The Awkward Age - Henry James (ap literature book list .txt) š
- Author: Henry James
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Mrs. Brookenham, who had many talents, had none perhaps that she oftener found useful than that of listening with the appearance of being fairly hypnotised. It was the way she listened to her housekeeper at their regular morning conference, and if the rejoinder ensuing upon it frequently appeared to have nothing to do with her manner this was a puzzle for her interlocutor alone. āOh of course I know your theory, dear Jane, and I dare say itās very charming and old-fashioned and, if you like, aristocratic, in a frowsy foolish old wayāthough even upon that, at the same time, there would be something too to be said. But I can only congratulate you on finding it more workable than there can be any question of MY finding it. If youāre all armed for the sacrifices you speak of I simply am not. I donāt think Iām quite a monster, but I donāt pretend to be a saint. Iām an English wife and an English motherā I live in the mixed English world. My daughter, at any rate, is just my daughter, I thank my stars, and one of a good English bunch: sheās not the unique niece of my dead Italian husband, nor doubtless either, in spite of her excellent birth, of a lineage, like Aggieās, so very tremendous. Iāve my life to lead and sheās a part of it. Sugar?ā she wound up on a still softer note as she handed the cup of tea.
āNever! Well, with MEā said the Duchess with spirit, āshe would be all.ā
āāAllā is soon said! Life is composed of many things,ā Mrs. Brookenham gently rang outāāof such mingled intertwisted strands!ā Then still with the silver bell, āDonāt you really think Tishy nice?ā she asked.
āI think little girls should live with little girls and young femmes du monde so immensely initiated shouldāwell,ā said the Duchess with a toss of her head, ālet them alone. What do they want of them āat all at allā?ā
āWell, my dear, if Tishy strikes you as āinitiatedā all one can ask is āInitiated into what?ā I should as soon think of applying such a term to a little shivering shorn lamb. Is it your theory,ā Mrs. Brookenham pursued, āthat our unfortunate unmarried daughters are to have no intelligent friends?ā
āUnfortunate indeed,ā cried the Duchess, āprecisely BECAUSE theyāre unmarried, and unmarried, if you donāt mind my saying so, a good deal because theyāre unmarriageable. Men, after all, the nice onesāby which I mean the possible onesāare not on the lookout for little brides whose usual associates are so up to snuff. Itās not their idea that the girls they marry shall already have been pitchforkedāby talk and contacts and visits and newspapers and by the way the poor creatures rush about and all the extraordinary things they doāquite into EVERYTHING. A girlās most intelligent friend is her motherāor the relative acting as such. Perhaps you consider that Tishy takes your place!ā
Mrs. Brookenham waited so long to say what she considered that before she next spoke the question appeared to have dropped. Then she only replied as if suddenly remembering her manners: āWonāt you eat something?ā She indicated a particular plate. āOne of the nice little round ones?ā The Duchess appropriated a nice little round one and her hostess presently went on: āThereās one thing I mustnāt forgetādonāt let us eat them ALL. I believe theyāre what Lord Petherton really comes for.ā
The Duchess finished her mouthful imperturbably before she took this up. āDoes he come so often?ā
Mrs. Brookenham might have been, for judicious candour, the Muse of History. āI donāt know what he calls it; but he said yesterday that heād come today. Iāve had tea earlier for you,ā she went on with her most melancholy kindnessāāand heās always late. But we mustnāt, between us, lick the platter clean.ā
The Duchess entered very sufficiently into her companionās tone. āOh I donāt feel at all obliged to consider him, for he has not of late particularly put himself out for me. He has not been to see me since I donāt know when, and the last time he did come he brought Mr. Mitchett.ā
āHere it was the other way round. It was Mr. Mitchett, the other year, who first brought Lord Petherton.ā
āAnd who,ā asked the Duchess, āhad first brought Mr. Mitchett?ā
Mrs. Brookenham, meeting her friendās eyes, looked for an instant as if trying to recall. āI give it up. I muddle beginnings.ā
āThat doesnāt matter if you only MAKE them,ā the Duchess smiled.
āNo, does it?ā To which Mrs. Brookenham added: āDid he bring Mr. Mitchett for Aggie?ā
āIf he did theyāll have been disappointed. Neither of them has seen, in my house, the tip of her nose.ā The Duchess announced it with a pomp of pride.
āAh but with your ideas that doesnāt prevent.ā
āPrevent what?ā
āWhy what I suppose you call the pourparlers.ā
āFor Aggieās hand? My dear,ā said the Duchess, āIām glad you do me the justice of feeling that Iām a person to take time by the forelock. It was not, as you seem to remember, with the sight of Mr. Mitchett that the question of Aggieās hand began to occupy me. I should be ashamed of myself if it werenāt constantly before me and if I hadnāt my feelers out in more quarters than one. But Iāve not so much as thought of Mr. Mitchettāwho, rich as he may be, is the son of a shoemaker and superlatively hideousāfor a reason I donāt at all mind telling you. Donāt be outraged if I say that Iāve for a long time hoped you yourself would find the right use for him.ā She pausedāat present with a momentary failure of assurance, from which she rallied, however, to proceed with a burst of earnestness that was fairly noble. āForgive me if I just tell you once for all how it strikes me, Iām stupefied at your not seeming to recognise either your interest or your duty. Oh I know you want to, but you appear to meāin your perfect good faith of course āutterly at sea. Theyāre one and the same thing, donāt you make out? your interest and your duty. Why isnāt it convincingly plain to you that the thing to do with Nanda is just to marry herāand to marry her soon? Thatās the great thingādo it while you CAN. If you donāt want her downstairsāat which, let me say, I donāt in the least wonderāyour remedy is to take the right alternative. Donāt send her to Tishyāā
āSend her to Mr. Mitchett?ā Mrs. Brookenham unresentfully quavered. Her colour, during her visitorās address had distinctly risen, but there was no irritation in her voice. āHow do you know, Jane, that I donāt want her downstairs?ā
The Duchess looked at her with an audacity confirmed by the absence from her face of everything but the plaintive. āThere you are, with your eternal English false positions! Jāaime, moi, les situations nettesāje rien comprends pas dāautres. It wouldnāt be to your honourāto that of your delicacyāthat with your impossible house you SHOULD wish to plant your girl in your drawing-room. But such a way of keeping her out of it as throwing her into a worseā!ā
āWell, Jane, you do say things to me!ā Mrs. Brookenham blandly broke in. She had sunk back into her chair; her hands, in her lap pressed themselves together and her wan smile brought a tear into each of her eyes by the very effort to be brighter. It might have been guessed of her that she hated to seem to care, but that she had other dislikes too. āIf one were to take up, you know, some of the things you sayā!ā And she positively sighed for the wealth of amusement at them of which her tears were the sign. Her friend could quite match her indifference. āWell, my child, TAKE them up; if you were to do that with them candidly, one by one, you would do really very much what I should like to bring you to. Do you see?ā Mrs. Brookenhamās failure to repudiate the vision appeared to suffice, and her visitor cheerfully took a further jump. āAs much of Tishy as she wantsāAFTER. But not before.ā
āAfter what?ā
āWellāsay after Mr. Mitchett. Mr. Mitchett wonāt take her after Mrs. Grendon.ā
āAnd what are your grounds for assuming that heāll take her at all?ā Then as the Duchess hung fire a moment: āHave you got it by chance from Lord Petherton?ā
The eyes of the two women met for a little on this, and there might have been a consequence of it in the manner of what came. āIāve got it from not being a fool. Men, I repeat, like the girls they marryāā
āOh I already know your old song! The way they like the girls they DONāT marry seems to be,ā Mrs. Brookenham mused, āwhat more immediately concerns us. You had better wait till you HAVE made Aggieās fortune perhapsāto be so sure of the working of your system. Pardon me, darling, if I donāt take you for an example until youāve a little more successfully become one. I know what the sort of men worth speaking of are not looking for. They ARE looking for smart safe sensible English girls.ā
The Duchess glanced at the clock. āWhatās Mr. Vanderbank looking for?ā
Her companion appeared to oblige her by anxiously thinking. āOh, HE, Iām afraid, poor dearāfor nothing at all!ā
The Duchess had taken off a glove to appease her appetite, and now, drawing it on, she smoothed it down. āI think he has his ideas.ā
āThe same as yours?ā
āWell, more like them than like yours.ā
āAh perhaps thenāfor he and I,ā said Mrs. Brookenham, ādonāt agree, I feel, on two things in the world. So you think poor Mitchy,ā she went on, āwhoās the son of a shoemaker and who might be the grandson of a grasshopper, good enough for my child.ā
The Duchess appreciated for a moment the superior fit of her glove. āI look facts in the face. Itās exactly what Iām doing for Aggie.ā Then she grew easy to extravagance. āWhat are you giving her?ā
But Mrs. Brookenham took without wincing whatever, as between a masterful relative and an exposed frivolity, might have been the sting of it. āThat you must ask Edward. I havenāt the least idea.ā
āThere you are againāthe virtuous English mother! Iāve got Aggieās little fortune in an old stocking and I count it over every night. If youāve no old stocking for Nanda there are worse fates than shoemakers and grasshoppers. Even WITH one,
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