The Golden Bowl Henry James (spicy books to read txt) đ
- Author: Henry James
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All this, at present, with Mrs. Assingham, passed through her in quick vibrations. She had expressed, while the revolution of her thought was incomplete, the idea of what Amerigo âought,â on his side, in the premises, to be capable of, and then had felt her companionâs answering stare. But she insisted on what she had meant. âHe ought to wish to see herâ âand I mean in some protected and independent way, as he used toâ âin case of her being herself able to manage it. That,â said Maggie with the courage of her conviction, âhe ought to be ready, he ought to be happy, he ought to feel himself swornâ âlittle as it is for the end of such a history!â âto take from her. Itâs as if he wished to get off without taking anything.â
Mrs. Assingham deferentially mused. âBut for what purpose is it your idea that they should again so intimately meet?â
âFor any purpose they like. Thatâs their affair.â
Fanny Assingham sharply laughed, then irrepressibly fell back to her constant position. âYouâre splendidâ âperfectly splendid.â To which, as the Princess, shaking an impatient head, wouldnât have it again at all, she subjoined: âOr if youâre not itâs because youâre so sure. I mean sure of him.â
âAh, Iâm exactly not sure of him. If I were sure of him I shouldnât doubtâ â!â But Maggie cast about her.
âDoubt what?â Fanny pressed as she waited.
âWell, that he must feel how much less than she he paysâ âand how that ought to keep her present to him.â
This, in its turn, after an instant, Mrs. Assingham could meet with a smile. âTrust him, my dear, to keep her present! But trust him also to keep himself absent. Leave him his own way.â
âIâll leave him everything,â said Maggie. âOnlyâ âyou know itâs my natureâ âI think.â
âItâs your nature to think too much,â Fanny Assingham a trifle coarsely risked.
This but quickened, however, in the Princess the act she reprobated. âThat may be. But if I hadnât thoughtâ â!â
âYou wouldnât, you mean, have been where you are?â
âYes, because they, on their side, thought of everything but that. They thought of everything but that I might think.â
âOr even,â her friend too superficially concurred, âthat your father might!â
As to this, at all events, Maggie discriminated. âNo, that wouldnât have prevented them; for they knew that his first care would be not to make me do so. As it is,â Maggie added, âthat has had to become his last.â
Fanny Assingham took it in deeperâ âfor what it immediately made her give out louder. âHeâs splendid then.â She sounded it almost aggressively; it was what she was reduced toâ âshe had positively to place it.
âAh, that as much as you please!â
Maggie said this and left it, but the tone of it had the next moment determined in her friend a fresh reaction. âYou think, both of you, so abysmally and yet so quietly. But itâs what will have saved you.â
âOh,â Maggie returned, âitâs whatâ âfrom the moment they discovered we could think at allâ âwill have saved them. For theyâre the ones who are saved,â she went on. âWeâre the ones who are lost.â
âLostâ â?â
âLost to each otherâ âfather and I.â And then as her friend appeared to demur, âOh yes,â Maggie quite lucidly declared, âlost to each other much more, really, than Amerigo and Charlotte are; since for them itâs just, itâs right, itâs deserved, while for us itâs only sad and strange and not caused by our fault. But I donât know,â she went on, âwhy I talk about myself, for itâs on father it really comes. I let him go,â said Maggie.
âYou let him, but you donât make him.â
âI take it from him,â she answered.
âBut what else can you do?â
âI take it from him,â the Princess repeated. âI do what I knew from the first I should do. I get off by giving him up.â
âBut if he gives you?â Mrs. Assingham presumed to object. âDoesnât it moreover then,â she asked, âcomplete the very purpose with which he marriedâ âthat of making you and leaving you more free?â
Maggie looked at her long. âYesâ âI help him to do that.â
Mrs. Assingham hesitated, but at last her bravery flared. âWhy not call it then frankly his complete success?â
âWell,â said Maggie, âthatâs all thatâs left me to do.â
âItâs a success,â her friend ingeniously developed, âwith which youâve simply not interfered.â And as if to show that she spoke without levity Mrs. Assingham went further. âHe has made it a success for themâ â!â
âAh, there you are!â Maggie responsively mused. âYes,â she said the next moment, âthatâs why Amerigo stays.â
âLet alone itâs why Charlotte goes.â that Mrs. Assingham, and emboldened, smiled âSo he knowsâ â?â
But Maggie hung back. âAmerigoâ â?â After which, however, she blushedâ âto her companionâs recognition.
âYour father. He knows what you know? I mean,â Fanny falteredâ ââwell, how much does he know?â Maggieâs silence and Maggieâs eyes had in fact arrested the push of the questionâ âwhich, for a decent consistency, she couldnât yet quite abandon. âWhat I should rather say is does he know how much?â She found it still awkward. âHow much, I mean, they did. How farââ âshe touched it upâ ââthey went.â
Maggie had waited, but only with a question. âDo you think he does?â
âKnow at
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