FullReads

“Yes, please, Mr. Jerningham–much higher.”

“For both of them?”

“For her. Never mind him.”

“Very well. That again simplifies the problem. But his asking her is a contingency only?”

“Yes, that’s all.”

The philosopher spread out his hands.

“My dear young lady,” he said, “it becomes a question of degree. How probable or improbable is it?”

“I don’t know. Not very probable–unless–unless—-“

“Well?”

“Unless he did happen to notice, you know.”

“Ah, yes. We supposed that, if he thought of it, he would probably take the desired step–at least that he might be led to do so. Could she not–er–indicate her preference?”

“She might try–no, she couldn’t do much. You see, he–he doesn’t think about such things.”

“I understand precisely. And it seems to me, Miss May, that in that very fact we find our solution.”

“Do we?” she asked.

“I think so. He has evidently no natural inclination toward her–perhaps not toward marriage at all. Any feeling aroused in him would be necessarily shallow and in a measure artificial–and in all likelihood purely temporary. Moreover, if she took steps to arouse his attention, one of two things would be likely to happen. Are you following me?”

“Yes, Mr. Jerningham.”

“Either he would be repelled by her overtures–which you must admit is not improbable–and then the position would be unpleasant, and even degrading, for her. Or, on the other hand, he might, through a misplaced feeling of gallantry—-“

“Through what?”

“Through a mistaken idea of politeness, or a mistaken view of what was kind, allow himself to be drawn into a connection for which he had no genuine liking. You agree with me that one or other of these things would be likely?”

“Yes, I suppose they would, unless he did come to care for her.”

“Ah, you return to that hypothesis. I think it’s an extremely fanciful one. No. She needn’t marry A, but she must let B alone.”

The philosopher closed his book, took off his glasses, wiped them, replaced them, and leaned back against the trunk of the apple tree. The girl picked a dandelion in pieces. After a long pause she asked:

“You think B’s feelings wouldn’t be at all likely to–to change?”

“That depends on the sort of man he is. But if he is an able man, with intellectual interests which engross him–a man who has chosen his path in life–a man to whom women’s society is not a necessity—-“

“He’s just like that,” said the girl, and she bit the head off a daisy.

“Then,” said the philosopher, “I see not the least reason for supposing that his feelings will change.”

“And would you advise her to marry the other–A?”

“Well, on the whole, I should. A is a good fellow (I think we made A a good fellow); he is a suitable match; his love for her is true and genuine—-“

“It’s tremendous!”

“Yes–and–er–extreme. She likes him. There is every reason to hope that her liking will develop into a sufficiently deep and stable affection. She will get rid of her folly about B and make A a good wife. Yes, Miss May, if I were the author of your novel, I should make her marry A, and I should call that a happy ending.”

A silence followed. It was broken by the philosopher.

“Is that all you wanted my opinion about, Miss May?” he asked, with his finger between the leaves of the treatise on ontology.

“Yes, I think so. I hope I haven’t bored you?”

“I’ve enjoyed the discussion extremely. I had no idea that novels raised points of such psychological interest. I must find time to read one.”

The girl had shifted her position till, instead of her full face, her profile was turned toward him. Looking away toward the paddock that lay brilliant in sunshine on the skirts of the apple orchard, she asked, in low, slow tones, twisting her hands in her lap:

“Don’t you think that perhaps, if B found out afterward–when she had married A, you know–that she had cared for him so very, very much, he might be a little sorry?”