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第14章

[夜与日].(night.and.day).(英)弗吉尼亚·伍尔芙.文字版-第14章


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name as Katharine Hilbery; I’m afraid。” 

They both looked out of the window; first up at the 
hard silver moon; stationary among a hurry of little grey
blue clouds; and then down upon the roofs of London; 
with all their upright chimneys; and then below them at 
the empty moonlit pavement of the street; upon which 
the joint of each pavingstone was clearly marked out。 
Mary then saw Katharine raise her eyes again to the moon; 
with a contemplative look in them; as though she were 
setting that moon against the moon of other nights; held 
in memory。 Some one in the room behind them made a 
joke about stargazing; which destroyed their pleasure in 
it; and they looked back into the room again。 

Ralph had been watching for this moment; and he instantly 
produced his sentence。 

“I wonder; Miss Hilbery; whether you remembered to 
get that picture glazed?” His voice showed that the question 
was one that had been prepared。 

“Oh; you idiot!” Mary exclaimed; very nearly aloud; with 
a sense that Ralph had said something very stupid。 So; 
after three lessons in Latin grammar; one might correct a 
fellow student; whose knowledge did not embrace the 
ablative of “mensa。” 

“Picture—what picture?” Katharine asked。 “Oh; at home; 
you mean—that Sunday afternoon。 Was it the day Mr。 
Fortescue came? Yes; I think I remembered it。” 

The three of them stood for a moment awkwardly silent; 
and then Mary left them in order to see that the 
great pitcher of coffee was properly handled; for beneath 
all her education she preserved the anxieties of one who 
owns china。 

Ralph could think of nothing further to say; but could 
one have stripped off his mask of flesh; one would have 
seen that his willpower was rigidly set upon a single 

49 



Night and Day 

object—that Miss Hilbery should obey him。 He wished 
her to stay there until; by some measures not yet apparent 
to him; he had conquered her interest。 These states 
of mind transmit themselves very often without the use 
of language; and it was evident to Katharine that this 
young man had fixed his mind upon her。 She instantly 
recalled her first impressions of him; and saw herself again 
proffering family relics。 She reverted to the state of mind 
in which he had left her that Sunday afternoon。 She supposed 
that he judged her very severely。 She argued naturally 
that; if this were the case; the burden of the conversation 
should rest with him。 But she submitted so far as 
to stand perfectly still; her eyes upon the opposite wall; 
and her lips very nearly closed; though the desire to laugh 
stirred them slightly。 

“You know the names of the stars; I suppose?” Denham 
remarked; and from the tone of his voice one might have 
thought that he grudged Katharine the knowledge he attributed 
to her。 

She kept her voice steady with some difficulty。 

“I know how to find the Pole star if I’m lost。” 

“I don’t suppose that often happens to you。” 

“No。 Nothing interesting ever happens to me;” she said。 

“I think you make a system of saying disagreeable things; 
Miss Hilbery;” he broke out; again going further than he 
meant to。 “I suppose it’s one of the characteristics of your 
class。 They never talk seriously to their inferiors。” 

Whether it was that they were meeting on neutral ground 
tonight; or whether the carelessness of an old grey coat 
that Denham wore gave an ease to his bearing that he 
lacked in conventional dress; Katharine certainly felt no 
impulse to consider him outside the particular set in which 
she lived。 

“In what sense are you my inferior?” she asked; looking 
at him gravely; as though honestly searching for his meaning。 
The look gave him great pleasure。 For the first time 
he felt himself on perfectly equal terms with a woman 
whom he wished to think well of him; although he could 
not have explained why her opinion of him mattered one 
way or another。 Perhaps; after all; he only wanted to 
have something of her to take home to think about。 But 
he was not destined to profit by his advantage。 

50 



Virginia Woolf 

“I don’t think I understand what you mean;” Katharine 
repeated; and then she was obliged to stop and answer 
some one who wished to know whether she would buy a 
ticket for an opera from them; at a reduction。 Indeed; 
the temper of the meeting was now unfavorable to separate 
conversation; it had bee rather debauched and 
hilarious; and people who scarcely knew each other were 
making use of Christian names with apparent cordiality; 
and had reached that kind of gay tolerance and general 
friendliness which human beings in England only attain 
after sitting together for three hours or so; and the first 
cold blast in the air of the street freezes them into isolation 
once more。 Cloaks were being flung round the shoulders; 
hats swiftly pinned to the head; and Denham had 
the mortification of seeing Katharine helped to prepare 
herself by the ridiculous Rodney。 It was not the convention 
of the meeting to say goodbye; or necessarily even 
to nod to the person with whom one was talking; but; 
nevertheless; Denham was disappointed by the pleteness 
with which Katharine parted from him; without any 
attempt to finish her sentence。 She left with Rodney。 

CHAPTER V 


Denham had no conscious intention of following Katharine; 
but; seeing her depart; he took his hat and ran rather 
more quickly down the stairs than he would have done if 
Katharine had not been in front of him。 He overtook a 
friend of his; by name Harry Sandys; who was going the 
same way; and they walked together a few paces behind 
Katharine and Rodney。 

The night was very still; and on such nights; when the 
traffic thins away; the walker bees conscious of the 
moon in the street; as if the curtains of the sky had been 
drawn apart; and the heaven lay bare; as it does in the 
country。 The air was softly cool; so that people who had 
been sitting talking in a crowd found it pleasant to walk 
a little before deciding to stop an omnibus or encounter 
light again in an underground railway。 Sandys; who was a 
barrister with a philosophic tendency; took out his pipe; 
lit it; murmured “hum” and “ha;” and was silent。 The 
couple in front of them kept their distance accurately; 
and appeared; so far as Denham could judge by the way 

51 



Night and Day 

they turned towards each other; to be talking very constantly。 
He observed that when a pedestrian going the 
opposite way forced them to part they came together 
again directly afterwards。 Without intending to watch 
them he never quite lost sight of the yellow scarf twisted 
round Katharine’s head; or the light overcoat which made 
Rodney look fashionable among the crowd。 At the Strand 
he supposed that they would separate; but instead they 
crossed the road; and took their way down one of the 
narrow passages which lead through ancient courts to 
the river。 Among the crowd of people in the big thoroughfares 
Rodney seemed merely to be lending Katharine 
his escort; but now; when passengers were rare and the 
footsteps of the couple were distinctly heard in the silence; 
Denham could not help picturing to himself some 
change in their conversation。 The effect of the light and 
shadow; which seemed to increase their height; was to 
make them mysterious and significant; so that Denham 
had no feeling of irritation with Katharine; but rather a 
halfdreamy acquiescence in the course of the world。 Yes; 
she did very well to dream about—but Sandys had sud


denly begun to talk。 He was a solitary man who had made 
his friends at college and always addressed them as if 
they were still undergraduates arguing in his room; though 
many months or even years had passed in some cases 
between the last sentence and the present one。 The 
method was a little singular; but very restful; for it seemed 
to ignore pletely all accidents of human life; and to 
span very deep abysses with a few simple words。 

On this occasion he began; while they waited for a 
minute on the edge of the Strand: 

“I hear that Bent has given up his theory o

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