t half-wild gesture which so
truly expressed her. Marrying Duddon! that vast house, and all those
possessions; those piles of money; those county relations, and that web
of inherited custom which would lay its ghostly compulsion on Tatham's
wife the very instant he had married her--it was not to be thought of for
a moment! She, the artist with art and the world before her; she, with
her soul in her own keeping, and all the beauty of sky and fell and
stream to be had for the asking, to make herself the bond slave of
Duddon--of that formidably beautiful, that fond, fastidious mother!--and
of all the ceremonial and paraphernalia that must come with Duddon! She
saw herself spending weeks on the mere ordering of her clothes, calling
endlessly on stupid people, opening bazaars, running hospitals,
entertaining house parties, with the _clef des champs_ gone forever--a
little drawing at odd times--and all the meaning of life drowned in its
trappings. No--no--_no!_--a thousand times, no! Not though her mother
implored her, and every creature in Cumbria and the universe thought her
stark staring mad. No!--for her own sake first; but, above all, for Lord
Tatham's sake.

Whereat she repentantly reminded herself that after all, if she despised
the world and the flesh, there was no need to give herself airs; for
certainly Harry Tatham was giving proof--stronger proof indeed, of doing
the same; if it were really his intention to offer his handsome person,
and his no less handsome possessions to a girl as insignificant as
herself. Custom had not staled _him_. And there was his mother too; who,
instead of nipping the silly business in the bud, and carrying the
foolish young man to London, was actually aiding and abetting--sending
gracious invitations to dinner, of the most unnecessary description.

What indeed could be more detached, more romantic--apparently--than
the attitude of both Tatham and his mother toward their own immense
advantages?

Yes. But they were born to them; they had had time to get used to them.
"It would take me half a lifetime to find out what they mean, and another
half to discover what to do with them."

"And, if one takes the place, ought one not to earn the wages? Lady
Tatham sits loose to all her social duties, scorns frocks, won't call,
cuts bazaars, has never been known to take the chair at a meeting. But I
should call that shirking. Either refuse the game; or play it! And of all
the games in the world, s