THE WINDOW

" But how long do they leave men on a Light-
house? " she asked. He told her. He was
amazingly well informed. And as he was grateful,
and as he liked her, and as he was beginning to
enjoy himself, so now, Mrs. Ramsay thought, she
could return to that dream land, that unreal but
fascinating place, the Mannings' drawing-room at
Marlow twenty years ago; where one moved
about without haste or anxiety, for there was
no future to worry about. She knew what had
happened to them, what to her. It was like
reading a good book again, for she knew the end
of that story, since it had happened twenty years
ago, and life, which shot down even from this
dining-room table in cascades, heaven knows
where, was sealed up there, and lay, like a lake,
placidly between its banks. He said they had
built a billiard room—was it possible? Would
William go on talking about the Mannings? She
wanted him to. But no—for some reason he was
no longer in the mood. She tried. He did not
respond. She could not force him. She was
disappointed.

" The children are disgraceful," she said,
sighing. He said something about punctuality
being one of the minor virtues which we do not
acquire until later in life.

" If at all," said Mrs. Ramsay merely to fill up

* 145