little nervous i am quite nervous already you are eminently welcome colonel he added with gracious emphasis some relations of mine have most kindly come to see me to day we have not as much in common as one could wish � my fault of course i own � and family affection goes a long way arid fills up many conversation now is becoming the least shade difficult i have colonel wife been looking forward to your arrival with longing and you come and say something to them we should all unite in a movement of gratitude i shall be very happy to make myself useful said philip stiffly he detested mr with amazing cordiality at that moment that is so good of you the other man answered then he addressed at whom he had glanced more than once while speaking i wonder if you know how extremely becoming that gown is he remarked in a meditative manner it does not much matter whether i know it or not she replied quickly if other people do you mean continued mr still looking at her and lifting his eyebrows slightly commend me to your good sense it never deserts you i did not say that the girl answered with some warmth oh no of course not if you had it would have tended to my statement with rapidity but you leave things to be understood your taste is always admirable that is more than can be said of your own at times mr broke in the colonel a number of subtle strains of feeling had combined to philip s self control he was bitter and he lost his temper pretty thoroughly that fellow with his nasty tions will make her as artificial and as he is himself he thought and then he added mentally a certain desire concerning mr future destiny considerably more vigorous than polite meanwhile stared at him with an of interested surprise suppose we come into the garden he said perhaps it would be safer this spot is exposed and medical men say that moonlight is dangerous it affects the intelligence in some cases shall we come few things are more than that another person should triumphantly retain his of when you are conscious of having lost your own practised this passive form of torture frequently upon the members of his acquaintance he entirely refused to be ruffled he became and more seriously polite and gracious � that was all he was perfectly ready to pardon small and those that cursed him and this not because his spirit was lover and mistress lot penetrated with a conviction of the value of the grace of humility but simply because it was not worth while to get excited men and things were profoundly unsatisfactory this world is a most speculation bound to go wrong and prove a bore to permit yourself to be excited or angry implied that you had expected things to go right and were disappointed it was crude it was exquisitely foolish to be disappointed and if there was one thing mr dreaded it was being foolish he did not dread anything else very much he was under the impression that he had taken the measure of the possible evils which could befall him � he believed he was equal to meeting them he had not very much he thought either to gain or to lose his belief in his own that would be a heavy loss and an one as to colonel had a considerable respect for him he fancied that he understood the other man s character pretty completely he knew quite well that colonel disliked him but it would have appeared about as reasonable to to be annoyed with him on these grounds as to be annoyed with a for moving with deliberation or with a spider for enjoying a diet of flies people are the result of their circumstances of inheritance education to be o� with them poor for what they cannot possibly help for sympathies and none of their choosing and beyond their control is simply absurd and so it comes about that a and creed produces some aspects of the highest christian endurance and � a really admirably glad suffering of fools combined with a beautiful absence of any desire to the said fools in with the professed intention of grinding the folly out of them the immediate consequence of mr philosophy on the present occasion was that he entertained his companion with agreeable conversation as they walked slowly after and the little boy down the length of the terrace his face was mild and serious his manner calm and soothing he treated the colonel as one treats a slightly insane patient who should be agreed with and humoured gazed down over the terrace wall at the and the town below � did his best in fact to out the little walk as much as possible and completely to engage colonel s philip s wrath under these he thought he had been a trifle rough on mr he did not care to that movement of he had plenty on m colonel en s wife his hands already without matters by a brush with this young gentleman he too and listened very to mr advice as to the best way of seeing italy and other kindred matters while his eyes followed s retreating figure with lingering as they went in at the gate of the garden was saying � you should come for a winter you know for instance is delightful in winter and there generally is interesting society there society that presents a good deal of material to the imagination yes you should see it colonel you would form an element � perhaps a new one society would be obliged to you by the way my cousin mrs who is here to night could tell you a lot about she was tha e a good deal a few years ago before 