Page:The Novels and Tales of Henry James, Volume 2 (New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1907).djvu/183

THE AMERICAN "He's very nice, though he's not very young. He's now upwards of fifty; fifteen years my senior. He has been a father to my sister and me. He's a type apart; he has the best manners in France. He's extremely clever; indeed he's full of accomplishment. He's writing a history of The Unmarried Princesses of the Maison de France." This was said by Valentin with extreme gravity, in a tone that betokened no mental reservation—or that at least almost betokened none.

Our friend perhaps discovered there what little there was, for he presently said: You could struggle along without your brother."

"I beg your pardon"-the young man still as gravely protested. "A house like ours is inevitably one."

"Then you want some one to come right in and break it up."

"Hein?" said Valentin.

On which Newman, after an instant, put the matter another way. "Well, I'm glad I'm free not to like him!"

"Wait till you know him!" Valentin returned—and this time he smiled.

"Is your mother also then a type apart?" his friend asked after a pause.

"For my mother," the young man said, now with intense gravity, "I have the highest admiration. She's a very extraordinary person. You can't approach her without feeling it."

"She's the daughter, I believe, of an English nobleman?" 153