第65章

’Oh!Youknow!’shereturned。’ThisflameofHenry’s。Thisunfortunatefancy。There!IfitisapointofhonourthatI

shouldoriginatethename——MissMickles——Miggles。’

’MissMeagles，’saidClennam，’isverybeautiful。’

’Menaresooftenmistakenonthosepoints，’returnedMrsGowan，shakingherhead，’thatIcandidlyconfesstoyouIfeelanythingbutsureofit，evennow；thoughitissomethingtohaveHenrycorroboratedwithsomuchgravityandemphasis。HepickedthepeopleupatRome，Ithink？’

Thephrasewouldhavegivennobodymortaloffence。Clennamreplied，’Excuseme，IdoubtifIunderstandyourexpression。’

’Pickedthepeopleup，’saidMrsGowan，tappingthesticksofherclosedfan(alargegreenone，whichsheusedasahand-screen)onherlittletable。’Cameuponthem。Foundthemout。StumbledUP

againstthem。’

’Thepeople？’

’Yes。TheMigglespeople。’

’Ireallycannotsay，’saidClennam，’wheremyfriendMrMeaglesfirstpresentedMrHenryGowantohisdaughter。’

’IamprettysurehepickedherupatRome；butnevermindwhere——

somewhere。Now(thisisentirelybetweenourselves)，issheveryplebeian？’

’Really，ma’am，’returnedClennam，’Iamsoundoubtedlyplebeianmyself，thatIdonotfeelqualifiedtojudge。’

’Veryneat!’saidMrsGowan，coollyunfurlingherscreen。’Veryhappy!FromwhichIinferthatyousecretlythinkhermannerequaltoherlooks？’

Clennam，afteramoment’sstiffness，bowed。

’That’scomforting，andIhopeyoumayberight。DidHenrytellmeyouhadtravelledwiththem？’

’ItravelledwithmyfriendMrMeagles，andhiswifeanddaughter，duringsomemonths。’(Nobody’sheartmighthavebeenwrungbytheremembrance。)

’Reallycomforting，becauseyoumusthavehadalargeexperienceofthem。Yousee，MrClennam，thisthinghasbeengoingonforalongtime，andIfindnoimprovementinit。Thereforetohavetheopportunityofspeakingtoonesowellinformedaboutitasyourself，isanimmenserelieftome。Quiteaboon。Quiteablessing，Iamsure。’

’Pardonme，’returnedClennam，’butIamnotinMrHenryGowan’sconfidence。Iamfarfrombeingsowellinformedasyousupposemetobe。Yourmistakemakesmypositionaverydelicateone。NowordonthistopichaseverpassedbetweenMrHenryGowanandmyself。’

MrsGowanglancedattheotherendoftheroom，wherehersonwasplayingecarteonasofa，withtheoldladywhowasforachargeofcavalry。

’Notinhisconfidence？No，’saidMrsGowan。’Nowordhaspassedbetweenyou？No。ThatIcanimagine。Butthereareunexpressedconfidences，MrClennam；andasyouhavebeentogetherintimatelyamongthesepeople，Icannotdoubtthataconfidenceofthatsortexistsinthepresentcase。PerhapsyouhaveheardthatIhavesufferedthekeenestdistressofmindfromHenry’shavingtakentoapursuitwhich——well!’shrugginghershoulders，’averyrespectablepursuit，Idaresay，andsomeartistsare