The Wings of the Dove Henry James (android based ebook reader TXT) đ
- Author: Henry James
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The great and obvious thing, as soon as she stood there on the occasion we have already named, was that she was now in high possession of it. This would have marked immediately the differenceâ âhad there been nothing else to do itâ âbetween their actual terms and their other terms, the character of their last encounter in Venice. That had been his idea, whereas her present step was her own; the few marks they had in common were, from the first moment, to his conscious vision, almost pathetically plain. She was as grave now as before; she looked around her, to hide it, as before; she pretended, as before, in an air in which her words at the moment itself fell flat, to an interest in the place and a curiosity about his âthingsâ; there was a recall in the way in which, after she had failed a little to push up her veil symmetrically and he had said she had better take it off altogether, she had acceded to his suggestion before the glass. It was just these things that were vain; and what was real was that his fancy figured her after the first few minutes as literally now providing the element of reassurance which had previously been his care. It was she, supremely, who had the presence of mind. She made indeed for that matter very prompt use of it. âYou see Iâve not hesitated this time to break your seal.â
She had laid on the table from the moment of her coming in the long envelope, substantially filled, which he had sent her enclosed in another of still ampler make. He had however not looked at itâ âhis belief being that he wished never again to do so; besides which it had happened to rest with its addressed side up. So he âsawâ nothing, and it was only into her eyes that her remark made him look, declining any approach to the object indicated. âItâs not âmyâ seal, my dear; and my intentionâ âwhich my note tried to expressâ âwas all to treat it to you as not mine.â
âDo you mean that itâs to that extent mine then?â
âWell, let us call it, if we like, theirsâ âthat of the good people in New York, the authors of our communication. If the seal is broken well and good; but we might, you know,â he presently added, âhave sent it back to them intact and inviolate. Only accompanied,â he smiled with his heart in his mouth, âby an absolutely kind letter.â
Kate took it with the mere brave blink with which a patient of courage signifies to the exploring medical hand that the tender place is touched. He saw on the spot that she was prepared, and with this signal sign that she was too intelligent not to be, came a flicker of possibilities. She wasâ âmerely to put it at thatâ âintelligent enough for anything. âIs it what youâre proposing we should do?â
âAh itâs too late to do itâ âwell, ideally. Now, with that sign that we knowâ â!â
âBut you donât know,â she said very gently.
âI refer,â he went on without noticing it, âto what would have been the handsome way. Its being dispatched again, with no cognisance taken but oneâs assurance of the highest consideration, and the proof of this in the state of the envelopeâ âthat would have been really satisfying.â
She thought an instant. âThe state of the envelope proving refusal, you mean, not to be based on the insufficiency of the sum?â
Densher smiled again as for the play, however whimsical, of her humour. âWell yesâ âsomething of that sort.â
âSo that if cognisance has been takenâ âso far as Iâm concernedâ âit spoils the beauty?â
âIt makes the difference that Iâm disappointed in the hopeâ âwhich I confess I entertainedâ âthat youâd bring the thing back to me as you had received it.â
âYou didnât express that hope in your letter.â
âI didnât want to. I wanted to leave it to yourself. I wantedâ âoh yes, if thatâs what you wish to ask meâ âto see what youâd do.â
âYou wanted to measure the possibilities of my departure from delicacy?â
He continued steady now; a kind of easeâ âfrom the presence, as in the air, of something he couldnât yet have namedâ âhad come to him. âWell, I wantedâ âin so good a caseâ âto test you.â
She was struckâ âit showed in her faceâ âby his expression. âIt is a good case. I doubt whether a better,â she said with her eyes on him, âhas ever been known.â
âThe better the case then the better the test!â
âHow do you know,â she asked in reply to this, âwhat Iâm capable of?â
âI donât, my dear! Only with the seal unbroken I should have known sooner.â
âI seeââ âshe took it in. âBut I myself shouldnât have known at all. And you wouldnât have known, either, what I do know.â
âLet me tell you at once,â he returned, âthat if youâve been moved to correct my ignorance I very particularly request you not to.â
She just hesitated. âAre you afraid of the effect of the corrections? Can you only do it by doing it blindly?â
He waited a moment. âWhat is it that you speak of my doing?â
âWhy the only thing in the world that I take you as thinking of. Not acceptingâ âwhat she has done. Isnât there some regular name in such cases? Not taking up the bequest.â
âThereâs something you forget in it,â he said after a moment. âMy asking you to join with me in doing so.â
Her wonder but made her softer, yet at the same time didnât make her less firm. âHow can I âjoinâ in a matter with which Iâve nothing to do?â
âHow? By a single
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