Shocks, however, from these quite different depths, were not what he saw reason to apprehend; what he rather seemed to himself not yet to have measured was something that, seeking a name for it, he would have called the quantity of confidence reposed in him. He had stood still, at many a moment of the previous month, with the thought, freshly determined or renewed, of the general expectationto define it roughlyof which he was the subject. What was singular was that it seemed not so much an expectation of anything in particular as a large, bland, blank assumption of merits almost beyond notation, of essential quality and value. It was as if he had been some old embossed coin, of a purity of gold no longer used, stamped with glorious arms, mediaeval, wonderful, of which the worth in mere modern change, sovereigns and half crowns, would be great enough, but as to which, since there were finer ways of using it, such taking to pieces was superfluous. That was the image for the security in which it was open to him to rest; he was to constitute a possession, yet was to escape being reduced to his component parts. What would this mean but that, practically, he was never to be tried or tested? What would it mean but that, if they didnt change him, they really wouldnt knowhe wouldnt know himselfhow many pounds, shillings and pence he had to give? These at any rate, for the present, were unanswerable questions; all that was before him was that he was invested with attributes. He was taken seriously. Lost there in the white mist was the seriousness in them that made them so take him. It was even in Mrs. Assingham, in spite of her having, as she had frequently shown, a more mocking spirit. All he could say as yet was that he had done nothing, so far as to break any charm. What should he do if he were to ask her frankly this afternoon what was, morally speaking, behind their veil. It would come to asking what they expected him to do. She would answer him probably: Oh, you know, its what we expect you to be! on which he would have no resource but to deny his knowledge. Would that break the spell, his saying he had no idea? What idea in fact could he have? He also took himself seriouslymade a point of it; but it wasnt simply a question of fancy and pretension. His own estimate he saw ways, at one time and another, of dealing with: but theirs, sooner or later, say what they might, would put him to the practical proof. As the practical proof, accordingly, would naturally be proportionate to the cluster of his attributes, one arrived at a scale that he was not, honestly, the man to calculate. Who but a billionaire could say what was fair exchange for a billion? That measure was the shrouded object, but he felt really, as his cab stopped in Cadogan Place, a little nearer the shroud. He promised himself, virtually, to give the latter a twitch.
II
Theyre not good days, you know, he had said to Fanny Assingham after declaring himself grateful for finding her, and then, with his cup of tea, putting her in possession of the latest newsthe documents signed an hour ago, de part et dautre, and the telegram from his backers, who had reached Paris the morning before, and who, pausing there a little, poor dears, seemed to think the whole thing a tremendous lark. Were very simple folk, mere country cousins compared with you, he had also observed, and Paris, for my sister and her husband, is the end of the world. London therefore will be more or less another planet. It has always been, as with so many of us, quite their Mecca, but this is their first real caravan; theyve mainly known old England as a shop for articles in india-rubber and leather, in which theyve dressed themselves as much as possible. Which all means, however, that youll see them, all of them, wreathed in smiles. We must be very easy with them. Maggies too wonderfulher preparations are on a scale! She insists on taking in the sposi and my uncle. The others will come to me. Ive been engaging their rooms at the hotel, and, with all those solemn signatures of an hour ago, that brings the case home to me.
Do you mean youre afraid? his hostess had amusedly asked.
Terribly afraid. Ive now but to wait to see the monster come. Theyre not good days; theyre neither one thing nor the other. Ive really got nothing, yet Ive everything to lose. One doesnt know what still may happen.
The way she laughed at him was for an instant almost irritating; it came out, for his fancy, from behind the white curtain. It was a sign, that is, of her deep serenity, which worried instead of soothing him. And to be soothed, after all, to be tided over, in his mystic impatience, to be told what he could understand and believethat was what he had come for. Marriage then, said Mrs. Assingham, is what you call the monster? I admit its a fearful thing at the best; but, for heavens sake, if thats what youre thinking of, dont run away from it.
Ah, to run away from it would be to run away from you, the Prince replied; and Ive already told you often enough how I depend on you to see me through. He so liked the way she took this, from the corner of her sofa, that he gave his sincerityfor it WAS sincerityfuller expression. Im starting on the great voyageacross the unknown sea; my ships all rigged and appointed, the cargos stowed away and the company complete. But what seems the matter with me is that I cant sail alone; my ship must be one of a pair, must have, in the waste of waters, awhat do you call it?a consort. I dont ask you to stay on board with me, but I must keep your sail in sight for orientation. I dont in the least myself know, I assure you, the points of the compass. But with a lead I can perfectly follow. You MUST be my lead.
How can you be sure, she asked, where I should take you?
Why, from your having brought me safely thus far. I should never have got here without you. Youve provided the ship itself, and, if youve not quite seen me aboard, youve attended me, ever so kindly, to the dock. Your own vessel is, all conveniently, in the next berth, and you cant desert me now.
She showed him again her amusement, which struck him even as excessive, as if, to his surprise, he made her also a little nervous; she treated him in fine as if he were not uttering truths, but making pretty figures for her diversion. My vessel, dear Prince? she smiled. What vessel, in the world, have I? This little house is all our ship, Bobs and mineand thankful we are, now, to have it. Weve wandered far, living, as you may say, from hand to mouth, without rest for the soles of our feet. But the time has come for us at last to draw in.
He made at this, the young man, an indignant protest. You talk about restits too selfish!when youre just launching me on adventures?
She shook her head with her kind lucidity. Not adventuresheaven forbid! Youve had yoursas Ive had mine; and my idea has been, all along, that we should neither of us begin again. My own last, precisely, has been doing for you all you so prettily mention. But it consists simply in having conducted you to rest. You talk about ships, but theyre not the comparison. Your tossings are overyoure practically IN port. The port, she concluded, of the Golden Isles.
He looked about, to put himself more in relation with the place; then, after an hesitation, seemed to speak certain words instead of certain others. Oh, I know where I AM! I do decline to be left, but what I came for, of course, was to thank you. If to-day has seemed, for the first time, the end of preliminaries, I feel how little there would have been any at all without you. The first were wholly yours.