refusing to acknowledge an inevitable conclusion it may seem a little stupid of any person to do this and yet to my mind there is something wonderfully moving in the gallant hopeless determination with which the young fight against the hard of fact and experience they may be fools they are fools no doubt but they are fools whom one suffers gladly for love of i u i their magnificent and finely elizabeth went j op tain with the in her she felt a little reckless � the world seemed in a to be coming to an end the da j after to morrow meanwhile she would defy fate she do what she liked she would herself one last chance she would see edward somehow and if nothing came of it � and in justice to poor elizabeth it must be owned that she had formed no clear idea as to what could possibly come of it � well then she thought bitterly enough she would have to own herself beaten and let the world come to an end as soon as it pleased at last f said mrs frank in her clear emphatic voice as elizabeth entered the drawing room my dear elizabeth where in the name of patience have yon been i have been waiting here the most interminable length of time to see you had a great power of letting plain daylight into the minds of other people but elizabeth was too highly wrought � too entirely occupied with her own sensations � to bo awakened even by her sister in law s rapid and decided opening of the shutters just at present i have been walking down by the river she answered dear me i said mrs frank doesn t it strike you that it is just a little late for you to be out walking alone i wasn t alone observed elizabeth simply oh said mrs frank with a note of ill her a u in and she looked rather hard at elizabeth she had an impression that there was something odd about her she wondered if anything could have happened i met mr said with the same air of indifference and abstraction and he walked back here with mo a sudden cheerful seemed to take possession of s small person had come back then and just in time she hardly knew how to be sufficiently thankful she had not made a fatal after all elizabeth seemed strangely but that mrs frank was charmed at � it certainly meant she argued that something had happened or was just about to happen was really going right then she had hardly before how dreadfully anxious s absence had made her her present sense of relief was intensely she smiled a little to herself and folded her small neat hands on her lap as she said quietly you have an admirable indifference to public opinion really elizabeth you know the circumstances and surroundings of your walk might strike some people as slightly peculiar if had failed to awaken elizabeth at first she certainly succeeded in doing so very completely now elizabeth turned toward her with a sense of considerable annoyance what do you mean she asked quickly only that you are young and very good looking answered the other and that of course you run the risk of being talked about you know everybody does that unless they are immensely careful elizabeth had not expected this sort of open attack it seemed to her that was playing exactly the same part that mrs had played two years before it is interesting to observe how history itself but there are some experiences none of us desire particularly to go through twice even for the sake of proving the of that valuable saying the drawing room was warm after the cold damp air of the evening outside elizabeth felt both mentally and physically stifled she had a sense of heat and crowding and confusion no doubt her state of mind was exaggerated but hers was a nature prone to exaggeration s words all her distressing feelings she felt as though she was caught in a great spider s web the delicate almost invisible threads clung about her her movement almost choking her her and hopelessly round with their thin compelling strength she struggled against this sensation she determined angrily come what might to see edward again this room is hot she said for all answer to her sister in law s upon her conduct the fire is large replied calmly i suppose your maids are anxious to finish up your whole stock of coals before they go maids always regard tenants as their natural enemies they can t leaving a scrap of anything for their i fancy we are all inclined to bo a little prejudiced against our the heat is intolerable said elizabeth again she moved across the room hastily and threw one of the windows wide open letting in a rush of rain laden a in and wind which made the curtains and the candles oh i what a fearful draught i cried mrs frank putting up both hands to keep a little of the blast from her face for pity s sake shut down that and come and speak to me like a reasonable creature i if you want to give me something pray let it be something more agreeable than a violent cold in my head elizabeth shut the window down slowly cold air and the physical exertion had done her good she felt less excited and bewildered yet more determined than ever to have her own way in one matter at least she sat down quietly and looked at edward s card again she observed that he had the name of the hotel at which he was staying in the corner of it now that the has ceased said mrs frank her long gloves with great composure i may as well tell you what i 