Chapter 1 One may as well begin with
Helen 0
's letters to
.
HOWARDS END 2
, TUESDAY .
Dearest Meg 1
, It is n't going to be what
we 3
expected .
It 15
is old and little , and altogether delightful -- red brick .
We 3
can scarcely pack in as it is , and the dear knows what will happen when
Paul 60
(
younger son 88
) arrives tomorrow .
From
hall 4
you 5
go right or left into
dining-room 6
or
drawing-room 7
.
Hall 4
itself is practically
a room 8
.
You 9
open another door in
it 15
, and there are
the stairs 10
going up in
a sort of tunnel to
the first-floor 12
11 .
Three bedrooms in a row 13
there 12
, and
three attics in a row above 14
.
That is n't all
the house 15
really , but it 's all that one notices -- nine windows as
you 16
look up from
the front garden 17
.
Then there 's a very big wych-elm -- to the left as
you 18
look up -- leaning a little over
the house 15
, and standing on the boundary between
the garden 17
and
meadow 19
.
I 0
quite love that tree already .
Also ordinary elms , oaks -- no nastier than ordinary oaks -- pear-trees , apple-trees , and a vine .
No silver birches , though .
However ,
I 0
must get on to
my 0
host 20
and
hostess 21
22 .
I 0
only wanted to show that
it 15
is n't the least what
we 3
expected .
Why did
we 3
settle that
would be
all gables and wiggles 23
, and
all
gamboge-coloured paths 24
?
I 0
believe simply because
we 3
associate
them 22
with
expensive hotels 25
--
Mrs. Wilcox 21
trailing in beautiful dresses down
long corridors 26
,
Mr. Wilcox 20
bullying
porters 27
, etc .
We 28
females 28
are that unjust .
I 0
shall be back Saturday ; will let
you 1
know train later .
They 22
are as angry as
I 0
am that
you 1
did not come too ; really
Tibby 29
is too tiresome ,
he 29
starts a new mortal disease every month .
How could
he 29
have got hay fever in
London 30
?
and even if
he 29
could , it seems hard that
you 1
should give up a visit to hear
a schoolboy 29
sneeze .
Tell
him 29
that
Charles Wilcox 31
(
) has hay fever too , but
he 31
's brave , and gets quite cross when
we 32
inquire after it .
Men like
the Wilcoxes 34
33 would do
Tibby 29
a power of good .
But
you 1
wo n't agree , and
I 0
'd better change the subject .
This long letter is because
I 0
'm writing before breakfast .
Oh , the beautiful vine leaves !
The house 15
is covered with a vine .
I 0
looked out earlier , and
Mrs. Wilcox 21
was already in
the garden 17
.
She 21
evidently loves
it 17
.
No wonder
she 21
sometimes looks tired .
She 21
was watching the large red poppies come out .
Then
she 21
walked off
the lawn 35
to
the meadow 19
,
whose corner to the right 36
I 0
can just see .
Trail , trail , went
her 21
long dress over the sopping grass , and
she 21
came back with
her 21
hands full of the hay that was cut yesterday --
I 0
suppose for rabbits or something , as
she 21
kept on smelling it .
The air here is delicious .
Later on
I 0
heard the noise of croquet balls , and looked out again , and it was
Charles Wilcox 31
practising ;
they 34
are keen on all games .
Presently
he 31
started sneezing and had to stop .
Then
I 0
hear more clicketing , and it is
Mr. Wilcox 20
practising , and then , ' a-tissue , a-tissue ' :
he 20
has to stop too .
Then
Evie 37
comes out , and does some calisthenic exercises on a machine that is tacked on to a greengage-tree --
they 34
put everything to use -- and then
she 37
says ' a-tissue , ' and in
she 37
goes .
And finally
Mrs. Wilcox 21
reappears , trail , trail , still smelling hay and looking at the flowers .
I 0
inflict all this on
you 1
because once
you 1
said that life is sometimes life and sometimes only a drama , and one must learn to distinguish t ' other from which , and up to now
I 0
have always put that down as '
Meg 1
's clever nonsense . '
But this morning , it really does seem not life but a play , and it did amuse
me 0
enormously to watch
the W 's 34
.
Now
Mrs. Wilcox 21
has come in .
I 0
am going to wear [ omission ] .
Last night
Mrs. Wilcox 21
wore an [ omission ] , and
Evie 37
[ omission ] .
So
it 2
is n't exactly
a go-as-you-please place 38
, and if
you 39
shut
your 40
eyes
it 2
still seems
the wiggly hotel that
we 3
expected
90 .
Not if
you 41
open them .
The dog-roses are too sweet .
There is a great hedge of them over
the lawn 35
-- magnificently tall , so that they fall down in garlands , and nice and thin at the bottom , so that
you 42
can see ducks through it and a cow .
These belong to
the farm 43
, which is
the only house near
us 44
43 .
There goes the breakfast gong .
Much love .
Modified love to
Tibby 29
.
Love to
Aunt Juley 45
; how good of
her 45
to come and keep
you 1
company , but what
a bore 45
.
Burn this .
Will write again Thursday .
Helen 0
HOWARDS END 2
, FRIDAY .
Dearest Meg 1
,
I 0
am having a glorious time .
I 0
like
them 34
all .
Mrs. Wilcox 21
, if quieter than in
Germany 46
, is sweeter than ever , and
I 0
never saw anything like
her 21
steady unselfishness , and the best of it is that
the others 47
do not take advantage of
her 21
.
They 34
are
the very happiest , jolliest family that
you 48
can imagine
92 .
I 0
do really feel that
we 49
are making
friends 50
.
The fun of it is that
they 34
think
me 0
a noodle 93
, and say so -- at least
Mr. Wilcox 20
does -- and when that happens , and one does n't mind , it 's a pretty sure test , is n't it ?
He 20
says the most horrid things about
women 51
's suffrage so nicely , and when
I 0
said
I 0
believed in equality
he 20
just folded
his 20
arms and gave
me 0
such a setting down as
I 0
've never had .
Meg 1
, shall
we 3
ever learn to talk less ?
I 0
never felt so ashamed of
myself 0
in
my 0
life .
I 0
could n't point to a time when
men 52
had been equal , nor even to a time when the wish to be equal had made
them 52
happier in other ways .
I 0
could n't say a word .
I 0
had just picked up the notion that equality is good from some book -- probably from poetry , or
you 1
.
Anyhow , it 's been knocked into pieces , and , like
all people who are really strong 53
,
Mr. Wilcox 20
did it without hurting
me 0
.
On the other hand ,
I 0
laugh at
them 34
for catching hay fever .
We 44
live like fighting-cocks , and
Charles 31
takes
us 44
out every day in
the motor 54
--
a tomb with trees in
it 55
55 ,
a hermit 's house 56
,
a wonderful road that was made by
the Kings of
Mercia 59
58 -- tennis -- a cricket match -- bridge -- and at night
we 44
squeeze up in
this lovely house 15
.
The whole clan 34
's
here 2
now -- it 's like a rabbit warren .
Evie 37
is
a dear 94
.
They 34
want
me 0
to stop over Sunday --
I 0
suppose it wo n't matter if
I 0
do .
Marvellous weather and the view 's marvellous -- views westward to the high ground .
Thank
you 1
for
your 1
letter .
Burn this .
Your 1
affectionate Helen
0HOWARDS END 2
, SUNDAY .
Dearest , dearest Meg 1
, --
I 0
do not know what
you 1
will say :
Paul 60
and
I 0
are in love --
the younger son who only came
here 2
Wednesday
60 .
Chapter 2
Margaret 1
glanced at
's note and pushed it over the breakfast-table to
.
There was a moment 's hush , and then the flood-gates opened .
"
I 1
can tell
you 45
nothing ,
Aunt Juley 45
.
I 1
know no more than
you 45
do .
We 3
met --
we 3
only met
the father 20
and
mother 21
abroad last spring .
I 1
know so little that
I 1
did n't even know
's name .
It 's all so -- "
She 45
waved
her 45
hand and laughed a little .
" In that case it is far too sudden . "
" Who knows ,
Aunt Juley 45
, who knows ? "
" But ,
Margaret dear 1
,
I 45
mean
we 61
must n't be unpractical now that
we 61
've come to facts .
It is too sudden , surely . "
" Who knows ! "
" But
Margaret dear 1
-- " "
I 1
'll go for
her 0
other letters , " said
Margaret 1
.
" No ,
I 1
wo n't ,
I 1
'll finish
my 1
breakfast .
In fact ,
I 1
have n't them .
We 3
met
the Wilcoxes 22
on an awful expedition that
we 3
made from
Heidelberg 62
to
Speyer 63
.
Helen 0
and
I 1
had got it into
our 3
heads that there was
a grand old cathedral at
Speyer 63
64 --
the Archbishop of
Speyer 63
65 was one of
the seven electors 91
--
you 45
know -- '
Speyer 63
,
Maintz 66
, and
Koln 67
. '
Those three sees once commanded
the Rhine Valley 68
and got
it 68
the name of
Priest Street 69
. "
"
I 45
still feel quite uneasy about this business ,
Margaret 1
. "
"
The train 70
crossed by
, and at first sight
it 64
looked quite fine .
But oh , in five minutes
we 3
had seen
the whole thing 64
.
The cathedral 64
had been ruined , absolutely ruined , by restoration ; not an inch left of
the original structure 64
.
We 3
wasted a whole day , and came across
the Wilcoxes 22
as
we 3
were eating
our 3
sandwiches in
the public gardens 73
.
They 22
too ,
poor things 22
, had been taken in --
they 22
were actually stopping at
Speyer 63
-- and
they 22
rather liked
Helen 0
insisting that
they 22
must fly with
us 3
to
Heidelberg 62
.
As a matter of fact ,
they 22
did come on next day .
We 74
all took some drives together .
They 22
knew
us 3
well enough to ask
Helen 0
to come and see
them 22
-- at least ,
I 1
was asked too , but
Tibby 29
's illness prevented
me 1
, so last Monday
she 0
went alone .
That 's all .
You 45
know as much as
I 1
do now .
It 's
a young man out the unknown 60
.
She 0
was to have come back Saturday , but put off till Monday , perhaps on account of --
I 1
do n't know .
She 0
broke off , and listened to the sounds of a
London 30
morning .
was in
Wickham Place 75
, and fairly quiet , for
a lofty promontory of
buildings 77
76 separated
it 75
from
the main thoroughfare 78
.
One had the sense of
a backwater 79
, or rather of
an estuary , whose waters flowed in from
the invisible sea 81
, and ebbed into a profound silence while the waves without were still beating
80 .
Though
the promontory 76
consisted of
flats 82
-- expensive , with
cavernous entrance halls 83
, full of
concierges 84
and palms --
it 76
fulfilled
its 76
purpose , and gained for
the older houses opposite 85
a certain measure of peace .
These , too , would be swept away in time , and
another promontory 86
would rise upon
their site 87
, as humanity piled itself higher and higher on the precious soil of
London 30
.