\"Buthehasn\'t。Richardhasn\'ttoldmeanything。\"
\"Ethel!Thenwhatisthematter?\"
\"Itoldhimsomething。ItoldhimthatifitwasgoingtobeanystoryaboutaboutsomethingIshouldn\'tlike,Ishouldsimplyfollowitwithastoryabouthimthathewouldn\'tlike。\"
\"Ethel!Youdarling!\"
\"Oh,yes,andIsaidIwassureyouwouldalllisten,eventhoughIwasnotanauthormyself。AndIhaveitready,youknow,andit\'sawfullylikeRichard,onlyadifferentsideofhimfromtheburglarone。\"
\"But,mydear,whatdidhedowhenyou\"
Thisenquirywas,however,cutshortbytheentranceofthemen。AndfromtheglancethatcamefromRichard\'seyesastheyimmediatelysoughtouthiswife,Mrs。DavenportknewthathecouldnothavedoneanythingveryseveretoEthelwhenshemadethatthreattohimduringtheirdrive。
Richardatoncemadehiswaytotheeasy-chairarrangedeachnightinagoodpositionforthenarratoroftheevening,andbaptised\"TheSingstool\"byMr。Graves。Mr。GraveswasanardentWagnerian,andespeciallydevotedtoTheMastersingersofNuremberg。
\"Shallwehave,\"hewhisperedtoMr。Hillard,\"aBeckmesserfiascoto-night,orwillitbeaWaltersuccess?\"
ButMr。Hillard,besidesbeinganauthorandacritic,caredlittleforthetooliteraryclevernessofMr。Graves。Hethereforeheavilycrushedthatgentleman\'sallusiontoWagner\'sopera。\"Iremember,\"hesaid,\"thesingingcontestbetweenBeckmesserandWalter,andIdoubtifwearetobeafflictedwithanythingsodullinthishouse。\"
Richardhadsettledhimselfintheeasy-chair,andwaslookingthoughtfullyatvariousobjectsintheroom,whilethesmall-talkwassubsidingaroundhim。
\"Why,Mr。Field,\"saidMrs。Davenport,\"youlookasifyoucouldfindnothingtosuggestyourstorytoyou。\"
\"Onthecontrary,\"saidRichard,\"itisthenumberofthingsthatsuggestit。Thisnewspaperhere,thathasarrivedsinceIwaslastintheroom,hasacolumnwhichremindsmeveryforciblyoftheexperiencethatIhaveselectedtotellyou。ButIthinkthemostappropriateofallisthatpicture。\"Hepointedtothelargestpictureonthewall。\"\'BreakingHomeTies\'isitstitle,Irememberverywell。ItisareplicaoftheoriginalthatdrewsuchcrowdsintheArtBuildingattheWorld\'sFair。\"
WhileRichardwassayingthis,hiswifehadpossessedherselfofthenewspaper,andhenowobservedhoweagerlyshewasscanningitspages。
\"Itisthefinancialcolumn,Ethel,thatrecallsmystory。\"
Ethel,afterahopelessglanceatthis,resumedherseatnearthesofabyMrs。Davenport。
\"Thereweremanypaintings,\"continuedRichard,\"inthatArtBuilding,ofmeritincomparablygreaterthan\'BreakingHomeTies\';andyetthecrowdneverlookedatthose,becauseitdidnotunderstandthem。Butatanyhouroftheday,ifyouhappenedtopassthispicture,ittookyousometimetodoso。YoucouldpassanyofJohnSargeant\'spictures,forinstance,ataspeedlimitedonlybyyourownpowersofrunning;butyoucouldneverrunpast\'BreakingHomeTies。\'Youhadtoworkyourwaythroughthecrowdinfrontofthatjustasyouhavetodoatafire,oranewsofficeduringafootballgame。TheAmericanpeoplecouldnevergetenoughofthatmotherkissingherboygoodbye,whilethewagonwaitsattheopendoortotakehimawayfromheruponhisfirstjourneyintotheworld。Theideaheldadailypathosforthem。Manyhadthemselvesbeenthroughsuchleavetakings;andnowordsostirsthegeneralheartastheword\'mother\'。Songwritersknowthis;andtheartistknewitwhenhedecidedtopaint\'BreakingHomeTies。\'And\'Mother\'isthetitleofmystoryto-night。\"
\"Mother!\"ThiswasEthel\'sbewilderedecho,\"WhoseMother?\"shesoftlymurmuredtoherself。
Richardcontinued。\"ItconcernsthecircumstancesunderwhichIbecameengagedtomywife。\"
TherewasamovementfromEthelasshesatbythesofa。
\"Notallthecircumstances,ofcourse,\"thenarratorcontinued,withacertainguardedcandourinhistone。\"Therearecertaincircumstanceswhichnaturallyattendeveryengagementbetweenhappyandanddevoted
youngpeoplethattheykeeptothemselvesquitecarefully,inspiteofthefactthatanyonewhohasbeenthroughtheexperienceofbeingengagedtwoorthreetimes\"
TherewasanothermovementfromEthelbythesofa。
\"orevenonlyonce,asismycase,\"thenarratorwenton,\"anybody,I
say,whohasbeenthroughtheexperienceofbeingengagedonlyonce,canformaverycorrectideaofthecircumstancesthatattendthehappyengagementsofallyoungpeople。Iimaginetheyprevailinallcountries,justasthefeelingabout\'mother\'prevails。Yes,\'Mother\'istherighttitleformystory,asyoushallsee。Isitnotstrangethatifyouadd\'in-law\'totheword\'mother,\'howimmediatelythesentimentofthetermisaltered?asstronglyindeedaswhenyouprefixtheword\'step\'toit。
Butitiswithneitherofthesecompositeformsofmotherthatanystorydeals。
\"EthelhasalwaysmaintainedthatifIhadreallyunderstoodher,itneverwouldhavehappened。Shesays\"
\"Richard,I\"
\"Mydear,youshalltellyourstoryafterwards,andIpromisetolistenwithoutaworduntilyouarefinished。Mrs。FieldsaysthatifIhadunderstoodhernatureasamanoughttounderstandthegirlhehasbeenthinkingaboutforseveralyears,Ishouldhaveknownshecarednothingaboutmyincome。\"
\"Ididn\'tcare!I\'dhave\"butMr。Fieldcheckedheroutburst。
\"Shewasgoingtosay,\"saidMr。Field,\"thathadIaskedhertomarrymewhenIbecamesurethatIwishedtomarryher,shewouldhavebeenwillingtoleaveNewYorkandgotothewastelandinMichiganthatwasherinheritancefromagrandfather,andtherebuildacabinandliveinitwithme;andthatwhileIshotprairiechickensfordinnershewouldhavemilkedthecowwhichsomememberofthefamilywouldhavebeenwillingtogiveusasaweddingpresentinsteadofastatueoftheWingedVictory,orsilverspoonsandforks,hadwesodesired。\"
Richardmadeapausehere,andlookedathiswifeasifheexpectedhertocorrecthim。ButEthelwasplainlysatisfiedwithhisstatement,andhethereforecontinued。
\"Ithinkitisidealwhenagirlisreadytodosomuchasthatforaman。ButIshouldnotthinkitidealinamantoallowthegirlhelovedtodoitforhim。NordidIthenknowanythingaboutthelandsinMichiganthoughthiswouldhavemadenodifference。Ethelhadbeenaccustomedtoahouseseveralstorieshigh,withhotandcoldwaterinmostofthem,andsomebodytoanswerthedoor-bell。\"
\"Thedoor-bell!\"exclaimedEthel。\"Icouldhavegonewithouthearingthat。\"
\"Yes,Ethel,onlytohearthewelkinringwouldhavebeenenoughforyou。