Page:The Portrait of a Lady (1882).djvu/69

61 THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY. 61 you must remember that Ealph is rather fanciful." "He thinks Lord Warburton is too radical or not radical enough ! I don't quite understand which," said Isabel. The old man shook his head slowly, smiled, and put down his cup. "I don't know which, either. He goes very far, but it is quite possible he doesn't go far enough. He seems to want to do away with a good many things, but he seems to want to remain himself. I suppose that is natural; but it is rather incon- sistent." " Oh, I hope he will remain himself," said Isabel. " If he were to be done away with, his friends would miss him sadly." " Well," said the old man, " I guess he'll stay and amuse his friends. I should certainly miss him very much here at Garden- court. He always amuses me when he comes over, and I think he amuses himself as well. There is a considerable number like him, round in society ; they are very fashionable just now. I don't know what they are trying to do whether they are trying to get up a revolution ; I hope at any rate they will put it off till after I am gone. You see they want to disestablish every- thing ; but I'm a pretty big landowner here, and I don't want to be disestablished. I wouldn't have come over if I had thought they were going to behave like that," Mr. Touchett went on, with expanding hilarity. " I came over because I thought England was a safe country. I call it a regular fraud, if they are going to introduce any considerable changes; there'll be a large number disappointed in that case." " Oh, I do hope they will make a revolution ! " Isabel exclaimed. " I should delight in seeing a revolution." " Let me see," said her uncle, with a humorous intention ; "I forget whether you are a liberal or a conservative. I have heard you take such opposite views." " I am both. I think I am a little of everything. In a revolution after it was well begun I think I should be a conservative. One sympathises more with them, and they have a chance to behave so picturesquely." "I don't know that I understand what you mean by behaving picturesquely, but it seems to me that you do that always, my dear." "Oh, you lovely man, if I could believe that!" the girl interrupted. " I am afraid, after all, you won't have the pleasure of seeing
 * Oh, indeed 1 I don't know what there may be to say, but