Page:The Novels and Tales of Henry James, Volume 1 (New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1907).djvu/369

 be really afraid of anything. Don't at any rate conclude on that point just yet. Wait till you 've tested your courage. While you wait you 'll see an immense number of very beautiful things—things that you 're made to understand. They won't leave you as they found you; then you can judge. Don't tell me I know nothing about your understanding. I 've a right to count upon it."

Mary gazed a while aloft into the dome. "I 'm not sure I understand that." And she nodded upward.

"I hope at least that at a cursory glance it pleases you. You need n't be afraid to tell the truth. What strikes some people," Rowland said, "is that it 's so disconcertingly small."

"Oh, it 's large enough; it will do for me. There are things in Rome, then," she added in a moment, turning and looking at him, "that are quite supremely beautiful?"

"Lots of them."

"Some of the most beautiful things in the world?"

"Unquestionably."

"What are they? which things have most beauty?"

"That's according to taste. I should say the antique sculpture."

"How long will it take to see it all; to know least something about it?"

"You can see it all, as far as mere seeing goes, in a fortnight. But to know it is a thing for one's leisure. The more time you spend with it the more you care for it." After a moment's hesitation he went on: "Why should you grudge time? It's all in your way, since you 're to be an artist's wife." 335