ere sharing the same
room; and we learnt that in future they meant to live side by side."

"Had they got married?"

"No. And, though they performed a very natural action with the utmost
simplicity, this was certainly not due to loftiness of soul or breadth
of mind. But one felt that their knowledge of the manners and morals of
other civilizations had simplified their moral outlook, just as their
actual physical outlook had been dimmed through seeing nature under so
many aspects."

Rose began to laugh:

"There is nothing of that kind at the boarding-house," she said. "For
the moment, we have no old people: nothing but students, two American
women, a Spanish lady...."

Then she hesitated a little and added:

"There's an artist, too, an artist who has begun to paint my portrait."

"Your portrait! And you never told me?"

I am interrupted by a violent movement from Rose. She has turned round
and, in the gathering dusk, her whirling umbrella comes down furiously
on a man's hat, smashing it in and knocking it off his head. A
gentleman is standing before us, very well-dressed and looking very
uncomfortable. He stammers out a vague excuse and tries to escape, but
the indignant girl addresses him noisily. An altercation follows; the
loafers stop to listen; a crowd gathers round us; and a policeman
hurries towards us from the other side of the road. Fortunately, an
empty cab passes; and I just have time to jump in, followed by Rose, who
continues to brandish a threatening umbrella through the window.

Then at last I obtain an explanation of the disturbance. It appears
that, without my noticing it, the man had been following us for an hour;
and his silent homage had ended by incensing the girl.

I kiss her at the door of the boarding-house and walk back thoughtfully
through the streets, reflecting on the surprises which that uncivilised
character holds in store for me.

2

Rose had perhaps insulted a man who was simply taking pleasure in
admiring her, I thought to myself. What did she know of his intentions?
In any case, is not a silent look enough to keep importunity at a
distance?

Generally speaking, those who go after us in this way because of the
swing of our hips, or the mass of hair gleaming on our neck, or a
shapely shoe under a lifted skirt, are uninteresting; and among all the
coarse, silly or timid admirers whom a woman can encounter in the street
there are perhaps one or two at most who will leave an