Part Two
Chapter 18: Lying to Mr. Beebe, Mrs. Honeychurch, Freddy, and The Servants
(continued)
Miss Bartlett burst into florid gratitude. The tavern sign--a
beehive trimmed evenly with bees--creaked in the wind outside as
she thanked him. Mr. Beebe did not quite understand the
situation; but then, he did not desire to understand it, nor to
jump to the conclusion of "another man" that would have attracted
a grosser mind. He only felt that Miss Bartlett knew of some
vague influence from which the girl desired to be delivered, and
which might well be clothed in the fleshly form. Its very
vagueness spurred him into knight-errantry. His belief in
celibacy, so reticent, so carefully concealed beneath his
tolerance and culture, now came to the surface and expanded like
some delicate flower. "They that marry do well, but they that
refrain do better." So ran his belief, and he never heard that an
engagement was broken off but with a slight feeling of pleasure.
In the case of Lucy, the feeling was intensified through dislike
of Cecil; and he was willing to go further--to place her out of
danger until she could confirm her resolution of virginity. The
feeling was very subtle and quite undogmatic, and he never
imparted it to any other of the characters in this entanglement.
Yet it existed, and it alone explains his action subsequently,
and his influence on the action of others. The compact that he
made with Miss Bartlett in the tavern, was to help not only Lucy,
but religion also.
They hurried home through a world of black and grey. He conversed
on indifferent topics: the Emersons' need of a housekeeper;
servants; Italian servants; novels about Italy; novels with a
purpose; could literature influence life? Windy Corner glimmered.
In the garden, Mrs. Honeychurch, now helped by Freddy, still
wrestled with the lives of her flowers.
"It gets too dark," she said hopelesly. "This comes of putting
off. We might have known the weather would break up soon; and now
Lucy wants to go to Greece. I don't know what the world's coming
to."
"Mrs. Honeychurch," he said, "go to Greece she must. Come up to
the house and let's talk it over. Do you, in the first place,
mind her breaking with Vyse?"
"Mr. Beebe, I'm thankful--simply thankful."
"So am I," said Freddy.
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