GeneralTriscoewokeinthebadhumorofanelderlymanafteraday’spleasure，andintheself-reproachofapessimistwhohaslosthispointofviewforatime，andhastoworkbacktoit。Hebeganatthebelatedbreakfastwithhisdaughterwhenshesaid，afterkissinghimgayly，inthesmalltwo-seatedbowerwheretheybreakfastedattheirhotelwhentheydidnotgotothePosthof，“Didn’tyouhaveanicetime，yesterday，papa？”
　　Shesankintothechairopposite，andbeamedathimacrossthelittleirontable，assheliftedthepottopourouthiscoffee。
　　“Whatdoyoucallanicetime？”hetemporized，notquiteabletoresisthergayety。
　　“Well，thekindoftimeIhad。”
　　“Didyougetrheumatismfromsittingonthegrass？Itookcoldinthatoldchurch，andtheteaatthatrestaurantmusthavebeenbrewedinabrasskettle。Isufferedallnightfromit。AndthatassfromIllinois——“
　　“Oh，poorpapa！Icouldn’tgowithMr。Stolleralone，butImighthavegoneinthetwo-spannerwithhimandletyouhaveMr。orMrs。Marchintheone-spanner。”
　　“Idon’tknow。Theirinterestineachotherisn’tsointerestingtootherpeopleastheyseemtothink。”
　　“Doyoufeelthatwayreally，papa？Don’tyouliketheirbeingsomuchinlovestill？”
　　“Attheirtimeoflife？Thankyouit’sbadenoughinyoungpeople。”
　　Thegirldidnotanswer；sheappearedaltogetheroccupiedinpouringoutherfather’scoffee。
　　Hetastedit，andthenhedrankprettywellallofit；buthesaid，asheputhiscupdown，“Idon’tknowwhattheymakethisstuffof。IwishI
　　hadacupofgood，honestAmericancoffee。”
　　“Oh，there’snothinglikeAmericanfood！”saidhisdaughter，withsomuchconciliationthathelookedupsharply。
　　Butwhateverhemighthavebeengoingtosaywasatleastpostponedbytheapproachofaserving-maid，whobroughtanotetohisdaughter。Sheblushedalittleatsightofit，andthentoreitopenandread：
　　“IamgoingawayfromCarlsbad，forafaultofmyownwhichforbidsmetolookyouintheface。Ifyouwishtoknowtheworstofme，askMrs。
　　March。Ihavenohearttotellyou。”
　　AgathareadthesemystifyingwordsofBurnamy’sseveraltimesoverinasilentabsorptionwiththemwhichleftherfathertolookafterhimself，andhehadpouredoutasecondcupofcoffeewithhisownhand，andwasreachingforthebreadbesideherbeforeshecameslowlybacktoasenseofhispresence。
　　“Oh，excuseme，papa。”shesaid，andshegavehimthebutter。“Here’saverystrangeletterfromMr。Burnamy，whichIthinkyou’dbettersee。”
　　Sheheldthenoteacrossthetabletohim，andwatchedhisfaceashereadit。
　　Afterhehadreadittwice，heturnedthesheetover，aspeopledowithlettersthatpuzzlethem，inthevainhopeofsomethingexplanatoryontheback。Thenhelookedupandasked：“Whatdoyousupposehe’sbeendoing？”
　　“Idon’tbelievehe’sbeendoinganything。It’ssomethingthatMr。
　　Stoller’sbeendoingtohim。”
　　“Ishouldn’tinferthatfromhisownwords。WhatmakesyouthinkthetroubleiswithStoller？”
　　“Hesaid——hesaidyesterday——somethingaboutbeinggladtobethroughwithhim，becausehedislikedhimsomuchhewasalwaysafraidofwronginghim。AndthatprovesthatnowMr。Stollerhasmadehimbelievethathe’sdonewrong，andhasworkeduponhimtillhedoesbelieveit。”
　　“Itprovesnothingofthekind。”saidthegeneral，recurringtothenote。
　　Afterreadingitagain，helookedkeenlyather：“AmItounderstandthatyouhavegivenhimtherighttosupposeyouwouldwanttoknowtheworst——orthebestofhim？”
　　Thegirl’seyesfell，andshepushedherknifeagainstherplate。Shebegan：“No——“
　　“Thenconfoundhisimpudence！”thegeneralbrokeout。“Whatbusinesshashetowritetoyouatallaboutthis？”
　　“Becausehecouldn’tgoawaywithoutit！”shereturned；andshemetherfather’seyecourageously。“Hehadarighttothinkwewerehisfriends；
　　andifhehasdonewrong，orisindisgraceanyway，isn’titmanlyofhimtowishtotellusfirsthimself？”
　　Herfathercouldnotsaythatitwasnot。Buthecouldanddidsay，verysceptically：“Stuff！Now，seehere，Agatha：whatareyougoingtodo？”
　　“I’mgoingtoseeMrs。March，andthen——“
　　“Youmustn’tdoanythingofthekind，mydear。”saidherfather，gently。
　　“You’venorighttogiveyourselfawaytothatromanticoldgoose。”Heputuphishandtointerruptherprotest。“Thisthinghasgottobegonetothebottomof。Butyou’renottodoit。IwillseeMarchmyself。Wemustconsideryourdignityinthismatter——andmine。AndyoumayaswellunderstandthatI’mnotgoingtohaveanynonsense。It’sgottobemanagedsothatitcan’tbesupposedwe’reanxiousaboutit，onewayortheother，orthathewasauthorizedtowritetoyouinthisway——“
　　“No，no！Heoughtn’ttohavedoneso。Hewastoblame。Hecouldn’thavewrittentoyou，though，papa——“
　　“Well，Idon’tknowwhy。Butthat’snoreasonwhyweshouldletitbeunderstoodthathehaswrittentoyou。IwillseeMarch；andIwillmanagetoseehiswife，too。Ishallprobablyfindtheminthereading-
　　roomatPupp’s，and——“
　　“TheMarcheswereinfactjustcominginfromtheirbreakfastatthePosthof，andhemetthematthedoorofPupp’s，wheretheyallsatdownononeoftheironsetteesofthepiazza，andbegantoaskoneanotherquestionsoftheirmindsaboutthepleasureofthedaybefore，andtobeataboutthebushwhereBurnamylurkedintheircommonconsciousness。
　　Mrs。Marchwasnotabletokeeplongfromstartinghim。“Youknew。”shesaid，“thatMr。Burnamyhadleftus？”
　　“Left！Why？”askedthegeneral。
　　Shewasawomanofresource，butinacaselikethisshefounditbesttotrustherhusband’spovertyofinvention。Shelookedathim，andheansweredforherwithapromptnessthatmadeherquakeatfirst，butfinallyseemedtheonlything，ifnotthebestthing：“He’shadsometroublewithStoller。”Hewentontotellthegeneraljustwhatthetroublewas。
　　Attheendthegeneralgruntedasfromanuncertainmind。“Youthinkhe’sbehavedbadly。”
　　“Ithinkhe’sbehavedfoolishly——youthfully。ButIcanunderstandhowstronglyhewastempted。HecouldsaythathewasnotauthorizedtostopStollerinhismadcareer。”
　　AtthisMrs。Marchputherhandthroughherhusband’sarm。
　　“I’mnotsosureaboutthat。”saidthegeneral。
　　Marchadded：“SinceIsawhimthismorning，I’veheardsomethingthatdisposesmetolookathisperformanceinafriendlierlight。It’ssomethingthatStollertoldmehimself；toheightenmysenseofBurnamy’swickedness。HeseemstohavefeltthatIoughttoknowwhataserpentI
　　wascherishinginmybosom。”andhegaveTriscoethefactsofBurnamy’sinjuriousrefusaltohelpStollerputafalsecomplexionontheopinionshehadallowedhimignorantlytoexpress。
　　Thegeneralgruntedagain。“Ofcoursehehadtorefuse，andhehasbehavedlikeagentlemansofar。Butthatdoesn’tjustifyhiminhavingletStollergethimselfintothescrape。”
　　“No。”saidMarch。“It’satoughnutforthecasuisttotryhistoothon。
　　AndImustsayIfeelsorryforStoller。”
　　Mrs。Marchpluckedherhandfromhisarm。“Idon’t，onebit。Hewasthoroughlyselfishfromfirsttolast。Hehasgotjustwhathedeserved。”
　　“Ah，verylikely。”saidherhusband。“ThequestionisaboutBurnamy’spartingivinghimhisdeserts；hehadtoleavehimtothem，ofcourse。”
　　Thegeneralfixedherwiththeimpenetrableglitterofhiseye-glasses，andleftthesubjectasofnoconcerntohim。“Ibelieve。”hesaid，rising，“I’llhavealookatsomeofyourpapers。”andhewentintothereading-room。
　　“Now。”saidMrs。March，“hewillgohomeandpoisonthatpoorgirl’smind。And，youwillhaveyourselftothankforprejudicinghimagainstBurnamy。”
　　“Thenwhydidn’tyoudoityourself，mydear？”heteased；buthewasreallytoosorryforthewholeaffair，whichheneverthelessenjoyedasanethicalproblem。
　　ThegenerallookedsolittleatthepapersthatbeforeMarchwentoffforhismorningwalkhesawhimcomeoutofthereading-roomandtakehiswaydowntheAlteWiese。Hewentdirectlybacktohisdaughter，andreportedBurnamy’sbehaviorwithentireexactness。HedweltuponhismakingthebestofabadbusinessinrefusingtohelpStolleroutofit，dishonorablyandmendaciously；buthedidnotconcealthatitwasabadbusiness。
　　“Now，youknowallaboutit。”hesaidattheend，“andIleavethewholethingtoyou。Ifyouprefer，youcanseeMrs。March。Idon’tknowbutI’dratheryou’dsatisfyyourself——“
　　“IwillnotseeMrs。March。DoyouthinkIwouldgobackofyouinthatway？Iamsatisfiednow。”