GeneralTriscoewokeinthebadhumorofanelderlymanafteraday’spleasure，andintheself-reproachofapessimistwhohaslosthispointofviewforatime，andhastoworkbacktoit。Hebeganatthebelatedbreakfastwithhisdaughterwhenshesaid，afterkissinghimgayly，inthesmalltwo-seatedbowerwheretheybreakfastedattheirhotelwhentheydidnotgotothePosthof，“Didn’tyouhaveanicetime，yesterday，papa？”
Shesankintothechairopposite，andbeamedathimacrossthelittleirontable，assheliftedthepottopourouthiscoffee。
“Whatdoyoucallanicetime？”hetemporized，notquiteabletoresisthergayety。
“Well，thekindoftimeIhad。”
“Didyougetrheumatismfromsittingonthegrass？Itookcoldinthatoldchurch，andtheteaatthatrestaurantmusthavebeenbrewedinabrasskettle。Isufferedallnightfromit。AndthatassfromIllinois——“
“Oh，poorpapa！Icouldn’tgowithMr。Stolleralone，butImighthavegoneinthetwo-spannerwithhimandletyouhaveMr。orMrs。Marchintheone-spanner。”
“Idon’tknow。Theirinterestineachotherisn’tsointerestingtootherpeopleastheyseemtothink。”
“Doyoufeelthatwayreally，papa？Don’tyouliketheirbeingsomuchinlovestill？”
“Attheirtimeoflife？Thankyouit’sbadenoughinyoungpeople。”
Thegirldidnotanswer；sheappearedaltogetheroccupiedinpouringoutherfather’scoffee。
Hetastedit，andthenhedrankprettywellallofit；buthesaid，asheputhiscupdown，“Idon’tknowwhattheymakethisstuffof。IwishI
hadacupofgood，honestAmericancoffee。”
“Oh，there’snothinglikeAmericanfood！”saidhisdaughter，withsomuchconciliationthathelookedupsharply。
Butwhateverhemighthavebeengoingtosaywasatleastpostponedbytheapproachofaserving-maid，whobroughtanotetohisdaughter。Sheblushedalittleatsightofit，andthentoreitopenandread：
“IamgoingawayfromCarlsbad，forafaultofmyownwhichforbidsmetolookyouintheface。Ifyouwishtoknowtheworstofme，askMrs。
March。Ihavenohearttotellyou。”
AgathareadthesemystifyingwordsofBurnamy’sseveraltimesoverinasilentabsorptionwiththemwhichleftherfathertolookafterhimself，andhehadpouredoutasecondcupofcoffeewithhisownhand，andwasreachingforthebreadbesideherbeforeshecameslowlybacktoasenseofhispresence。
“Oh，excuseme，papa。”shesaid，andshegavehimthebutter。“Here’saverystrangeletterfromMr。Burnamy，whichIthinkyou’dbettersee。”
Sheheldthenoteacrossthetabletohim，andwatchedhisfaceashereadit。
Afterhehadreadittwice，heturnedthesheetover，aspeopledowithlettersthatpuzzlethem，inthevainhopeofsomethingexplanatoryontheback。Thenhelookedupandasked：“Whatdoyousupposehe’sbeendoing？”
“Idon’tbelievehe’sbeendoinganything。It’ssomethingthatMr。
Stoller’sbeendoingtohim。”
“Ishouldn’tinferthatfromhisownwords。WhatmakesyouthinkthetroubleiswithStoller？”
“Hesaid——hesaidyesterday——somethingaboutbeinggladtobethroughwithhim，becausehedislikedhimsomuchhewasalwaysafraidofwronginghim。AndthatprovesthatnowMr。Stollerhasmadehimbelievethathe’sdonewrong，andhasworkeduponhimtillhedoesbelieveit。”
“Itprovesnothingofthekind。”saidthegeneral，recurringtothenote。
Afterreadingitagain，helookedkeenlyather：“AmItounderstandthatyouhavegivenhimtherighttosupposeyouwouldwanttoknowtheworst——orthebestofhim？”
Thegirl’seyesfell，andshepushedherknifeagainstherplate。Shebegan：“No——“
“Thenconfoundhisimpudence！”thegeneralbrokeout。“Whatbusinesshashetowritetoyouatallaboutthis？”
“Becausehecouldn’tgoawaywithoutit！”shereturned；andshemetherfather’seyecourageously。“Hehadarighttothinkwewerehisfriends；
andifhehasdonewrong，orisindisgraceanyway，isn’titmanlyofhimtowishtotellusfirsthimself？”
Herfathercouldnotsaythatitwasnot。Buthecouldanddidsay，verysceptically：“Stuff！Now，seehere，Agatha：whatareyougoingtodo？”
“I’mgoingtoseeMrs。March，andthen——“
“Youmustn’tdoanythingofthekind，mydear。”saidherfather，gently。
“You’venorighttogiveyourselfawaytothatromanticoldgoose。”Heputuphishandtointerruptherprotest。“Thisthinghasgottobegonetothebottomof。Butyou’renottodoit。IwillseeMarchmyself。Wemustconsideryourdignityinthismatter——andmine。AndyoumayaswellunderstandthatI’mnotgoingtohaveanynonsense。It’sgottobemanagedsothatitcan’tbesupposedwe’reanxiousaboutit，onewayortheother，orthathewasauthorizedtowritetoyouinthisway——“
“No，no！Heoughtn’ttohavedoneso。Hewastoblame。Hecouldn’thavewrittentoyou，though，papa——“
“Well，Idon’tknowwhy。Butthat’snoreasonwhyweshouldletitbeunderstoodthathehaswrittentoyou。IwillseeMarch；andIwillmanagetoseehiswife，too。Ishallprobablyfindtheminthereading-
roomatPupp’s，and——“
“TheMarcheswereinfactjustcominginfromtheirbreakfastatthePosthof，andhemetthematthedoorofPupp’s，wheretheyallsatdownononeoftheironsetteesofthepiazza，andbegantoaskoneanotherquestionsoftheirmindsaboutthepleasureofthedaybefore，andtobeataboutthebushwhereBurnamylurkedintheircommonconsciousness。
Mrs。Marchwasnotabletokeeplongfromstartinghim。“Youknew。”shesaid，“thatMr。Burnamyhadleftus？”
“Left！Why？”askedthegeneral。
Shewasawomanofresource，butinacaselikethisshefounditbesttotrustherhusband’spovertyofinvention。Shelookedathim，andheansweredforherwithapromptnessthatmadeherquakeatfirst，butfinallyseemedtheonlything，ifnotthebestthing：“He’shadsometroublewithStoller。”Hewentontotellthegeneraljustwhatthetroublewas。
Attheendthegeneralgruntedasfromanuncertainmind。“Youthinkhe’sbehavedbadly。”
“Ithinkhe’sbehavedfoolishly——youthfully。ButIcanunderstandhowstronglyhewastempted。HecouldsaythathewasnotauthorizedtostopStollerinhismadcareer。”
AtthisMrs。Marchputherhandthroughherhusband’sarm。
“I’mnotsosureaboutthat。”saidthegeneral。
Marchadded：“SinceIsawhimthismorning，I’veheardsomethingthatdisposesmetolookathisperformanceinafriendlierlight。It’ssomethingthatStollertoldmehimself；toheightenmysenseofBurnamy’swickedness。HeseemstohavefeltthatIoughttoknowwhataserpentI
wascherishinginmybosom。”andhegaveTriscoethefactsofBurnamy’sinjuriousrefusaltohelpStollerputafalsecomplexionontheopinionshehadallowedhimignorantlytoexpress。
Thegeneralgruntedagain。“Ofcoursehehadtorefuse，andhehasbehavedlikeagentlemansofar。Butthatdoesn’tjustifyhiminhavingletStollergethimselfintothescrape。”
“No。”saidMarch。“It’satoughnutforthecasuisttotryhistoothon。
AndImustsayIfeelsorryforStoller。”
Mrs。Marchpluckedherhandfromhisarm。“Idon’t，onebit。Hewasthoroughlyselfishfromfirsttolast。Hehasgotjustwhathedeserved。”
“Ah，verylikely。”saidherhusband。“ThequestionisaboutBurnamy’spartingivinghimhisdeserts；hehadtoleavehimtothem，ofcourse。”
Thegeneralfixedherwiththeimpenetrableglitterofhiseye-glasses，andleftthesubjectasofnoconcerntohim。“Ibelieve。”hesaid，rising，“I’llhavealookatsomeofyourpapers。”andhewentintothereading-room。
“Now。”saidMrs。March，“hewillgohomeandpoisonthatpoorgirl’smind。And，youwillhaveyourselftothankforprejudicinghimagainstBurnamy。”
“Thenwhydidn’tyoudoityourself，mydear？”heteased；buthewasreallytoosorryforthewholeaffair，whichheneverthelessenjoyedasanethicalproblem。
ThegenerallookedsolittleatthepapersthatbeforeMarchwentoffforhismorningwalkhesawhimcomeoutofthereading-roomandtakehiswaydowntheAlteWiese。Hewentdirectlybacktohisdaughter，andreportedBurnamy’sbehaviorwithentireexactness。HedweltuponhismakingthebestofabadbusinessinrefusingtohelpStolleroutofit，dishonorablyandmendaciously；buthedidnotconcealthatitwasabadbusiness。
“Now，youknowallaboutit。”hesaidattheend，“andIleavethewholethingtoyou。Ifyouprefer，youcanseeMrs。March。Idon’tknowbutI’dratheryou’dsatisfyyourself——“
“IwillnotseeMrs。March。DoyouthinkIwouldgobackofyouinthatway？Iamsatisfiednow。”
