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    A Room with a View
    A Room with a View
    A Room with a View
    Ebook266 pages4 hours

    A Room with a View

    By E. M. Forster

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    About this ebook

    One of English literature’s most inspiring love stories

    Lucy Honeychurch is a young woman torn between the opposing values of gray old England and vibrant Italy in this unforgettable story of romance and rebellion. On a trip to Florence with her older cousin and chaperone, Lucy becomes enchanted by a freedom unlike any she has known at home. The excitement she feels when she is with George Emerson, a fellow boarder at the Pension Bertolini, is as exhilarating as it is confusing, and their intoxicating kiss in a field of violets threatens to turn her whole world upside down. Back at Windy Corner, her family’s Surrey estate, Lucy must finally decide if the power of passion is greater than the force of expectation.

    Widely recognized as one of the finest novels of the twentieth century, A Room with a View is E. M. Forster’s most hopeful work and a truly timeless romance.

    This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Media
    Release dateApr 22, 2014
    ISBN9781480484115
    Author

    E. M. Forster

    Edward Morgan Forster (1879-1970) was an English novelist, short story writer and essayist best known for his books A Room with a View (1908), Howards End (1910) and A Passage to India (1924). Born in London, young Edward lost his father to tuberculosis before he turned two years old. His mother Lily and Edward subsequently moved to a country house in Hertfordshire called Rooks Next, which served as a model for the eponymous house in the book Howards End. Edward inherited a considerable sum of money from his paternal great-aunt that allowed him to embark on a career as a writer. He attended Tonbridge School in Kent but did not enjoy his time there. He then went to King's College in Cambridge where he joined a secret society known as the Apostles, several members of which later helped form the Bloomsbury Group, a literary/philosophical society that boasted such early members as Virginia Woolf, John Maynard Keynes and Vanessa Bell. Upon graduation, Forster went abroad and wrote of his travels extensively. Upon his return, he set up residence in Weybridge, Surrey where he would write all six of his novels. All of his books were written between 1908 and 1924 and his last, A Passage to India, won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction. Forster was a homosexual and while he never married, he did have several affairs with male lovers during his lifetime, including a forty-year romance with married policeman Bob Buckingham, at whose home he collapsed and died at age 91 of a stroke. Forster explored his struggle with his own sexuality in his book Maurice. Forster was extremely critical of American foreign policy during his lifetime and rebuffed efforts to film adaptations of his novels due to the fact that the productions would likely use American financing. After his death, however, several of his books were made into films and three of them - A Room with a View, Howards End and A Passage to India are among the most highly regarded films of the late 20th century.

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    Reviews for A Room with a View

    4/5

    2,646 ratings104 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Lucy Honeychurch and her cousin Charlotte are visiting Florence when they meet Mr Emerson and his son. Later in England, when they encounter the Emersons again, they both have private reasons for wanting to avoid them.I was delighted by much of this; it is astutely observant and gently humorous. Much ado is made over a kiss, which is baffling from a modern perspective, but I suspect this not only reflects attitudes common at the time but that Forster is intentionally showing that his characters are being a bit ridiculous.I would be even more enthusiastic if the final chapters had unfolded as they did. There’s an irritating scene where a man lectures Lucy, telling her what she should do. His motives aren’t unsympathetic, and his advice isn’t unreasonable -- but it is uninvited and he persists even when she becomes obviously upset. Moreover, the story then jumps in time, skipping over Lucy deciding what to do next and how she goes about it. I’m pleased with the final result, but why must you diminish her agency like that?It is obvious enough for the reader to conclude, “She loves young Emerson.” A reader in Lucy’s place would not find it obvious. Life is easy to chronicle, but bewildering to practice, and we welcome “nerves” or any other shibboleth that will cloak our personal desire. She loved Cecil; George made her nervous; will the reader explain to her that the phrases should have been reversed?
    • 4/5
      The inhabitants of Windy Corner (as well as Pensione Betolini) are left pale and perforated after Forster's serial needling. Forster can only stop heckling his characters long enough to appreciate the song of the season's and the subtle currents of music.
    • 2/5
      It's fun and builds up stronger, but I never really connected with it. Maybe the weak start threw me.
    • 3/5
      Listened to the Classic Tales podcast version. Not bad.
    • 3/5
      Well, I think I'm going to be teaching this book this year. I see the themes that make it a good one to teach to adolescents. I have a little trouble reading it, though, unless I'm not tired and have no distractions...I tend to get a little lost in the words!
    • 5/5
      A lovely romance.
    • 3/5
      In my head, I'd constructed my own version of A Room With a View, which never works out well for a reader. In this case, I'd imagined Lucy's trip to Florence as being a great deal more subversive than it turned out to be. Only the first third of the novel even takes place in Italy as the second and third act are set back in England as (heavens!) a marriage to a bore looms. Still, I liked it just the same. Forster has a nice way of using language and I also enjoyed his narrative style: popping in and out of characters' thoughts--often in the same scene--or, sometimes, editorializing or even addressing the reader directly.

      It's of course important to understand the book in its historical context and the pressures and taboos inherent in that society. A modern reader can be tempted to say, "If you don't like him, don't marry him," but of course it wasn't such an easy thing to do. But some things are constant. Music--in this case, Schumann--serves as both outlet and input for thoughts that can't quite be put into words. So it shall ever be.
    • 5/5
      I had the great pleasure of listening to this via an Audible recording by B.J. Harrison, whose narration was wonderful. It's an early Forster, in which he delightfully skewers Edwardian upper middle class manners. A young woman takes a tour of Italy, with a rather purse-lipped older cousin/chaperone, and of course falls in love, to her own dismay, flees, makes bad choices, and then good ones.The characters are vividly different, and include sneering expats, an inappropriately wild female novelist, a clergyman, a pair of older British spinsters, and even a rather un-Italian pension proprietress. The writing is equally vivid. What is most striking to me is how Forster makes us privy to the thoughts of our heroine Lucy Honeychurch (what a name!). We hear her testing her conventions and emotions, as Italy shows her the possibilities of generous feeling, as well as the dangers of passion. Back home, she struggles to re-adapt to the expectations of society, but plans go delightfully awry.I've rarely laughed out loud walking uptown listening to a novel, but I did several times listening to this.
    • 4/5
      This is absolutely lovely. I would recommend this to someone who is wanting to read classics, but is unsure where to start, as it is a very easy read.
    • 4/5
      A Room With A View by E.M. Forster opens in Florence, Italy where tourists Lucy Honeychurch along with her cousin and chaperone, Charlotte Bartlett first make the acquaintance of the Emersons, father and son who give up their rooms to the two English ladies so that they will have a view. The other guests at this small inn all are British and are a varied assortment, but right from the start Charlotte is convinced that the Emersons are ill-bred and should be avoided. Of course the Emerson son, George and Lucy are obviously attracted to each other, but Lucy comes to agree with her cousin and tries to stay away from the Emersons but this often cannot be avoided. On a group trip to the Italian countryside, George not only challenges Lucy’s thinking but also kisses her, which in these rigid Edwardian times was a great affront. Lucy, more disturbed than before, and Charlotte pack up and depart Florence.The story then moves forward a few months to England and Lucy accepting the proposal of Cecil Vyse, much to delight of her family. But Cecil is domineering and judgmental. He is constantly telling Lucy what to think and how to act. When the Emersons appear back on the scene, Lucy feels trapped and cannot admit even to herself how she feels about George, but she does find the courage to break off her engagement to the pompous Cecil. Unknown to Lucy someone is making manoeuvres behind her back and ensuring that all works out the way it should.Room With A View is a romance and had many of the trappings of that genre, an exotic setting with summer storms, hillsides of violets, chance encounters and romantic rivals. This is also a love story with repressed feelings, denial, and class barriers, however, the author with his humorous and satirical style gives this story it’s extra sparkle and wit. While I wasn’t totally enamoured with his characters, I did admire the author’s ability to set the scene, serve up some intriguing dialogue, and give the reader a vivid picture of the repressed nature of Edwardian times.
    • 4/5
      Avoid the 1992 "pre-echo"/"bleed-through" Books on Tape edition (and its later repackaged versions)[4] for "A Room with a View."[1] for the 1992 audiobook by Frederick Davidson. I'm not going to distort the rating for the Edwardian meet-cute romantic-comedy classic "A Room with a View" due to a bad audio experience, so the official vote here is a [4].Otherwise, this is a warning to steer clear of the 1992 Books on Tape audiobook by Frederick Davidson which is badly dated in style but is still being sold as recently as 2017 at Audible Audio. It also betrays its audiotape analog pedigree due to its constant pre-echo / audio bleed-through. This is a quirk from the vinyl/tape era where the audio signal from about 2-3 seconds in the future would "bleed-through" as a artifact in the current signal. The effect is like hearing a phantom distorted conversation constantly in the background of the actual audio that you are listening to. It is enormously annoying and distracting.Frederick Davidson (real name:David Case) was an early legend of the audiobook era and recorded many hundreds of classics. His reading style will seem very old-fashioned now but is still suitable for some characters e.g. Cecil Vyse in the case of "A Room with a View."
    • 5/5
      A young man steals a kiss from Lucy Honeychurch on a vacation in Italy - and Lucy begins to question her narrow life, her selfish fiancé, her conventional family, her bleak future.What I appreciate about Room With a View- Forsters empathy with his characters. Even aristocratic and selfish Cecil Wyse we sympathise with when he’s rejected.- It’s sunny, optimistic and witty - very witty. If you want the “darker” E. M. Forster read Howard’s End.- I like the way Lucy Honeychurch is questioning herself, her choices, her opinions, her ideals - the way her irrational mind is trying to make sense of the restricted, narrow world she has grown accustomed to.- That George Emerson remains an enigma throughout the story. His actions we get explained mainly through his father - he’s the fresh wind blowing new life into Lucy’s existence - but a big questionmark to Lucy as well as to the readers.
    • 5/5
      Very funny observational humour in Florence, a comedy of interior dialogue and exterior manners. Turns a bit gloomy in Windy Corner, with quite a lot of coincidence needed to set up the action, a situation which the author manages to deal with fairly well. A truly inspiring conclusion where things fall into place, with a very profound view of what it means to live a meaningful life.Abridged audiobook (5 hours 14 minutes) read by Juliet Stevenson:A fairly light abridgement (5 and a quarter hours abridged versus approximately 7 hours and 20 minutes unabridged).Excellent narration.Musical interludes tolerable due to the reference to Lucy's playing.Stop the audio when she says "The End" unless you want the Audible.com voice shouting "THIS IS AUDIBLE DOT COM" at you immediately afterwards.
    • 5/5
      Truth! Beauty! Love!
    • 5/5
      "A Room with a View" is a good novel in the nineteenth-century style, but it becomes a really interesting novel when one considers that it feels like one of the last of its kind. The old themes and plot devices -- marriage, propriety, manners, financial security, and consideration -- are still present, but in a changing, modernizing world. Indeed, a lot of the manners that allowed characters in previous romantic novels to effectively communicate with each other sometimes seem like hindrances to communication here: much of the time, the author seems to suggest that language itself can be a barrier to real understanding. Forster also includes a few characters with unmistakably modern ideas, describes the way that suburbia is encroaching on traditional English country life, and, most exciting of all, explores how values associated largely with the twentieth century, such as freedom and independence, might affect the traditional novel. Forster's imagery, particularly his use of water, seems more attuned to post-Freudian or Modernist writing as well. The novel's ending didn't surprise me in terms of plot -- this is, after all, a love story -- but it takes a few genuinely surprising thematic terms that would have been almost unimaginable in, say, a Jane Austen novel. It might not be an exaggeration to say that "A Room with a View" feels like the Victorian novel writing itself out of existence. The novel also has some other attractions. Forster has a lot of fun with the English abroad, who seek to bring their own country with them or take pride in finding an probably imaginary "real Italy." And then, of course, there's Lucy Honeychurch, the female character at the novel's center, who is wonderfully human and sympathetic. She's not as headstrong as Elizabeth Bennett, but because the conflict she feels, which often hinges on the conflict between her own affection for her upbringing and her desire for a new sort of life, her character might be an excellent recapitualtion of all the novel's themes. I didn't find "A Room with a View" to be a fun or thrilling read; in its way, it's very formal. But that doesn't mean it isn't a very, very good novel.
    • 3/5
      A sweet little book, a young girl's coming of age amidst the uncomparable landscapes of Florence and surroundings. Poetical language. Somehow lacking depth. One of the rare occasions where the movie is so much better and actually does rapture your imagination much more than the book itself.
    • 5/5
      This is a book that I could pick up at anytime, turn to any page and start reading and enjoying. I enjoy the story, the character development and the language.
    • 4/5
      A classic book about a young woman, her friends and family. It begins in Florence in a pensione where Lucy and her spinster cousin encounter other English tourists including a father and son, the Emmersons who change Lucy's life though it takes her awhile to come to terms with it. Back in England, she gets engaged to a pompous boor, Cecil Vyse, seemingly because she thinks she should. It's also a rebound from a pass that George Emmerson made while in Italy which shook her up. Lucy has passions that she channels into music but it's clear she doesn't love Cecil and just may love George but won't admit it. Lo and behold, the Emmerson's end up living in her village. All of the main characters seem very well written and developed. I saw the movie several times over the years and always meant to read the book and I enjoyed it quite a bit.
    • 4/5
      My favourite of Forster's novels, centred around the gradual (and perhaps rather belated) coming of age of the beautiful and determined Lucy Hornchurch as she travels with her over-powering and intransigent aunt, Charlotte Bartlett to visit Florence. While staying at their pension (run by a "Cockney signora") they encounter the Emersons, a father and son of socialist and humanist bent, who have also been taking in the cultural fare of the Grand Tour. The Emersons are clearly well meaning but seem to have no sense of how to behave in "decent" company. Having resolved that she will try to avoid further acquaintance with them it is almost inevitable that Lucy will be thrown upon their good offices, especially those of the enigmatic George, the younger Emerson who "works on the railway".Forster handles all the interactions very adroitly, always aware of the prickly social frictions, and while the eventual denouement leaves no surprises the route by which he takes us there is pleasantly convoluted but never implausible.I must admit that I now can't consider this book other than through the filter of the lovely Merchant Ivory film in which Helena Bonham Carter played Lucy, Simon Callow was charmings as the Reverend Beebe and Denholm Elliott excelled as Mr Emerson..
    • 5/5
      I listened to the audio version on Librivox.org, and both the reading and the book impressed me. This is a beautiful love story, without any affectation or sap. Well done, E.M. Forster, well done.
    • 4/5
      I read this book as part of a class studying the novels of E. M. Forster. Popularized by the film from 1985, the novel is about a young woman in the repressed culture of Edwardian era England. Set in Italy and England, the story is both a romance and a critique of English society at the beginning of the 20th century.A Room with a View is Forster's most romantic and optimistic book. He develops the story through contrasts between "dynamic" and "static" characters. "Dynamic" characters are those whose ideas and inner-self develop or change in the plot, whereas "static" characters remain constant. The novel touches upon many issues surrounding society and politics in early 20th century Edwardian culture. Forster differentiates between conservative and radical thinking, illustrated in part by his contrasts between Medieval (Mr. Beebe, Miss Bartlett, Cecil Vyse) and Renaissance characters (Lucy, the Emersons).Lucy personifies the young and impressionable generation emerging during that era, during which women's suffrage would gain strong ground. The novel could even be called a Bildungsroman, as it follows the development of the protagonist. Binary opposites are played throughout the novel, and often there are mentions of "rooms" and "views". Characters and places associated with "rooms" are, more often than not, conservative and uncreative — Mrs Honeychurch is often pictured in a room, as is Cecil. Characters like Freddy and the Emersons, on the other hand, are often described as being "outside" — representing their open, forward-thinking and modern character types. There is also a constant theme of Light and Dark, where on many occasions, Cecil himself states how Lucy represents light, but Forster responds by stating how Cecil is the Dark as they bathe naked in the Honeychurches' pond, alluding to the fact that they can never be together, and that she really belongs with George. Forster also contrasts the symbolic differences between Italy and England. He idealized Italy as a place of freedom and sexual expression. Italy promised raw, natural passion that inspired many Britons at the time who wished to escape the constrictions of English society. All of these themes are brought together through the beauty of Forster's prose in his novel that portends greater things to come.
    • 5/5
      I have a very vivid memory of reading E.M. Forster's "A Room with a View" while sitting in a tent somewhere on a camping trip out west. So, I thought this was a probably a re-read for me.... but now I think I just made that memory up. I was certainly familiar with the plot, as the Helena Bonham Carter movie was on endless repeat on HBO when I was young so I knew I loved the story.The novel tells the story of Lucy Honeychurch, who lives in the repressed Victorian age where young women do what they're supposed to rather than following their passions. She gradually and quietly wakes up as the story progresses.This book was straight up my alley... the writing is great and full of marvelous little insights. Nostalgia may have pushed this up a bit to 5 stars for me, but it's a book I definitely wouldn't mind reading over again.
    • 4/5
      A very good book, although maybe a little heavy-handed near the end.

      Is Forster a romantic or a realist? I think the answer is probably, "Yes."

      A century later, I do find Forster's style somewhat elliptical and have trouble getting my bearings straight when it comes to what his characters mean or want, partly because I just haven't read that many books from this period (at least not for adults). Also because this book is very short and so elliptical is part of the game. But the narrator's charming tendency to directly address the reader helps a lot.
    • 5/5
      My yearly reread. Bravo, Mr Forster. All of the stars.
    • 3/5
      A very difficult book to listen to. Possibly because of the lengthy dialogue sections that go on without much action -- I often found myself totally confused by what was happening, but it's not as easy to 're-read' in audio as it is in print. So I think I missed a lot of the romance and beauty of the story-telling. It was alright; interesting enough, but I can say I've read it now, not that I "got it."
    • 5/5
      Eh gads - a time when unbecoming behavior was such a big deal. A slowly unfolding story of a young woman, Lucy Honeychurch, traveling through Italy (with a chaperone, of course) who encounters an unconventional and socially unacceptable father and son. The pair, Mr. Emerson and George, appeal to Lucy and she finds their views on life/love unrestrained and more real than what society prescribes. Back in England Lucy encounters the Emersons once again but this time as an engaged young woman. I love the subtlety of the story as Lucy breaks out of the societal constraints and terminates her engagement to follow her heart. I would imagine that Lucy was definitely an exception and not the rule during this time period. This was a book that I read slowly, enjoying each line and a true favorite to be re-read. You have to also chuckle a bit with a chapter titled, 'How Miss Bartlett's Boiler Was So Tiresome".
    • 5/5
      My favorite book for a long, long time.
    • 5/5
      Wow! it was super great!! If Cecil had traded fiancés with Newland Archer, all of them would be happier. Reminded me a lot of Jane Austen, particularly P&P. The beginning of chapter XVIII makes me think of Poe's story "The Domain of Arheim".
    • 3/5
      A Room with a View is a wonderful classic - not that deep, but a fun book to read. I would have a hard time recommending Frederick Davidson as a narrator. I have seen lots of mixed reviews about him. Many people say he takes some time to get used to. If that's the case, at 7 cds, A Room with a View is not long enough. His women's voices have an irritating quality that made them all sound so simpering and shallow. This might have been intentional given the characters in the book, but it definitely detracted from what was a delightful story.
    • 4/5
      I don’t often feel like a novel is too short, but in this case, there were a few places where I wanted additional narrative instead of the authorial equivalent of an ellipsis. Some lovely scenes and characters.

    Book preview

    A Room with a View - E. M. Forster

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    A Room with a View

    E. M. Forster

    CONTENTS

    Part One:

    Chapter I: The Bertolini

    Chapter II: In Santa Croce with No Baedeker

    Chapter III: Music, Violets, and the Letter S

    Chapter IV: Fourth Chapter

    Chapter V: Possibilities of a Pleasant Outing

    Chapter VI: The Reverend Arthur Beebe, the Reverend Cuthbert Eager, Mr. Emerson, Mr. George Emerson, Miss Eleanor Lavish, Miss Charlotte Bartlett, and Miss Lucy Honeychurch Drive Out in Carriages to See a View; Italians Drive Them

    Chapter VII: They Return

    Part Two:

    Chapter VIII: Medieval

    Chapter IX: Lucy As a Work of Art

    Chapter X: Cecil as a Humourist

    Chapter XI: In Mrs. Vyse’s Well-Appointed Flat

    Chapter XII: Twelfth Chapter

    Chapter XIII: How Miss Bartlett’s Boiler Was So Tiresome

    Chapter XIV: How Lucy Faced the External Situation Bravely

    Chapter XV: The Disaster Within

    Chapter XVI: Lying to George

    Chapter XVII: Lying to Cecil

    Chapter XVIII: Lying to Mr. Beebe, Mrs. Honeychurch, Freddy, and The Servants

    Chapter XIX: Lying to Mr. Emerson

    Chapter XX: The End of the Middle Ages

    PART ONE

    Chapter I

    The Bertolini

    The Signora had no business to do it, said Miss Bartlett, no business at all. She promised us south rooms with a view close together, instead of which here are north rooms, looking into a courtyard, and a long way apart. Oh, Lucy!

    And a Cockney, besides! said Lucy, who had been further saddened by the Signora’s unexpected accent. It might be London. She looked at the two rows of English people who were sitting at the table; at the row of white bottles of water and red bottles of wine that ran between the English people; at the portraits of the late Queen and the late Poet Laureate that hung behind the English people, heavily framed; at the notice of the English church (Rev. Cuthbert Eager, M. A. Oxon.), that was the only other decoration of the wall. Charlotte, don’t you feel, too, that we might be in London? I can hardly believe that all kinds of other things are just outside. I suppose it is one’s being so tired.

    This meat has surely been used for soup, said Miss Bartlett, laying down her fork.

    I want so to see the Arno. The rooms the Signora promised us in her letter would have looked over the Arno. The Signora had no business to do it at all. Oh, it is a shame!

    Any nook does for me, Miss Bartlett continued; but it does seem hard that you shouldn’t have a view.

    Lucy felt that she had been selfish. Charlotte, you mustn’t spoil me: of course, you must look over the Arno, too. I meant that. The first vacant room in the front—

    You must have it, said Miss Bartlett, part of whose travelling expenses were paid by Lucy’s mother—a piece of generosity to which she made many a tactful allusion.

    No, no. You must have it.

    I insist on it. Your mother would never forgive me, Lucy.

    She would never forgive ME.

    The ladies’ voices grew animated, and—if the sad truth be owned—a little peevish. They were tired, and under the guise of unselfishness they wrangled. Some of their neighbours interchanged glances, and one of them—one of the ill-bred people whom one does meet abroad—leant forward over the table and actually intruded into their argument. He said:

    I have a view, I have a view.

    Miss Bartlett was startled. Generally at a pension people looked them over for a day or two before speaking, and often did not find out that they would do till they had gone. She knew that the intruder was ill-bred, even before she glanced at him. He was an old man, of heavy build, with a fair, shaven face and large eyes. There was something childish in those eyes, though it was not the childishness of senility. What exactly it was Miss Bartlett did not stop to consider, for her glance passed on to his clothes. These did not attract her. He was probably trying to become acquainted with them before they got into the swim. So she assumed a dazed expression when he spoke to her, and then said: A view? Oh, a view! How delightful a view is!

    This is my son, said the old man; his name’s George. He has a view too.

    Ah, said Miss Bartlett, repressing Lucy, who was about to speak.

    What I mean, he continued, is that you can have our rooms, and we’ll have yours. We’ll change.

    The better class of tourist was shocked at this, and sympathized with the new-comers. Miss Bartlett, in reply, opened her mouth as little as possible, and said Thank you very much indeed; that is out of the question.

    Why? said the old man, with both fists on the table.

    Because it is quite out of the question, thank you.

    You see, we don’t like to take— began Lucy. Her cousin again repressed her.

    But why? he persisted. Women like looking at a view; men don’t. And he thumped with his fists like a naughty child, and turned to his son, saying, George, persuade them!

    It’s so obvious they should have the rooms, said the son. There’s nothing else to say.

    He did not look at the ladies as he spoke, but his voice was perplexed and sorrowful. Lucy, too, was perplexed; but she saw that they were in for what is known as quite a scene, and she had an odd feeling that whenever these ill-bred tourists spoke the contest widened and deepened till it dealt, not with rooms and views, but with—well, with something quite different, whose existence she had not realized before. Now the old man attacked Miss Bartlett almost violently: Why should she not change? What possible objection had she? They would clear out in half an hour.

    Miss Bartlett, though skilled in the delicacies of conversation, was powerless in the presence of brutality. It was impossible to snub any one so gross. Her face reddened with displeasure. She looked around as much as to say, Are you all like this? And two little old ladies, who were sitting further up the table, with shawls hanging over the backs of the chairs, looked back, clearly indicating We are not; we are genteel.

    Eat your dinner, dear, she said to Lucy, and began to toy again with the meat that she had once censured.

    Lucy mumbled that those seemed very odd people opposite.

    Eat your dinner, dear. This pension is a failure. To-morrow we will make a change.

    Hardly had she announced this fell decision when she reversed it. The curtains at the end of the room parted, and revealed a clergyman, stout but attractive, who hurried forward to take his place at the table, cheerfully apologizing for his lateness. Lucy, who had not yet acquired decency, at once rose to her feet, exclaiming: Oh, oh! Why, it’s Mr. Beebe! Oh, how perfectly lovely! Oh, Charlotte, we must stop now, however bad the rooms are. Oh!

    Miss Bartlett said, with more restraint:

    How do you do, Mr. Beebe? I expect that you have forgotten us: Miss Bartlett and Miss Honeychurch, who were at Tunbridge Wells when you helped the Vicar of St. Peter’s that very cold Easter.

    The clergyman, who had the air of one on a holiday, did not remember the ladies quite as clearly as they remembered him. But he came forward pleasantly enough and accepted the chair into which he was beckoned by Lucy.

    I AM so glad to see you, said the girl, who was in a state of spiritual starvation, and would have been glad to see the waiter if her cousin had permitted it. Just fancy how small the world is. Summer Street, too, makes it so specially funny.

    Miss Honeychurch lives in the parish of Summer Street, said Miss Bartlett, filling up the gap, and she happened to tell me in the course of conversation that you have just accepted the living—

    Yes, I heard from mother so last week. She didn’t know that I knew you at Tunbridge Wells; but I wrote back at once, and I said: ‘Mr. Beebe is—’

    Quite right, said the clergyman. I move into the Rectory at Summer Street next June. I am lucky to be appointed to such a charming neighbourhood.

    Oh, how glad I am! The name of our house is Windy Corner. Mr. Beebe bowed.

    There is mother and me generally, and my brother, though it’s not often we get him to ch—— The church is rather far off, I mean.

    Lucy, dearest, let Mr. Beebe eat his dinner.

    I am eating it, thank you, and enjoying it.

    He preferred to talk to Lucy, whose playing he remembered, rather than to Miss Bartlett, who probably remembered his sermons. He asked the girl whether she knew Florence well, and was informed at some length that she had never been there before. It is delightful to advise a newcomer, and he was first in the field. Don’t neglect the country round, his advice concluded. The first fine afternoon drive up to Fiesole, and round by Settignano, or something of that sort.

    No! cried a voice from the top of the table. Mr. Beebe, you are wrong. The first fine afternoon your ladies must go to Prato.

    That lady looks so clever, whispered Miss Bartlett to her cousin. We are in luck.

    And, indeed, a perfect torrent of information burst on them. People told them what to see, when to see it, how to stop the electric trams, how to get rid of the beggars, how much to give for a vellum blotter, how much the place would grow upon them. The Pension Bertolini had decided, almost enthusiastically, that they would do. Whichever way they looked, kind ladies smiled and shouted at them. And above all rose the voice of the clever lady, crying: Prato! They must go to Prato. That place is too sweetly squalid for words. I love it; I revel in shaking off the trammels of respectability, as you know.

    The young man named George glanced at the clever lady, and then returned moodily to his plate. Obviously he and his father did not do. Lucy, in the midst of her success, found time to wish they did. It gave her no extra pleasure that any one should be left in the cold; and when she rose to go, she turned back and gave the two outsiders a nervous little bow.

    The father did not see it; the son acknowledged it, not by another bow, but by raising his eyebrows and smiling; he seemed to be smiling across something.

    She hastened after her cousin, who had already disappeared through the curtains—curtains which smote one in the face, and seemed heavy with more than cloth. Beyond them stood the unreliable Signora, bowing good-evening to her guests, and supported by ’Enery, her little boy, and Victorier, her daughter. It made a curious little scene, this attempt of the Cockney to convey the grace and geniality of the South. And even more curious was the drawing-room, which attempted to rival the solid comfort of a Bloomsbury boarding-house. Was this really Italy?

    Miss Bartlett was already seated on a tightly stuffed arm-chair, which had the colour and the contours of a tomato. She was talking to Mr. Beebe, and as she spoke, her long narrow head drove backwards and forwards, slowly, regularly, as though she were demolishing some invisible obstacle. We are most grateful to you, she was saying. The first evening means so much. When you arrived we were in for a peculiarly mauvais quart d’heure.

    He expressed his regret.

    Do you, by any chance, know the name of an old man who sat opposite us at dinner?

    Emerson.

    Is he a friend of yours?

    We are friendly—as one is in pensions.

    Then I will say no more.

    He pressed her very slightly, and she said more.

    I am, as it were, she concluded, the chaperon of my young cousin, Lucy, and it would be a serious thing if I put her under an obligation to people of whom we know nothing. His manner was somewhat unfortunate. I hope I acted for the best.

    You acted very naturally, said he. He seemed thoughtful, and after a few moments added: All the same, I don’t think much harm would have come of accepting.

    No HARM, of course. But we could not be under an obligation.

    He is rather a peculiar man. Again he hesitated, and then said gently: I think he would not take advantage of your acceptance, nor expect you to show gratitude. He has the merit—if it is one—of saying exactly what he means. He has rooms he does not value, and he thinks you would value them. He no more thought of putting you under an obligation than he thought of being polite. It is so difficult—at least, I find it difficult—to understand people who speak the truth.

    Lucy was pleased, and said: I was hoping that he was nice; I do so always hope that people will be nice.

    I think he is; nice and tiresome. I differ from him on almost every point of any importance, and so, I expect—I may say I hope—you will differ. But his is a type one disagrees with rather than deplores. When he first came here he not unnaturally put people’s backs up. He has no tact and no manners—I don’t mean by that that he has bad manners—and he will not keep his opinions to himself. We nearly complained about him to our depressing Signora, but I am glad to say we thought better of it.

    Am I to conclude, said Miss Bartlett, that he is a Socialist?

    Mr. Beebe accepted the convenient word, not without a slight twitching of the lips.

    And presumably he has brought up his son to be a Socialist, too?

    I hardly know George, for he hasn’t learnt to talk yet. He seems a nice creature, and I think he has brains. Of course, he has all his father’s mannerisms, and it is quite possible that he, too, may be a Socialist.

    Oh, you relieve me, said Miss Bartlett. So you think I ought to have accepted their offer? You feel I have been narrow-minded and suspicious?

    Not at all, he answered; I never suggested that.

    But ought I not to apologize, at all events, for my apparent rudeness?

    He replied, with some irritation, that it would be quite unnecessary, and got up from his seat to go to the smoking-room.

    Was I a bore? said Miss Bartlett, as soon as he had disappeared. Why didn’t you talk, Lucy? He prefers young people, I’m sure. I do hope I haven’t monopolized him. I hoped you would have him all the evening, as well as all dinner-time.

    He is nice, exclaimed Lucy. Just what I remember. He seems to see good in every one. No one would take him for a clergyman.

    My dear Lucia—

    Well, you know what I mean. And you know how clergymen generally laugh; Mr. Beebe laughs just like an ordinary man.

    Funny girl! How you do remind me of your mother. I wonder if she will approve of Mr. Beebe.

    I’m sure she will; and so will Freddy.

    I think every one at Windy Corner will approve; it is the fashionable world. I am used to Tunbridge Wells, where we are all hopelessly behind the times.

    Yes, said Lucy despondently.

    There was a haze of disapproval in the air, but whether the disapproval was of herself, or of Mr. Beebe, or of the fashionable world at Windy Corner, or of the narrow world at Tunbridge Wells, she could not determine. She tried to locate it, but as usual she blundered. Miss Bartlett sedulously denied disapproving of any one, and added: I am afraid you are finding me a very depressing companion.

    And the girl again thought: I must have been selfish or unkind; I must be more careful. It is so dreadful for Charlotte, being poor.

    Fortunately one of the little old ladies, who for some time had been smiling very benignly, now approached and asked if she might be allowed to sit where Mr. Beebe had sat. Permission granted, she began to chatter gently about Italy, the plunge it had been to come there, the gratifying success of the plunge, the improvement in her sister’s health, the necessity of closing the bed-room windows at night, and of thoroughly emptying the water-bottles in the morning. She handled her subjects agreeably, and they were, perhaps, more worthy of attention than the high discourse upon Guelfs and Ghibellines which was proceeding tempestuously at the other end of the room. It was a real catastrophe, not a mere episode, that evening of hers at Venice, when she had found in her bedroom something that is one worse than a flea, though one better than something else.

    But here you are as safe as in England. Signora Bertolini is so English.

    Yet our rooms smell, said poor Lucy. We dread going to bed.

    Ah, then you look into the court. She sighed. If only Mr. Emerson was more tactful! We were so sorry for you at dinner.

    I think he was meaning to be kind.

    Undoubtedly he was, said Miss Bartlett. Mr. Beebe has just been scolding me for my suspicious nature. Of course, I was holding back on my cousin’s account."

    Of course, said the little old lady; and they murmured that one could not be too careful with a young girl.

    Lucy tried to look demure, but could not help feeling a great fool. No one was careful with her at home; or, at all events, she had not noticed it.

    About old Mr. Emerson—I hardly know. No, he is not tactful; yet, have you ever noticed that there are people who do things which are most indelicate, and yet at the same time—beautiful?

    Beautiful? said Miss Bartlett, puzzled at the word. Are not beauty and delicacy the same?

    So one would have thought, said the other helplessly. But things are so difficult, I sometimes think.

    She proceeded no further into things, for Mr. Beebe reappeared, looking extremely pleasant.

    Miss Bartlett, he cried, it’s all right about the rooms. I’m so glad. Mr. Emerson was talking about it in the smoking-room, and knowing what I did, I encouraged him to make the offer again. He has let me come and ask you. He would be so pleased.

    Oh, Charlotte, cried Lucy to her cousin, we must have the rooms now. The old man is just as nice and kind as he can be.

    Miss Bartlett was silent.

    I fear, said Mr. Beebe, after a pause, that I have been officious. I must apologize for my interference.

    Gravely displeased, he turned to go. Not till then did Miss Bartlett reply: My own wishes, dearest Lucy, are unimportant in comparison with yours. It would be hard indeed if I stopped you doing as you liked at Florence, when I am only here through your kindness. If you wish me to turn these gentlemen out of their rooms, I will do it. Would you then, Mr. Beebe, kindly tell Mr. Emerson that I accept his kind offer, and then conduct him to me, in order that I may thank him personally?

    She raised her voice as she spoke; it was heard all over the drawing-room, and silenced the Guelfs and the Ghibellines. The clergyman,

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