"I mean they're living. They're rushing
about. I've already had my rushing. I'm waiting."
"But aren't you," she asked by way of cheer, "waiting with ME?"
He looked at her in all kindness. "Yes--if it weren't for that!"
"And you help me to wait," she said. "However," she went on, "I've
really something for you that will help you to wait and which you
shall have in a minute. Only there's something more I want from you
first. I revel in Sarah."
"So do I. If it weren't," he again amusedly sighed, "for THAT--!"
"Well, you owe more to women than any man I ever saw. We do seem to
keep you going. Yet Sarah, as I see her, must be great,"
"She IS "Strether fully assented: "great! Whatever happens, she
won't, with these unforgettable days, have lived in vain."
Miss Gostrey had a pause. "You mean she has fallen in love?"
"I mean she wonders if she hasn't--and it serves all her purpose."
"It has indeed," Maria laughed, "served women's purposes before!"
"Yes--for giving in. But I doubt if the idea--as an idea--has ever
up to now answered so well for holding out. That's HER tribute to
the ideal--we each have our own. It's her romance--and it seems to
me better on the whole than mine. To have it in Paris too," he
explained--"on this classic ground, in this charged infectious air,
with so sudden an intensity: well, it's more than she expected.
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