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'You must enclose him in a net of goodness and loving kindness, said Douglas.
The image of the enraged Randall so trammelled almost made A
'Most of our love is shabby stuff, said Douglas. 'But there is always a thin line of gold, the bit of pure love on which all the rest depends and which redeems all the rest.
A
As she uttered the words she felt, shapeless and awkward is what I am. She had been awkward at school, and had been told that it would pass. It had not passed, and she had learnt to live with it, and it had become no easier as she grew older. She had had, she must have had, some grace when Randall first loved her and when her hair was almost as red as Miranda's: some wild grace lent her by the very fact of the dazzling, the enchanting Randall's love. But that time was hard even to imagine now. What remained was awkwardness and effort, the endless effort of confronting people with none of whom she had any sense of fitting. Had she and Randall ever' fitted'? Perhaps, in the days of their happiness, their personalities had been too hazy for the question to arise. Now the haze had cleared and they had hardened into incompatible shapes. Yet 'fitting' was still something that was possible. With Douglas, for instance, she felt almost perfectly at ease. And with Felix. Her thoughts touched this and took flight at once. It was a place where thoughts must not go. I am always saying no, said A
'Shapeless and awkward, said Douglas. 'Precisely. We must not expect our lives to have a visible shape. They are invisibly shaped by God. Goodness accepts the contingent. Love accepts the contingent. Nothing is more fatal to love than to want everything to have form.
'Randall wants everything to have form, said A
'He is a man before he is an artist, said Douglas with magisterial severity.
A
Douglas Swa
A
'There, my child, my child, murmured Swa
The drawing-room door opened abruptly to admit Mildred Finch. 'Dear me! said Mildred.
The next moment A
'Oh, Mildred —’ said A
Mildred came round the edge of the semicircle of dolls and said, 'There, my dear; don't take on. She cast a hostile glance at Swa
A
Mildred looked sceptical, and then set her feet apart in a patient yet stubborn pose which indicated with brutal clarity that she was waiting for Swa
Swa
Mildred said, 'Of course she's not all right! Then she added conversationally, 'I've just walked up from the village. It looks quite like rain now. Fortunately I've got my umbrella.
Swa
Thank you for being so kind, Douglas. Swa
'Well, that's got rid of him, said Mildred.
A
She said, 'Do take your coat off and stop looking as if you were going directly. You'll stay to lunch?
'That depends, said Mildred. 'And I'll keep my coat on, I'm frozen. I can't think why you don't have a fire. There, I told you so, it's raining.
A
'You need a holiday, said Mildred. She stood there still, feet apart, umbrella under A
'A holiday» A
'Why not? This place could go on. Bowshott could run it.
'No he couldn't, said A
'I suppose there's no news from the deplorable Randall?
'No.
'I suppose he's going to settle down with the Rimmer girl?
'With who?
'Oh Lord! said Mildred. 'Have I put my foot in it? You didn't know he was having a terrific affair with Lindsay Rimmer, you know, Emma Sands' companion?
A
'Nonsense, child, said Mildred, after regarding her for a moment. 'Of course you care. But I'm glad that you seem to have written Randall off.
'I haven't written him off. It's just that I'm not curious about the details. He'll come back. A
Mildred spoke more softly and lightly now, as if managing a transition from a spoken to a sung litany. 'I don't think he'll come back, my dear.
'Yes, he will, said A
'And Randall is a brute, said Mildred. 'Let us call things by their names. A brute and a cad.
'Stop it, Mildred, will you? Let's go to the kitchen. How did you get here, by the way? You said you walked from the village.
'Felix brought me, said Mildred. Her tone was bleak and provocative.
A
When she said no more, Mildred pursued, 'Yes, he's gone to Maidstone to pick up some new blades for the lawnmower. It's so useful having him at Seton Blaise. He's renovated all the machines. — He's so mechanical.