The Ambassadors Henry James (novel24 txt) đ
- Author: Henry James
Book online «The Ambassadors Henry James (novel24 txt) đ». Author Henry James
âWhat do you mean?â she asked with an absence of alarm that, correcting him as if he had mistaken the âperiodâ of one of her pieces, gave him afresh a sense of her easy movement through the maze he had but begun to tread. âWhat in the name of all the Pococks have you managed to do?â
âWhy exactly the wrong thing. Iâve made a frantic friend of little Bilham.â
âAh that sort of thing was of the essence of your case and to have been allowed for from the first.â And it was only after this that, quite as a minor matter, she asked who in the world little Bilham might be. When she learned that he was a friend of Chadâs and living for the time in Chadâs rooms in Chadâs absence, quite as if acting in Chadâs spirit and serving Chadâs cause, she showed, however, more interest. âShould you mind my seeing him? Only once, you know,â she added.
âOh the oftener the better: heâs amusingâ âheâs original.â
âHe doesnât shock you?â Miss Gostrey threw out.
âNever in the world! We escape that with a perfectionâ â! I feel it to be largely, no doubt, because I donât half-understand him; but our modus vivendi isnât spoiled even by that. You must dine with me to meet him,â Strether went on. âThen youâll see.â
âAre you giving dinners?â
âYesâ âthere I am. Thatâs what I mean.â
All her kindness wondered. âThat youâre spending too much money?â
âDear noâ âthey seem to cost so little. But that I do it to them. I ought to hold off.â
She thought againâ âshe laughed. âThe money you must be spending to think it cheap! But I must be out of itâ âto the naked eye.â
He looked for a moment as if she were really failing him. âThen you wonât meet them?â It was almost as if she had developed an unexpected personal prudence.
She hesitated. âWho are theyâ âfirst?â
âWhy little Bilham to begin with.â He kept back for the moment Miss Barrace. âAnd Chadâ âwhen he comesâ âyou must absolutely see.â
âWhen then does he come?â
âWhen Bilham has had time to write him, and hear from him about me. Bilham, however,â he pursued, âwill report favourablyâ âfavourably for Chad. That will make him not afraid to come. I want you the more therefore, you see, for my bluff.â
âOh youâll do yourself for your bluff.â She was perfectly easy. âAt the rate youâve gone Iâm quiet.â
âAh but I havenât,â said Strether, âmade one protest.â
She turned it over. âHavenât you been seeing what thereâs to protest about?â
He let her, with this, however ruefully, have the whole truth. âI havenât yet found a single thing.â
âIsnât there anyone with him then?â
âOf the sort I came out about?â Strether took a moment. âHow do I know? And what do I care?â
âOh oh!ââ âand her laughter spread. He was struck in fact by the effect on her of his joke. He saw now how he meant it as a joke. She saw, however, still other things, though in an instant she had hidden them. âYouâve got at no facts at all?â
He tried to muster them. âWell, he has a lovely home.â
âAh that, in Paris,â she quickly returned, âproves nothing. That is rather it disproves nothing. They may very well, you see, the people your mission is concerned with, have done it for him.â
âExactly. And it was on the scene of their doings then that Waymarsh and I sat guzzling.â
âOh if you forbore to guzzle here on scenes of doings,â she replied, âyou might easily die of starvation.â With which she smiled at him. âYouâve worse before you.â
âAh Iâve everything before me. But on our hypothesis, you know, they must be wonderful.â
âThey are!â said Miss Gostrey. âYouâre not therefore, you see,â she added, âwholly without facts. Theyâve been, in effect, wonderful.â
To have got at something comparatively definite appeared at last a little to helpâ âa wave by which moreover, the next moment, recollection was washed. âMy young
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