“I shall assure her we—you and I—were only gossiping. She has an abiding impression that I talk only high science, and I detest science. Talk I must.”
“I think it will do me no harm. I am now quite easy. I have no fever.”
“None,” said Anne, taking his hand and looking at her watch. “Pulse good, too. I don’t think a talk will hurt you. Tell me when you are tired.”
“I promise, but you shall do the talking. I will listen.”
“You had better be careful how you give such large liberty. Did you ever, by chance, know Miss Pearson?”
“Yes, yes,” and he laughed, “years ago—that statistical lady in Germantown. I had some engineering work near there. Oh, years ago: I was a mere lad. I knew all those good people, Mrs. Fox and the Mortons. But what about Miss Pearson? Good woman, I take it?”
“Yes, entirely; but she kept her religion on ice; a sort of east-wind of a woman. She had that bloodless propriety which passes muster for dignity. When you gave me full discretion as to talk, I meant to tell you her description of my conversation; I don’t think I shall.”
“Well, you are revenged, I think,” and he laughed. “I find I must not laugh; it hurts. You will have to be grave, if you talk at all.”
“I think I _must_ tell you. She declared that if I wanted to be amusing, I never hesitated to be either inaccurate or untruthful, and that, while accidental inaccuracy was deplorable, intended intellectual inaccuracy was criminal!”
“That is surprisingly like her—or was. She is dead, I think.”
“Yes. How it must bother her! One can’t imagine accuracy in space, and where time is not. I don’t suppose the angels plume themselves on punctuality.”
“Well, I will try to be good. Now, don’t laugh! Let us be serious. Do you suppose folks take the seriousness of death into that other world? Not that I personally regard it as so very grim a business. There are many worse trials in life than dying, because vital calamities may repeat themselves; but it seems improbable that we shall have more than one experience of this exit.”
“Who can say?” said Carington. “I have been near it of late; but I can contribute to no wisdom.”
“I like to think I shall grin at the world from the safe side of the fence,” she returned. “Miss Pearson would have said that a due sense of the relative proportion of things would be inconsistent in another sphere with the minute dimensions of our earthly jests.”