereinNewYork，andIdon\'tsupposeyouwanttobreakup，much，atyourtimeoflife，andI\'vebeenthinkin\'whetheryouwouldn\'tliketotakethething。"

Theword，whichDryfooshadnowusedthreetimes，madeMarchatlastthinkofFulkerson；hehadbeenfilledtoofullofhimselftothinkofanyoneelsetillhehadmasteredthenotionofsuchwonderfulgoodfortuneasseemedaboutfallingtohim。ButnowhedidthinkofFulkerson，andwithsomeshameandconfusion；forherememberedhow，whenDryfooshadlastapproachedhimthereonthebusinessofhisconnectionwith\'EveryOtherWeek，\'hehadbeenveryhaughtywithhim，andtoldhimthathedidnotknowhiminthisconnection。Heblushedtofindhowfarhisthoughtshadnowrunwithoutencounteringthisobstacleofetiquette。

"HaveyouspokentoMr。Fulkerson?"heasked。

"No，Ihain\'t。Itain\'taquestionofmanagement。It\'saquestionofbuyingandselling。Iofferthethingtoyoufirst。IreckonFulkersoncouldn\'tgetonverywellwithoutyou。"

Marchsawtherealdifferenceinthetwocases，andhewasgladtoseeit，becausehecouldactmoredecisivelyifnothamperedbyanobligationtoconsistency。"Iamgratified，ofcourse，Mr。Dryfoos；extremelygratified；andit\'snousepretendingthatIshouldn\'tbehappybeyondboundstogetpossessionof\'EveryOtherWeek。\'ButIdon\'tfeelquitefreetotalkaboutitapartfromMr。Fulkerson。"

"Oh，allright!"saidtheoldman，withquickoffence。

Marchhastenedtosay:"IfeelboundtoMr。Fulkersonineveryway。Hegotmetocomehere，andIcouldn\'tevenseemtoactwithouthim。"

Heputitquestioningly，andtheoldmananswered:

"Yes，Icanseethat。When\'llhebein?Icanwait。"Buthelookedimpatient。

"Verysoon，now，"saidMarch，lookingathiswatch。"Hewasonlytobegoneamoment，"andwhilehewentontotalkwithDryfoos，hewonderedwhytheoldmanshouldhavecomefirsttospeakwithhim，andwhetheritwasfromsomeobscurewishtomakehimreparationfordispleasuresinthepast，orfromadistrustordislikeofFulkerson。Whicheverlighthelookedatitin，itwasflattering。

"Doyouthinkofgoingabroadsoon?"heasked。

"What?Yes——Idon\'tknow——Ireckon。Wegotourpassageengaged。It\'sononeofthemFrenchboats。We\'regoin\'toParis。"

"Oh!Thatwillbeinterestingtotheyoungladies。"

"Yes。Ireckonwe\'regoin\'forthem。\'Tain\'tlikelymywifeandmewouldwanttopullupstakesatourage，"saidtheoldman，sorrowfully。

"Butyoumayfinditdoyougood，Mr。Dryfoos，"saidMarch，withakindnessthatwasreal，mixedasitwaswiththeselfishinteresthenowhadintheintendedvoyage。

"Well，maybe，maybe，"sighedtheoldman；andhedroppedhisheadforward。"Itdon\'tmakeagreatdealofdifferencewhatwedoorwedon\'tdo，forthefewyearsleft。"

"IhopeMrs。Dryfoosisaswellasusual，"saidMarch，findingthegrounddelicateanddifficult。

"Middlin\'，middlin\'，"saidtheoldman。"MydaughterChristine，sheain\'tverywell。"

"Oh，"saidMarch。Itwasquiteimpossibleforhimtoaffectamoreexplicitinterestinthefact。HeandDryfoossatsilentforafewmoments，andhewasvainlycastingaboutinhisthoughtforsomethingelsewhichwouldtidethemovertheintervaltillFulkersoncame，whenheheardhissteponthestairs。

"Hello，hello!"hesaid。"Meetingoftheclans!"Itwasalwaysameetingoftheclans，withFulkerson，orafieldday，oranextrasession，oraregularconclave，wheneverhesawpeopleofanycommoninteresttogether。"Hain\'tseenyouhereforagoodwhile，Mr。Dryfoos。

Didthinksomeofrunningawaywith\'EveryOtherWeek\'onewhile，butcouldn\'tseemtoworkMarchuptothepoint。"

HegaveDryfooshishand，andpushedasidethepapersonthecornerofMarch\'sdesk，andsatdownthere，andwentonbrisklywiththenonsensehecouldalwaystalkwhilehewaswaitingforanothertodevelopanymatterofbusiness；hetoldMarchafterwardthathescentedbusinessintheairassoonashecameintotheroomwhereheandDryfoosweresitting。

DryfoosseemeddeterminedtoleavethewordtoMarch，whosaid，afteraninquiringlookathim，"Mr。Dryfooshasbeenproposingtoletushave\'EveryOtherWeek，\'Fulkerson。"

"Well，that\'sgood；thatsuitsyourstruly；March&Fulkerson，publishersandproprietors，won\'tpretenditdon\'t，ifthetermsareallright。"

"Theterms，"saidtheoldman，"arewhateveryouwant\'em。Ihaven\'tgotanymoreusefortheconcern——"Hegulped，andstopped；theyknewwhathewasthinkingof，andtheylookeddowninpity。Hewenton:"Iwon\'tputanymoremoneyinit；butwhatI\'veputina\'readycanstay；andyoucanpaymefourpercent。"

Hegotuponhisfeet；andMarchandFulkersonstood，too。

"Well，Icallthatprettywhite，"saidFulkerson。"It\'sabargainasfarasI\'mconcerned。Isupposeyou\'llwanttotalkitoverwithyourwife，March?"

"Yes；Ishall，"s