Page:The Portrait of a Lady (1882).djvu/48

40 40 THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY. it's not enviable. It has never been seen by a young, happy, innocent person like you. You must have suffered first, have suffered greatly, have gained some miserable knowledge. In that way your eyes are opened to it. I saw it long ago," said Ralph, smiling. " I told you just now I was very fond of knowledge," the girl answered. " Yes, of happy knowledge of pleasant knowledge. But you haven't suffered, and you are not made to suffer. I hope you will never see the ghost ! " Isabel had listened to him attentively, with a smile on her lips, but with a certain gravity in her eyes. Charming as he found her, she had struck him as rather presumptuous indeed it was a part of her charm ; and he wondered what she would say. " I am not afraid," she said ; which seemed quite presumptuous enough. " You are not afraid of suffering ? " " Yes, I am afraid of suffering. But I am not afraid of ghosts. And I think people suffer too easily," she added. " I don't believe you do," said Ralph, looking at her with his hands in his pockets. "I don't think that's a fault," she answered. "It is not absolutely necessary to suffer ; we were not made for that." " You were not, certainly." " I am not speaking of myself." And she turned away a little. " No, it isn't a fault," said her cousin. " It's a merit to be strong." " Only, if you don't suffer, they call you hard," Isabel re- marked. They passed out of the smaller drawing-room, into which they had returned from the gallery, and paused in the hall, at the foot of the staircase. Here Ralph presented his companion with her bed-room candle, which he had taken from a niche. " Never mind what they call you," he said. " When you do suffer, they call you an idiot. The great point is to be as happy as possible." She looked at him a little ; she had taken her candle, and placed her foot on the oaken stair. "Well," she said, "that's what I came to Europe for, to be as happy as possible. Good night." " Good night ! I wish you all success, and shall be very glad to contribute to it ! " She turned away, and he watched her, as she slowly ascended. Then, with bis hands always in his pockets, he went back to the empty drawing-room.