"I am lonely," she began. "I want--" She did not know what she wanted,
so that she could not finish the sentence; but her lip quivered.

But it seemed that Mrs. Dalloway was able to understand without words.

"I know," she said, actually putting one arm round Rachel's shoulder.
"When I was your age I wanted too. No one understood until I met
Richard. He gave me all I wanted. He's man and woman as well." Her eyes
rested upon Mr. Dalloway, leaning upon the rail, still talking. "Don't
think I say that because I'm his wife--I see his faults more clearly
than I see any one else's. What one wants in the person one lives with
is that they should keep one at one's best. I often wonder what I've
done to be so happy!" she exclaimed, and a tear slid down her cheek. She
wiped it away, squeezed Rachel's hand, and exclaimed:

"How good life is!" At that moment, standing out in the fresh breeze,
with the sun upon the waves, and Mrs. Dalloway's hand upon her arm, it
seemed indeed as if life which had been unnamed before was infinitely
wonderful, and too good to be true.

Here Helen passed them, and seeing Rachel arm-in-arm with a comparative
stranger, looking excited, was amused, but at the same time slightly
irritated. But they were immediately joined by Richard, who had enjoyed
a very interesting talk with Willoughby and was in a sociable mood.

"Observe my Panama," he said, touching the brim of his hat. "Are you
aware, Miss Vinrace, how much can be done to induce fine weather by
appropriate headdress? I have determined that it is a hot summer day; I
warn you that nothing you can say will shake me. Therefore I am going