第2章
"Buthehasn"t。Richardhasn"ttoldmeanything。"
"Ethel！Thenwhatisthematter？"
"Itoldhimsomething。ItoldhimthatifitwasgoingtobeanystoryaboutaboutsomethingIshouldn"tlike，Ishouldsimplyfollowitwithastoryabouthimthathewouldn"tlike。"
"Ethel！Youdarling！"
"Oh，yes，andIsaidIwassureyouwouldalllisten，eventhoughIwasnotanauthormyself。AndIhaveitready，youknow，andit"sawfullylikeRichard，onlyadifferentsideofhimfromtheburglarone。"
"But，mydear，whatdidhedowhenyou"
Thisenquirywas，however，cutshortbytheentranceofthemen。AndfromtheglancethatcamefromRichard"seyesastheyimmediatelysoughtouthiswife，Mrs。DavenportknewthathecouldnothavedoneanythingveryseveretoEthelwhenshemadethatthreattohimduringtheirdrive。
Richardatoncemadehiswaytotheeasy-chairarrangedeachnightinagoodpositionforthenarratoroftheevening，andbaptised"TheSingstool"byMr。Graves。Mr。GraveswasanardentWagnerian，andespeciallydevotedtoTheMastersingersofNuremberg。
"Shallwehave，"hewhisperedtoMr。Hillard，"aBeckmesserfiascoto-night，orwillitbeaWaltersuccess？"
ButMr。Hillard，besidesbeinganauthorandacritic，caredlittleforthetooliteraryclevernessofMr。Graves。Hethereforeheavilycrushedthatgentleman"sallusiontoWagner"sopera。"Iremember，"hesaid，"thesingingcontestbetweenBeckmesserandWalter，andIdoubtifwearetobeafflictedwithanythingsodullinthishouse。"
Richardhadsettledhimselfintheeasy-chair，andwaslookingthoughtfullyatvariousobjectsintheroom，whilethesmall-talkwassubsidingaroundhim。
"Why，Mr。Field，"saidMrs。Davenport，"youlookasifyoucouldfindnothingtosuggestyourstorytoyou。"
"Onthecontrary，"saidRichard，"itisthenumberofthingsthatsuggestit。Thisnewspaperhere，thathasarrivedsinceIwaslastintheroom，hasacolumnwhichremindsmeveryforciblyoftheexperiencethatIhaveselectedtotellyou。ButIthinkthemostappropriateofallisthatpicture。"Hepointedtothelargestpictureonthewall。""BreakingHomeTies"isitstitle，Irememberverywell。ItisareplicaoftheoriginalthatdrewsuchcrowdsintheArtBuildingattheWorld"sFair。"
WhileRichardwassayingthis，hiswifehadpossessedherselfofthenewspaper，andhenowobservedhoweagerlyshewasscanningitspages。
"Itisthefinancialcolumn，Ethel，thatrecallsmystory。"
Ethel，afterahopelessglanceatthis，resumedherseatnearthesofabyMrs。Davenport。
"Thereweremanypaintings，"continuedRichard，"inthatArtBuilding，ofmeritincomparablygreaterthan"BreakingHomeTies"；andyetthecrowdneverlookedatthose，becauseitdidnotunderstandthem。Butatanyhouroftheday，ifyouhappenedtopassthispicture，ittookyousometimetodoso。YoucouldpassanyofJohnSargeant"spictures，forinstance，ataspeedlimitedonlybyyourownpowersofrunning；butyoucouldneverrunpast"BreakingHomeTies。"Youhadtoworkyourwaythroughthecrowdinfrontofthatjustasyouhavetodoatafire，oranewsofficeduringafootballgame。TheAmericanpeoplecouldnevergetenoughofthatmotherkissingherboygoodbye，whilethewagonwaitsattheopendoortotakehimawayfromheruponhisfirstjourneyintotheworld。Theideaheldadailypathosforthem。Manyhadthemselvesbeenthroughsuchleavetakings；andnowordsostirsthegeneralheartastheword"mother"。Songwritersknowthis；andtheartistknewitwhenhedecidedtopaint"BreakingHomeTies。"And"Mother"isthetitleofmystoryto-night。"
"Mother！"ThiswasEthel"sbewilderedecho，"WhoseMother？"shesoftlymurmuredtoherself。
Richardcontinued。"ItconcernsthecircumstancesunderwhichIbecameengagedtomywife。"
TherewasamovementfromEthelasshesatbythesofa。
"Notallthecircumstances，ofcourse，"thenarratorcontinued，withacertainguardedcandourinhistone。"Therearecertaincircumstanceswhichnaturallyattendeveryengagementbetweenhappyandanddevoted
youngpeoplethattheykeeptothemselvesquitecarefully，inspiteofthefactthatanyonewhohasbeenthroughtheexperienceofbeingengagedtwoorthreetimes"
TherewasanothermovementfromEthelbythesofa。
"orevenonlyonce，asismycase，"thenarratorwenton，"anybody，I
say，whohasbeenthroughtheexperienceofbeingengagedonlyonce，canformaverycorrectideaofthecircumstancesthatattendthehappyengagementsofallyoungpeople。Iimaginetheyprevailinallcountries，justasthefeelingabout"mother"prevails。Yes，"Mother"istherighttitleformystory，asyoushallsee。Isitnotstrangethatifyouadd"in-law"totheword"mother，"howimmediatelythesentimentofthetermisaltered？asstronglyindeedaswhenyouprefixtheword"step"toit。
Butitiswithneitherofthesecompositeformsofmotherthatanystorydeals。
"EthelhasalwaysmaintainedthatifIhadreallyunderstoodher，itneverwouldhavehappened。Shesays"
"Richard，I"
"Mydear，youshalltellyourstoryafterwards，andIpromisetolistenwithoutaworduntilyouarefinished。Mrs。FieldsaysthatifIhadunderstoodhernatureasamanoughttounderstandthegirlhehasbeenthinkingaboutforseveralyears，Ishouldhaveknownshecarednothingaboutmyincome。"
"Ididn"tcare！I"dhave"butMr。Fieldcheckedheroutburst。
"Shewasgoingtosay，"saidMr。Field，"thathadIaskedhertomarrymewhenIbecamesurethatIwishedtomarryher，shewouldhavebeenwillingtoleaveNewYorkandgotothewastelandinMichiganthatwasherinheritancefromagrandfather，andtherebuildacabinandliveinitwithme；andthatwhileIshotprairiechickensfordinnershewouldhavemilkedthecowwhichsomememberofthefamilywouldhavebeenwillingtogiveusasaweddingpresentinsteadofastatueoftheWingedVictory，orsilverspoonsandforks，hadwesodesired。"
Richardmadeapausehere，andlookedathiswifeasifheexpectedhertocorrecthim。ButEthelwasplainlysatisfiedwithhisstatement，andhethereforecontinued。
"Ithinkitisidealwhenagirlisreadytodosomuchasthatforaman。ButIshouldnotthinkitidealinamantoallowthegirlhelovedtodoitforhim。NordidIthenknowanythingaboutthelandsinMichiganthoughthiswouldhavemadenodifference。Ethelhadbeenaccustomedtoahouseseveralstorieshigh，withhotandcoldwaterinmostofthem，andsomebodytoanswerthedoor-bell。"
"Thedoor-bell！"exclaimedEthel。"Icouldhavegonewithouthearingthat。"
"Yes，Ethel，onlytohearthewelkinringwouldhavebeenenoughforyou。