ince you have stopped for so long," said Madame, darting
her black looks at him.

But he hurried on his coat, looking stupid. Madame lifted her
eyebrows disdainfully.

"This is polite behaviour!" she said sarcastically.

Alvina stood at a loss.

"You return to the funeral?" said Madame coldly.

He shook his head.

"When you are ready to go," he said.

"At four o'clock," said Madame, "when the funeral has come home.
Then we shall be in time for the train."

He nodded, smiled stupidly, opened the door, and went.

"This is just like him, to be so--so--" Madame could not express
herself as she walked down to the kitchen.

"Miss Pinnegar, this is Madame," said Alvina.

"How do you do?" said Miss Pinnegar, a little distant and
condescending. Madame eyed her keenly.

"Where is the man? I don't know his name," said Miss Pinnegar.

"He wouldn't stay," said Alvina. "What _is_ his name, Madame?"

"Marasca--Francesco. Francesco Marasca--Neapolitan."

"Marasca!" echoed Alvina.

"It has a bad sound--a sound of a bad augury, bad sign," said
Madame. "Ma-ra-sca!" She shook her head at the taste of the
syllables.

"Why do you think so?" said Alvina. "Do you think there is a meaning
in sounds? goodness and badness?"

"Yes," said Madame. "Certainly. Some sounds are good, they are for
life, for creating, and some sounds are bad, they are for
destroying. Ma-ra-sca!--that is bad, like swearing."

"But what sort of badness? What does it do?" said Alvina.

"What does it do? It sends life down--down--instead of lifting it
up."

"Why should things always go up? Why should life always go up?" said
Alvina.

"I don't know," said Madame, cutting her meat quickly. There was a
pause.

"And what about other names," interrupted Miss Pinnegar, a little
lofty. "What about Houghton, for example?"

Madame put down her fork, but kept her knife in her hand. She looked
across the room, not at Miss Pinnegar.

"Houghton--! Huff-ton!" she said. "When it is said, it has a sound
_against_: that is, against the neighbour, against humanity. But
when it is written _Hough-ton!_ then it is different, it is _for_."

"It is always pronounced _Huff-ton_," said Miss Pinnegar.

"By us," said Alvina.

"We ought to know," said Miss Pinnegar.

Madame turned to look at the unhappy, elderly woman.

"You are a relative of the family?" she said.

"No, not a relative. But I've been here many years," said Miss
Pinnegar.

"Oh, yes!" said Mad