The Ambassadors Henry James (novel24 txt) đ
- Author: Henry James
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âJust as good as you and these others? Ah that may be. But such an occasion as this, whether or no,â Strether said, âisnât the people. Itâs what has made the people possible.â
âWell then,â his friend replied, âthere you are; I give you my impression for what itâs worth. Mrs. Pocock has seen, and thatâs tonight how she sits there. If you were to have a glimpse of her face youâd understand me. She has made up her mindâ âto the sound of expensive music.â
Strether took it freely in. âAh then I shall have news of her.â
âI donât want to frighten you, but I think that likely. However,â little Bilham continued, âif Iâm of the least use to you to hold on byâ â!â
âYouâre not of the least!ââ âand Strether laid an appreciative hand on him to say it. âNo oneâs of the least.â With which, to mark how gaily he could take it, he patted his companionâs knee. âI must meet my fate alone, and I shallâ âoh youâll see! And yet,â he pursued the next moment, âyou can help me too. You once said to meââ âhe followed this furtherâ ââthat you held Chad should marry. I didnât see then so well as I know now that you meant he should marry Miss Pocock. Do you still consider that he should? Because if you doââ âhe kept it upâ ââI want you immediately to change your mind. You can help me that way.â
âHelp you by thinking he should not marry?â
âNot marry at all events Mamie.â
âAnd who then?â
âAh,â Strether returned, âthat Iâm not obliged to say. But Madame de Vionnetâ âI suggestâ âwhen he can.â
âOh!â said little Bilham with some sharpness.
âOh precisely! But he neednât marry at allâ âIâm at any rate not obliged to provide for it. Whereas in your case I rather feel that I am.â
Little Bilham was amused. âObliged to provide for my marrying?â
âYesâ âafter all Iâve done to you!â
The young man weighed it. âHave you done as much as that?â
âWell,â said Strether, thus challenged, âof course I must remember what youâve also done to me. We may perhaps call it square. But all the same,â he went on, âI wish awfully youâd marry Mamie Pocock yourself.â
Little Bilham laughed out. âWhy it was only the other night, in this very place, that you were proposing to me a different union altogether.â
âMademoiselle de Vionnet?â Well, Strether easily confessed it. âThat, I admit, was a vain image. This is practical politics. I want to do something good for both of youâ âI wish you each so well; and you can see in a moment the trouble it will save me to polish you off by the same stroke. She likes you, you know. You console her. And sheâs splendid.â
Little Bilham stared as a delicate appetite stares at an overheaped plate. âWhat do I console her for?â
It just made his friend impatient. âOh come, you know!â
âAnd what proves for you that she likes me?â
âWhy the fact that I found her three days ago stopping at home alone all the golden afternoon on the mere chance that youâd come to her, and hanging over her balcony on that of seeing your cab drive up. I donât know what you want more.â
Little Bilham after a moment found it. âOnly just to know what proves to you that I like her.â
âOh if what Iâve just mentioned isnât enough to make you do it, youâre a stony-hearted little fiend. Besidesââ âStrether encouraged his fancyâs flightâ ââyou showed your inclination in the way you kept her waiting, kept her on purpose to see if she cared enough for you.â
His companion paid his ingenuity the deference of a pause. âI didnât keep her waiting. I came at the hour. I wouldnât have kept her waiting for the world,â the young man honourably declared.
âBetter stillâ âthen there you are!â And Strether, charmed, held him the faster. âEven if you didnât do her justice, moreover,â he continued, âI should insist on your immediately coming round to it. I want awfully to have worked it. I wantââ âand our friend spoke now with a yearning that was really earnestâ ââat least to have done that.â
âTo have married me offâ âwithout a penny?â
âWell, I shanât live long; and I give you my word, now and here, that Iâll leave you every penny of my own. I havenât many, unfortunately, but you shall have them all. And Miss Pocock, I think, has a few. I want,â Strether went on, âto have been at least to that extent constructiveâ âeven expiatory. Iâve been sacrificing so to strange gods that I feel I want to put on record, somehow, my fidelityâ âfundamentally unchanged after allâ âto our own. I feel as if my hands were embrued with the blood of monstrous alien altarsâ âof another faith altogether. There it isâ âitâs done.â And then he further explained. âIt took hold of me because the idea of getting her quite out of the way for Chad helps to clear my ground.â
The young man, at this, bounced about, and it brought them face to face in admitted amusement. âYou want me to marry as a convenience to Chad?â
âNo,â Strether debatedâ ââhe doesnât care whether you marry or not. Itâs as a convenience simply to my own plan for him.â
âââSimplyâ!ââ âand little Bilhamâs concurrence was in itself a lively comment. âThank you. But I thought,â he continued, âyou had exactly no plan âforâ him.â
âWell then call it my plan for myselfâ âwhich may be well, as you say, to have none. His situation, donât you see? is reduced now to the bare facts one has to recognise. Mamie doesnât want him, and he doesnât want Mamie: so much as that these days have made clear. Itâs a thread we can wind up and tuck in.â
But little Bilham still questioned. âYou canâ âsince you seem so much to want to. But why should I?â
Poor Strether thought it over, but was obliged of course to admit that his demonstration
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