THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY. 497 " Yes, my poor Isabel, I am. I won't pretend to deny it ; I look the fact in the face. I am going to marry Mr. Bantling, and I. am going to reside in London." " It seems very strange," said Isabel, smiling now. " Well yes, I suppose it does. I have come to it little by little. I think I -know what I am doing ; but I don't know that 1 can explain " " One can't explain one's marriage," Isabel answered. " And yours doesn't need to be explained. Mr. Bantling is very good." Henrietta said nothing ; she seemed lost in reflection. " He has a beautiful nature," she remarked at last. " I have studied him for many years, and I see right through him. He's as clear as glass there's no mystery about him. He is not intellectual, but he appreciates intellect. On the other hand, he doesn't exaggerate its claims. I sometimes think we do in the United States." " Ah," said Isabel, " you are changed indeed ! It's the first time I have ever heard you say anything against your native land." " I only say that we are too intellectual ; that, after all, is a glorious fault. But I am changed ; a woman has to change a good deal to marry." " I hope you will be very happy. You will at last over here see something of the inner life." Henrietta gave a little significant sigh. " That's the key to the mystery, I believe. I couldn't endure to be kept off. Now I have as good a right as any one ! " she added, with artless elation. Isabel was deeply diverted, but there was a certain melancholy in her view. Henrietta, after all, was human and feminine, Henrietta whom she had hitherto regarded as a light keen flame, a disembodied* voice. It was rather a disappointment to find that she had personal susceptibilities, that she was subject to common passions, and that her intimacy with Mr. Bantling had not been completely original. There was a want of originality in her marrying him there was even a kind Of stupidity ; and for a moment, to Isabel's sense, the dreariness of the world took on a deeper tinge. A little later, indeed, she reflected that Mr. Bantling, after all, was original. But she didn't see how Henri- etta could give up her country. She herself had relaxed her hold of it, but it had never been her country as it had been Henrietta's. She presently asked her if she had enjoyed her visit to Lady Pensil. K K
