The Golden Bowl Henry James (spicy books to read txt) đ
- Author: Henry James
Book online «The Golden Bowl Henry James (spicy books to read txt) đ». Author Henry James
âIt ought, really, if it should be a thing of this sort, to take its little value from having belonged to oneâs self.â
âEcco!â said the Princeâ âjust triumphantly enough. âThere you are.â
Behind the dealer were sundry small cupboards in the wall. Two or three of these Charlotte had seen him open, so that her eyes found themselves resting on those he had not visited. But she completed her admission. âThereâs nothing here she could wear.â
It was only after a moment that her companion rejoined. âIs there anythingâ âdo you thinkâ âthat you could?â
It made her just start. She didnât, at all events, look at the objects; she but looked for an instant very directly at him. âNo.â
âAh!â the Prince quietly exclaimed.
âWould it be,â Charlotte asked, âyour idea to offer me something?â
âWell, why notâ âas a small ricordo.â
âBut a ricordo of what?â
âWhy, of âthisââ âas you yourself say. Of this little hunt.â
âOh, I say itâ âbut hasnât my whole point been that I donât ask you to. Therefore,â she demandedâ âbut smiling at him nowâ ââwhereâs the logic?â
âOh, the logicâ â!â he laughed.
âBut logicâs everything. That, at least, is how I feel it. A ricordo from youâ âfrom you to meâ âis a ricordo of nothing. It has no reference.â
âAh, my dear!â he vaguely protested. Their entertainer, meanwhile, stood there with his eyes on them, and the girl, though at this minute more interested in her passage with her friend than in anything else, again met his gaze. It was a comfort to her that their foreign tongue covered what they saidâ âand they might have appeared of course, as the Prince now had one of the snuffboxes in his hand, to be discussing a purchase.
âYou donât refer,â she went on to her companion. âI refer.â
He had lifted the lid of his little box and he looked into it hard. âDo you mean by that then that you would be freeâ â?â
âââFreeââ â?â
âTo offer me something?â
This gave her a longer pause, and when she spoke again she might have seemed, oddly, to be addressing the dealer. âWould you allow meâ â?â
âNo,â said the Prince into his little box.
âYou wouldnât accept it from me?â
âNo,â he repeated in the same way.
She exhaled a long breath that was like a guarded sigh. âBut youâve touched an idea that has been mine. Itâs what Iâve wanted.â Then she added: âIt was what I hoped.â
He put down his boxâ âthis had drawn his eyes. He made nothing, clearly, of the little manâs attention. âItâs what you brought me out for?â
âWell, thatâs, at any rate,â she returned, âmy own affair. But it wonât do?â
âIt wonât do, cara mia.â
âItâs impossible?â
âItâs impossible.â And he took up one of the brooches.
She had another pause, while the shopman only waited. âIf I were to accept from you one of these charming little ornaments as you suggest, what should I do with it?â
He was perhaps at last a little irritated; he evenâ âas if he might understandâ âlooked vaguely across at their host. âWear it, per Bacco!â
âWhere then, please? Under my clothes?â
âWherever you like. But it isnât then, if you will,â he added, âworth talking about.â
âItâs only worth talking about, mio caro,â she smiled, âfrom your having begun it. My question is only reasonableâ âso that your idea may stand or fall by your answer to it. If I should pin one of these things on for you would it be, to your mind, that I might go home and show it to Maggie as your present?â
They had had between them often in talk the refrain, jocosely, descriptively applied, of âold Roman.â It had been, as a pleasantry, in the other time, his explanation to her of everything; but nothing, truly, had even seemed so old-Roman as the shrug in which he now indulged. âWhy in the world not?â
âBecauseâ âon our basisâ âit would be impossible to give her an account of the pretext.â
âThe pretextâ â?â He wondered.
âThe occasion. This ramble that we shall have had together and that weâre not to speak of.â
âOh yes,â he said after a moment âI remember weâre not to speak of it.â
âThat of course youâre pledged to. And the one thing, you see, goes with the other. So you donât insist.â
He had again, at random, laid back his trinket; with which he quite turned to her, a little wearily at lastâ âeven a little impatiently. âI donât insist.â
It disposed for the time of the question, but what was next apparent was that it had seen them no further. The shopman, who had not stirred, stood there in his patienceâ âwhich, his mute intensity helping, had almost the effect of an ironic comment. The Prince moved to the glass door and, his back to the others, as with nothing more to contribute, lookedâ âthough not less
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