FullReads

‘Not exactly angry, but very hot and excited–at my presuming to think her relations with my son were not the simplest in the world. I might scold him as much as I liked–that was between ourselves; but she didn’t see why I should tell her that I had done so. Did I think she allowed him to treat her with disrespect? That idea was not very complimentary to her! He had treated her better and been kinder to her than most other people–there were very few on the ship that hadn’t been insulting. She should be glad enough when she got off it, to her own people, to some one whom no one would have a right to say anything about. What was there in her position that was not perfectly natural? What was the idea of making a fuss about her position? Did I mean that she took it too easily–that she didn’t think as much as she ought about Mr. Porterfield? Didn’t I believe she was attached to him–didn’t I believe she was just counting the hours until she saw him? That would be the happiest moment of her life. It showed how little I knew her, if I thought anything else.’

‘All that must have been rather fine–I should have liked to hear it,’ I said. ‘And what did you reply?’

‘Oh, I grovelled; I told her that I accused her (as regards my son) of nothing worse than an excess of good nature. She helped him to pass his time–he ought to be immensely obliged. Also that it would be a very happy moment for me too when I should hand her over to Mr. Porterfield.’

‘And will you come up to-day?’

‘No indeed–she’ll do very well now.’

I gave a sigh of relief. ‘All’s well that ends well!’

Jasper, that day, spent a great deal of time with his mother. She had told me that she really had had no proper opportunity to talk over with him their movements after disembarking. Everything changes a little, the last two or three days of a voyage; the spell is broken and new combinations take place. Grace Mavis was neither on deck nor at dinner, and I drew Mrs. Peck’s attention to the extreme propriety with which she now conducted herself. She had spent the day in meditation and she judged it best to continue to meditate.

‘Ah, she’s afraid,’ said my implacable neighbour.

‘Afraid of what?’

‘Well, that we’ll tell tales when we get there.’

‘Whom do you mean by “we”?’

‘Well, there are plenty, on a ship like this.’

‘Well then, we won’t.’

‘Maybe we won’t have the chance,’ said the dreadful little woman.

‘Oh, at that moment a universal geniality reigns.’

‘Well, she’s afraid, all the same.’

‘So much the better.’

‘Yes, so much the better.’

All the next day, too, the girl remained invisible and Mrs. Nettlepoint told me that she had not been in to see her. She had inquired by the stewardess if she would receive her in her own cabin, and Grace Mavis had replied that it was littered up with things and unfit for visitors: she was packing a trunk over. Jasper made up for his devotion to his mother the day before by now spending a great deal of his time in the smoking-room. I wanted to say to him ‘This is much better,’ but I thought it wiser to hold my tongue. Indeed I had begun to feel the emotion of prospective arrival (I was delighted to be almost back in my dear old Europe again) and had less to spare for other matters. It will doubtless appear to the critical reader that I had already devoted far too much to the little episode of which my story gives an account, but to this I can only reply that the event justified me. We sighted land, the dim yet rich coast of Ireland, about sunset and I leaned on the edge of the ship and looked at it. ‘It doesn’t look like much, does it?’ I heard a voice say, beside me; and, turning, I found Grace Mavis was there. Almost for the first time she had her veil up, and I thought her very pale.