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our long American engagements; I suppose they are not as calm as we are. She pronounced the we with a faint emphasis that gave it an ironic sound. Archer felt the irony but did not dare to take it up. After all, she had perhaps purposely deflected the conversation from her own affairs, and after the pain his last words had evidently caused her he felt that all he could do was to follow her lead. But the sense of the waning hour made him desperate: he could not bear the thought that a barrier of words should drop between them again. Yes, he said abruptly; I went south to ask May to marry me after Easter. Theres no reason why we shouldnt be married then. And May adores youand yet you couldnt convince her? I thought her too intelligent to be the slave of such absurd superstitions. She is too intelligentshes not their slave. Madame Olenska looked at him. Well, thenI dont understand. Archer reddened, and hurried on with a rush. We had a frank talkalmost the first. She thinks my impatience a bad sign. Merciful heavensa bad sign? She thinks it means that I cant trust myself to go on caring for her. She thinks, in short, I want to marry her at once to get away from some one that Icare for more. Madame Olenska examined this curiously. But if she thinks thatwhy isnt she in a hurry too? Because shes not like that: shes so much nobler. She insists all the more on the long engagement, to give me time Time to give her up for the other woman? If I want to. Madame Olenska leaned toward the fire and gazed into it with fixed eyes. Down the quiet street Archer heard the approaching trot of her horses. That is noble, she said, with a slight break in her voice. Yes. But its ridiculous. Ridiculous? Because you dont care for any one else? Because I dont mean to marry any one else. Ah. There was another long interval. At length she looked up at him and asked: This other woman does she love you? Oh, theres no other woman; I mean, the person that May was thinking of iswas never Then, why, after all, are you in such haste? Theres your carriage, said Archer. She half-rose and looked about her with absent eyes. Her fan and gloves lay on the sofa beside her and she picked them up mechanically. |
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