I
will never speak of it either to her or to any one."
Her promise brought the long-drawn interview to a sudden close.
Miss Bartlett pecked her smartly on both cheeks, wished her
good-night, and sent her to her own room.
For a moment the original trouble was in the background. George
would seem to have behaved like a cad throughout; perhaps that
was the view which one would take eventually. At present she
neither acquitted nor condemned him; she did not pass judgment.
At the moment when she was about to judge him her cousin's voice
had intervened, and, ever since, it was Miss Bartlett who had
dominated; Miss Bartlett who, even now, could be heard sighing
into a crack in the partition wall; Miss Bartlett, who had really
been neither pliable nor humble nor inconsistent. She had worked
like a great artist; for a time--indeed, for years--she had been
meaningless, but at the end there was presented to the girl the
complete picture of a cheerless, loveless world in which the
young rush to destruction until they learn better--a shamefaced
world of precautions and barriers which may avert evil, but which
do not seem to bring good, if we may judge from those who have
used them most.
Pages:
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158