'She was a pretty thing,too,'he thought;'I was fond of her.
Perhaps Soames didn't suit her--I don't know--I can't tell.We never had any trouble with our wives.'Women had changed everything had changed!And now the Queen was dead--well,there it was!A movement in the crowd brought him to a standstill at the window,his nose touching the pane and whitening from the chill of it.They had got her as far as Hyde Park Corner--they were passing now!Why didn't Emily come up here where she could see,instead of fussing about lunch.He missed her at that moment--missed her!
Through the bare branches of the plane-trees he could just see the procession,could see the hats coming off the people's heads--a lot of them would catch colds,he shouldn't wonder!A voice behind him said:
"You've got a capital view here,James!"
"There you are!"muttered James;"why didn't you come before?You might have missed it!"And he was silent,staring with all his might.
"What's the noise?"he asked suddenly.
"There's no noise,"returned Emily;"what are you thinking of?--they wouldn't cheer."
"I can hear it."
"Nonsense,James!"
No sound came through those double panes;what James heard was the groaning in his own heart at sight of his Age passing.
"Don't you ever tell me where I'm buried,"he said suddenly."Ishan't want to know."And he turned from the window.There she went,the old Queen;she'd had a lot of anxiety--she'd be glad to be out of it,he should think!