ed to him--as in the original
will--doing this by letter in case anything should happen to her before a
new will could be considered, drawn, and signed, and trusting to his
honour quite that he would obey her expressed wish should she die abroad.
Well, she did die, in the full persuasion that I was provided for; but
her brother (as I secretly expected all the time) refused to be morally
bound by a document which had no legal value, and the result is that he
has everything, except, of course, the furniture and the lease. It would
have been enough to break the heart of a person who had calculated upon
getting a fortune, which I never did; for I felt always like an intruder
and a bondswoman, and had wished myself out of the Petherwin family a
hundred times, with my crust of bread and liberty. For one thing, I was
always forbidden to see my relatives, and it pained me much. Now I am
going to move for myself, and consider that I have a good chance of
success in what I may undertake, because of an indifference I feel about
succeeding which gives the necessary coolness that any great task
requires.'

'I presume you mean to write more poems?'

'I cannot--that is, I can write no more that satisfy me. To blossom into
rhyme on the sparkling pleasures of life, you must be under the influence
of those pleasures, and I am at present quite removed from
them--surrounded by gaunt realities of a very different description.'

'Then try the mournful. Trade upon your sufferings: many do, and
thrive.'

'It is no use to say that--no use at all. I cannot write a line of
verse. And yet the others flowed from my heart like a stream. But
nothing is so easy as to seem clever when you have money.'

'Except to seem stupid when you have none,' said Christopher, looking at
the dead leaves.

Ethelberta allowed herself to linger on that thought for a few seconds;
and continued, 'Then the question arose, what was I to do? I felt that
to write prose would be an uncongenial occupation, and altogether a poor
prospect for a woman like me. Finally I have decided to appear in
public.'

'Not on the stage?'

'Certainly not on the stage. There is no novelty in a poor lady turning
actress, and novelty is what I want. Ordinary powers exhibited in a new
way effect as much as extraordinary powers exhibited in an old way.'

'Yes--so they do. And extraordinary powers, and a new way too, would be
irresistible.'

'I don't calculate upon both. I