下载辰思小说免费APP
“AndIthoughtyou——aprig，“sherecollected。“No；that’snotquiteit。
Thereweretheantswhostolethetongue，andIthoughtyouandSt。Johnwerelikethoseants——verybig，veryugly，veryenergetic，withallyourvirtuesonyourbacks。However，whenItalkedtoyouIlikedyou——“
“Youfellinlovewithme，“hecorrectedher。“Youwereinlovewithmeallthetime，onlyyoudidn’tknowit。“
“No，Ineverfellinlovewithyou，“sheasserted。
“Rachel——whatalie——didn’tyousitherelookingatmywindow——
didn’tyouwanderaboutthehotellikeanowlinthesun——？“
“No，“sherepeated，“Ineverfellinlove，iffallinginloveiswhatpeoplesayitis，andit’stheworldthattellstheliesandItellthetruth。Oh，whatlies——whatlies！“
ShecrumpledtogetherahandfuloflettersfromEvelynM。，fromMr。Pepper，fromMrs。ThornburyandMissAllan，andSusanWarrington。
Itwasstrange，consideringhowverydifferentthesepeoplewere，thattheyusedalmostthesamesentenceswhentheywrotetocongratulateheruponherengagement。
Thatanyoneofthesepeoplehadeverfeltwhatshefelt，orcouldeverfeelit，orhadeventherighttopretendforasinglesecondthattheywerecapableoffeelingit，appalledhermuchasthechurchservicehaddone，muchasthefaceofthehospitalnursehaddone；
andiftheydidn’tfeelathingwhydidtheygoandpretendto？
Thesimplicityandarroganceandhardnessofheryouth，nowconcentratedintoasinglesparkasitwasbyherloveofhim，puzzledTerence；
beingengagedhadnotthateffectonhim；theworldwasdifferent，butnotinthatway；hestillwantedthethingshehadalwayswanted，andinparticularhewantedthecompanionshipofotherpeoplemorethaneverperhaps。Hetookthelettersoutofherhand，andprotested:
“Ofcoursethey’reabsurd，Rachel；ofcoursetheysaythingsjustbecauseotherpeoplesaythem，butevenso，whatanicewomanMissAllanis；youcan’tdenythat；andMrs。Thornburytoo；she’sgottoomanychildrenIgrantyou，butifhalf-a-dozenofthemhadgonetothebadinsteadofrisinginfalliblytothetopsoftheirtrees——
hasn’tsheakindofbeauty——ofelementalsimplicityasFlushingwouldsay？Isn’tsheratherlikealargeoldtreemurmuringinthemoonlight，orarivergoingonandonandon？Bytheway，Ralph’sbeenmadegovernoroftheCarrowayIslands——theyoungestgovernorintheservice；verygood，isn’tit？“
ButRachelwasatpresentunabletoconceivethatthevastmajorityoftheaffairsoftheworldwentonunconnectedbyasinglethreadwithherowndestiny。
“Iwon’thaveelevenchildren，“sheasserted；“Iwon’thavetheeyesofanoldwoman。Shelooksatoneupanddown，upanddown，asifonewereahorse。“
“Wemusthaveasonandwemusthaveadaughter，“saidTerence，puttingdowntheletters，“because，letalonetheinestimableadvantageofbeingourchildren，they’dbesowellbroughtup。“
Theywentontosketchanoutlineoftheidealeducation——
howtheirdaughtershouldberequiredfrominfancytogazeatalargesquareofcardboardpaintedblue，tosuggestthoughtsofinfinity，forwomenweregrowntoopractical；andtheirson——heshouldbetaughttolaughatgreatmen，thatis，atdistinguishedsuccessfulmen，atmenwhoworeribandsandrosetothetopsoftheirtrees。
Heshouldinnowayresemble(Racheladded)St。JohnHirst。
AtthisTerenceprofessedthegreatestadmirationforSt。JohnHirst。
Dwellinguponhisgoodqualitieshebecameseriouslyconvincedofthem；
hehadamindlikeatorpedo，hedeclared，aimedatfalsehood。
Whereshouldweallbewithouthimandhislike？Chokedinweeds；
Christians，bigots，——why，Rachelherself，wouldbeaslavewithafantosingsongstomenwhentheyfeltdrowsy。
“Butyou’llneverseeit！“heexclaimed；“becausewithallyourvirtuesyoudon’t，andyouneverwill，carewitheveryfibreofyourbeingforthepursuitoftruth！You’venorespectforfacts，Rachel；
you’reessentiallyfeminine。“Shedidnottroubletodenyit，nordidshethinkgoodtoproducetheoneunanswerableargume
