-doubt of herself, doubt
of Reckage, coming nearer and nearer. She had been taught everything.
She had discovered nothing. Love itself had come to her in the shape of
a cruel code of responsibilities. Lately she had been dwelling with an
almost feverish emphasis on the question of duty. She had wearied
Reckage; she had exhausted herself by the tenacity of her mind toward
that dull subject. And the real truth about much in life was forcing
itself upon her. She was essentially a woman of affairs. Her face
absorbed the poetry of her nature, just as a flower extracts every
excellence from its surrounding soil, and, shining out for the sun,
wastes no blossom underground. It had been her earliest ambition to
marry a Member of Parliament and help him--by her prayers and
counsel--on his conscientious career toward Downing Street. She had
received an austere education, and even her native generosity of heart
could not soften the indignation she had been trained to feel against
any neglect of duty. Duty was a term which she applied to that science
of things generally expedient which tradition has presented to us in the
household proverbs and maxims of every nation. Early rising, controlling
one's temper, paying one's debts, consideration for others, working
while it is day, taking stitches in time--all these to that orthodox
mind were matters of imperative obligation, if not Divine command.
David's impulsive nature and self-indulgent habits filled her with
overwhelming sorrow and dismay. She could not understand the rapid
changes of mood, the disordered views, the storm and violence which are
characteristic of every artist whose work is a form of autobiography
rather than a presentment of impersonal forms and effects.

In Rennes there were two principles constantly at work: the David who
acted, and the David who observed, criticised, and reproduced in
allegorical guise, the inspiring performance. Agnes knew nothing of this
common phenomenon in creative genius, and when her friend refreshed his
imagination by appearing in a new _role_, she was as terrified as a
child before some clever trick in experimental chemistry. From time to
time he expressed opinions which startled her. She begged him once to
paint a "religious" picture. He would not. A feeling that she had
experienced some bitter disappointment weighed upon her spirit. Yet when
she seemed to give that disappointment a cause, she was careful to leave
it in obscurity. She wo