in a common vehicle instead of embarking in a great shell and being
drawn by swans to some enchanted island. Her playing reminds me of
myself as I was when I believed in fairyland, and indeed knew little
about any other land."

"They say," said Alice, "that her husband is very jealous, and that
she leads him a terrible life."

"THEY SAY anything that brings gifted people to the level of their
own experience. Doubtless they are right. I have not met Mr.
Herbert, but I have seen his pictures, which suggest that he reads
everything and sees nothing; for they all represent scenes described
in some poem. If one could only find an educated man who had never
read a book, what a delightful companion he would be!"

When the concert was over they did not return directly to town, as
Lydia wished to walk awhile in the gardens. In consequence, when
they left Sydenham, they got into a Waterloo train, and so had to
change at Clapham Junction. It was a fine summer evening, and Alice,
though she thought that it became ladies to hide themselves from the
public in waiting-rooms at railway stations, did not attempt to
dissuade Lydia from walking to and fro at an unfrequented end of the
platform, which terminated in a bank covered with flowers.

"To my mind," said Lydia, "Clapham Junction is one of the prettiest
places about London."

"Indeed!" said Alice, a little maliciously. "I thought that all
artistic people looked on junctions and railway lines as blots on
the landscape."