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<v Speaker 1>This is section thirty seven of The Gilded Age. This

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<v Speaker 1>LibriVox recording is in the public domain. The Gilded Age,

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<v Speaker 1>A Tale of to Day by Mark Twain and C. D. Warner,

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<v Speaker 1>Chapter thirty seven. That Chairman was nowhere in sight. Such

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<v Speaker 1>disappointments seldom occur in novels, but are always happening in

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<v Speaker 1>real life. She was obliged to make a new plan.

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<v Speaker 1>She sent him a note and asked him to call

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<v Speaker 1>in the evening, which he did. She received the honorable

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<v Speaker 1>mister Buckstone with a sunny smile and said, I don't

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<v Speaker 1>know how I ever dared to send you a note,

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<v Speaker 1>mister Buckstone, for you have the reputation of not being

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<v Speaker 1>very partial to our sex. Why I am sure my

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<v Speaker 1>reputation does me wrong, then, Miss Hawkins, I have been

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<v Speaker 1>married once. Is that nothing in my favor? Oh? Yes,

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<v Speaker 1>that is. It may be, and it may not be.

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<v Speaker 1>If you have known what perfection is in woman, it

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<v Speaker 1>is fair to argue that inferiority cannot interest you. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>even if that were the case, it could not affect you,

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<v Speaker 1>Miss Hawkins, said the Chairman gallantly. Fame does not place

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<v Speaker 1>you in the list of ladies who rank below perfection.

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<v Speaker 1>This happy speech delighted mister Buckstone as much as it

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<v Speaker 1>seemed to delight Laura, but it did not confuse him

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<v Speaker 1>as much as it apparently did her. I wish, in

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<v Speaker 1>all sincerity that I could be worthy of such a

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<v Speaker 1>felicitous compliment as that, But I am a woman, and

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<v Speaker 1>so I am gratified for her just as it is,

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<v Speaker 1>and would not have it altered. But it is not

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<v Speaker 1>merely a compliment. That is an empty compliment. It is

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<v Speaker 1>the truth. All men will endorse that. Laura looked pleased

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<v Speaker 1>and said, it is very kind of you to say it.

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<v Speaker 1>It is a distinction, indeed, for a country bred girl

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<v Speaker 1>like me to be so spoken of by people of

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<v Speaker 1>brains and culture. You are so kind that I know

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<v Speaker 1>you will pardon my putting you to the trouble to

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<v Speaker 1>come this evening. Indeed it was no trouble. It was

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<v Speaker 1>a pleasure. I am alone in the world since I

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<v Speaker 1>lost my wife, and I often long for the society

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<v Speaker 1>of your sex, Miss Hawkins. Notwithstanding what people may say

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<v Speaker 1>to the contrary, it is pleasant to hear you say that.

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<v Speaker 1>I am sure it must be so. If I feel

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<v Speaker 1>lonely at times because of my exile from old friends,

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<v Speaker 1>although surrounded by new ones who are already very dear

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<v Speaker 1>to me, how much more lonely must you feel, bereft

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<v Speaker 1>as you are, and with no wholesome relief from the

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<v Speaker 1>cares of state that weigh you down. For your own

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<v Speaker 1>sake as well as for the sake of others. You

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<v Speaker 1>ought to go into society oftener. I seldom see you

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<v Speaker 1>at a reception, and when I do, you do not

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<v Speaker 1>usually give me very much of your attention. I never

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<v Speaker 1>imagined that you wished it, or I would have been

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<v Speaker 1>very glad to make myself happy in that way. But

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<v Speaker 1>one seldom gets an opportunity to say more than a

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<v Speaker 1>sentence to you. In a place like that. You are

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<v Speaker 1>always the center of a group, a fact which you

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<v Speaker 1>may have noticed yourself. But if one might come here,

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<v Speaker 1>indeed you would always find a hearty well. Mister Buckstone,

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<v Speaker 1>I have often wished you would come and tell me

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<v Speaker 1>more about Cairo and the Pyramids, as you once promised

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<v Speaker 1>me you would. Why do you remember that, yet, miss Hawkins,

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<v Speaker 1>I thought lady's memories were more fickle than that. Oh,

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<v Speaker 1>they are not so fickle as gentlemen's promises. And besides,

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<v Speaker 1>if I had been inclined to forget, I did you

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<v Speaker 1>not give me something by the way of a remembrancer?

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<v Speaker 1>Did I think? It does seem to me that I did,

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<v Speaker 1>but I have forgotten what it was. Now never never

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<v Speaker 1>call a lady's memory fickle again? Do you recognize this

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<v Speaker 1>a little spray of box? I am beaten. I surrender,

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<v Speaker 1>But have you kept that all this time? Laura's confusion

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<v Speaker 1>was very pretty. She tried to hide it, but the

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<v Speaker 1>more she tried, the more manifest it became, and with

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<v Speaker 1>all the more captivating to look upon. Presently, she threw

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<v Speaker 1>the spray of box from her with an annoyed air,

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<v Speaker 1>and said, I forgot myself. I have been very foolish.

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<v Speaker 1>I beg that you will forget this absurd thing. Mister

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<v Speaker 1>Buckstone picked up the spray, and, sitting down by Laura's

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<v Speaker 1>side on the sofa, said, please let me keep it,

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<v Speaker 1>Miss Hawkins. I set a very high value upon it.

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<v Speaker 1>Now I give it back to me, mister Buckstone, and

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<v Speaker 1>do not speak. So I have been sufficiently punished for

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<v Speaker 1>my thoughtlessness. You cannot take pleasure in adding to my distress.

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<v Speaker 1>Please give it to me. Indeed, I do not wish

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<v Speaker 1>to distress you, But do not consider the matter so gravely.

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<v Speaker 1>You have done yourself no wrong. You probably forgot that

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<v Speaker 1>you had it, but if you had given it to me,

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<v Speaker 1>I would have kept it and not forgotten it. Do

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<v Speaker 1>not talk, so, mister Buckstone, give it to me, please,

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<v Speaker 1>and forget the matter. It would not be kind to refuse,

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<v Speaker 1>since it troubles you so, and so I restore it.

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<v Speaker 1>But if you would give me part of it and

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<v Speaker 1>keep the rest, so that you might have something to

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<v Speaker 1>remind you of me when you wished to laugh at

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<v Speaker 1>my foolishness, Oh, by no means no, simply that I

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<v Speaker 1>might remember that I had once assisted to discomfort you,

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<v Speaker 1>and be reminded to do so. No more. Laura looked

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<v Speaker 1>up and scanned his face. A moment she was about

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<v Speaker 1>to break the twig, but she hesitated and said, if

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<v Speaker 1>I were sure that you She threw the spray away

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<v Speaker 1>and continued, this is silly. We will change the subject. No,

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<v Speaker 1>do not insist. I must have my way in this.

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<v Speaker 1>Then mister Buckstone drew off his forces and proceeded to

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<v Speaker 1>make a wily advance upon the fortress under cover of

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<v Speaker 1>carefully contrived artifices. And stratagems of war. But he contended

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<v Speaker 1>with an alert and suspicious enemy. And so at the

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<v Speaker 1>end of two hours it was manifest to him that

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<v Speaker 1>he had made but little progress. Still, he had made some,

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<v Speaker 1>he was sure of that. Laura sat alone and communed

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<v Speaker 1>with herself. He is fairly hooked, poor thing. I can

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<v Speaker 1>play him at my leisure and land him when I choose.

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<v Speaker 1>He was all ready to be caught days and days ago.

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<v Speaker 1>I saw that very well. He will vote for our bill,

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<v Speaker 1>no fear about that. And moreover, he will work for

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<v Speaker 1>it too, before I am done with him. If he

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<v Speaker 1>had a woman's eyes, he would have noticed that the

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<v Speaker 1>spray of box had grown three inches since he first

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<v Speaker 1>gave it to me. But a man never sees anything

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<v Speaker 1>and never suspects. If I had shown him a whole bush,

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<v Speaker 1>he would have thought it was the same. Well, it

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<v Speaker 1>is a good night's work. The committee is safe. But

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<v Speaker 1>this is a desperate game I am playing in these days,

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<v Speaker 1>a wearing, sordid, heartless game. If I lose, I lose everything,

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<v Speaker 1>even myself. And if I win the game, will it

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<v Speaker 1>be worth its cost? After all? I do not know.

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<v Speaker 1>Sometimes I doubt. Sometimes I half wish I had not begun,

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<v Speaker 1>But no matter, I have begun, and I will never

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<v Speaker 1>turn back, never while I live. Mister Buckstone indulged in

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<v Speaker 1>a reverie as he walked homeward. She is shrewd and deep,

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<v Speaker 1>and plays her cards with considerable discretion. But she will lose.

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<v Speaker 1>For all that. There is no hurry. I shall come

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<v Speaker 1>out winter all in good time. She is the most

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<v Speaker 1>beautiful woman in the world, and she surpassed herself to night.

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<v Speaker 1>I suppose I must vote for that bill in the end. Maybe,

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<v Speaker 1>but that is not a matter of much consequence. The

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<v Speaker 1>government can stand it. She is bent on capturing me,

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<v Speaker 1>that is plain. But she will find by and by

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<v Speaker 1>that what she took for a sleeping garrison was an ambuscade.

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<v Speaker 1>End of chapter thirty seven.