You must
write me about it, from stage to stage. I hope with all my heart that
the fruit will be proportionate to the foliage. Don't think me a bird of
ill omen; only remember that you will be held to a strict account."
"A man should make the most of himself, and be helped if he needs help,"
Rowland answered, after a long pause. "Of course when a body begins to
expand, there comes in the possibility of bursting; but I nevertheless
approve of a certain tension of one's being. It 's what a man is meant
for. And then I believe in the essential salubrity of genius--true
genius."
"Very good," said Cecilia, with an air of resignation which made
Rowland, for the moment, seem to himself culpably eager. "We 'll drink
then to-day at dinner to the health of our friend."
* * *
Having it much at heart to convince Mrs. Hudson of the purity of his
intentions, Rowland waited upon her that evening. He was ushered into a
large parlor, which, by the light of a couple of candles, he perceived
to be very meagrely furnished and very tenderly and sparingly used. The
windows were open to the air of the summer night, and a circle of three
persons was temporarily awed into silence by his appearance.
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