第57章

Afterwhichwetalkednomoreofaeronautics。

Beatricesatbunchedtogetherinachairandregardedmewithexactlythesamescrutiny，Ithought，thesameadventurousaggression，thatIhadfacedlongagoatthetea-tableinmymother’sroom。ShewasamazinglylikethatlittlePrincessofmyBladesovermemories，thewilfulmisbehavioursofherhairseemedthesame——hervoice；thingsonewouldhaveexpectedtobechangedaltogether。Sheformedherplansinthesamequickway，andactedwiththesameirresponsibledecision。

Shestoodupabruptly。

“Whatistherebeyondtheterrace？”shesaid，andfoundmepromptlybesideher。

Iinventedaviewforher。

Atthefurthercornerfromthecedarsheperchedherselfupupontheparapetandachievedanairofcomfortamongthelichenousstones。“Nowtellme。”shesaid，“allaboutyourself。Tellmeaboutyourself；Iknowsuchduffersofmen！Theyalldothesamethings。Howdidyouget——here？AllmymenWEREhere。Theycouldn’thavegothereiftheyhadn’tbeenherealways。Theywouldn’thavethoughtitright。You’veclimbed。”

“Ifit’sclimbing。”Isaid。

Shewentoffatatangent。“It’s——Idon’tknowifyou’llunderstand——interestingtomeetyouagain。I’verememberedyou。

Idon’tknowwhy，butIhave。I’veusedyouasasortoflayfigure——whenI’vetoldmyselfstories。Butyou’vealwaysbeenratherstiffanddifficultinmystories——inready-madeclothes——aLabourMemberoraBradlaugh，orsomethinglikethat。

You’renotlikethatabit。AndyetyouARE！”

Shelookedatme。“Wasitmuchofafight？Theymakeoutitis。

Idon’tknowwhy。”

“Iwasshotupherebyanaccident。”Isaid。“Therewasnofightatall。Excepttokeephonest，perhapsandImadenogreatfigureinthat。Iandmyunclemixedamedicineanditblewusup。Nomeritinthat！Butyou’vebeenhereallthetime。Tellmewhatyouhavedonefirst。”

“Onethingwedidn’tdo。”Shemeditatedforamoment。

“What？”saidI。

“Producealittlehalf-brotherforBladesover。SoitwenttothePhillbrickgang。Andtheyletit！AndIandmystep-mother——welet，too。Andliveinalittlehouse。”

Shenoddedherheadvaguelyoverhershoulderandturnedtomeagain。“Well，supposeitwasanaccident。Hereyouare！Nowyou’rehere，whatareyougoingtodo？You’reyoung。IsittobeParliament？heardsomementheotherdaytalkingaboutyou。

BeforeIknewyouwereyou。Theysaidthatwaswhatyououghttodo。”。

Sheputmethroughmyintentionswithacloseandvitalcuriosity。Itwasjustasshehadtriedtoimaginemeasoldierandplacemeyearsago。Shemademefeelmoreplanlessandincidentalthanever。“Youwanttomakeaflying-machine。”shepursued，“andwhenyoufly？Whatthen？Woulditbeforfighting？

Itoldhersomethingofmyexperimentalwork。Shehadneverheardofthesoaringaeroplane，andwasexcitedbythethought，andkeentohearaboutit。Shehadthoughtalltheworksofarhadbeenamereprojectingofimpossiblemachines。ForherPilcherandLilienthalhaddiedinvain。Shedidnotknowsuchmenhadlivedintheworld。

“Butthat’sdangerous！”shesaid，withanoteofdiscovery。

“Oh！——it’sdangerous。”

“Bee-atrice！”LadyOspreycalled。

Beatricedroppedfromthewall