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1
Chapter 7
Telecommunications, the Internet, and Wireless Technology
Learning Objectives
7-1 What are the principal components of telecommunications networks and key networking
technologies?
7-2 What are the different types of networks?
7-3 How do the Internet and Internet technology work and how do they support communication
and e-business?
7-4 What are the principal technologies and standards for wireless networking, communication,
and Internet access?
Learning Catalytics is a “bring your own device” student engagement, assessment, and
classroom intelligence system. It allows instructors to engage students in class with real-time
diagnostics. Students can use any modern, web-enabled device (smartphone, tablet, or laptop) to
access it. For more information on using Learning Catalytics in your course, contact your
Pearson Representative.
Chapter Outline
7-1 What are the principal components of telecommunications networks and key networking
technologies?
Networking and Communication Trends
What is a Computer Network?
Key Digital Networking Technologies
Signals: Digital vs. Analog
Types of Networks
Transmission Media and Transmission Speed
7-3 How do the Internet and Internet technology work and how do they support
communication and e-business?
What is the Internet?
Internet Addressing and Architecture
Internet Services and Communication Tools
The Web
7-4 What are the principal technologies and standards for wireless networking,
communication, and Internet access?
Cellular Systems
Wireless Computer Networks and Internet Access
RFID and Wireless Sensor Networks

2
Key Terms
The following alphabetical list identifies the key terms discussed in this chapter. The page
number for each key term is provided.
3G networks, 254 Personal-area networks (PANs), 254
4G networks, 254 Predictive search, 249
Bandwidth, 236 Protocol, 233
Blog, 251 Radio frequency identification (RFID), 256
Blogosphere, 252 Router, 231
Bluetooth, 254 RSS, 252
Broadband, 230 Search engines, 247
Cable Internet connections, 237 Search engine marketing, 250
Chat, 242 Semantic search, 248
Digital subscriber line (DSL), 237 Shopping bots, 250
Domain name, 238 Smart phones, 253
Domain name systems (DNS), 238 Social networking, 252
E-mail, 242 Social search, 249
File Transfer Protocol (FTP), 242 Software-defined networking, 231
Hertz, 236 Switch, 231
Hotspots, 256 T1 lines, 237
Hubs, 231 Telnet, 242
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), 247 Search engine optimization (SEO), 251
Instant messaging, 242 Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol
(TCP/IP), 233
Internet of Things, 253 Unified communications, 245
Internet Protocol (IP) address, 237 Uniform resource locator (URL), 247
Internet service provider (ISP), 236 Virtual private network (VPN), 246
Internet2, 241 Visual Web, 250
IPv6, 241 Voice over IP (VoIP), 243
Local-area network (LAN), 235 Web 2.0, 251
Metropolitan-area network (MAN), 236 Web 3.0, 253
Microblogging, 252 Web site, 2246
Modem, 234 Wide-area networks (WAN), 236
Network operating system (NOS), 230 Wi-Fi, 255
Packet switching, 232 Wiki, 252
Peer-to-peer, 235 WiMax, 256
Wireless sensor networks (WSNs), 258

3
Teaching Suggestions
Chapter 7 presents crucial concepts and terminology since telecommunications, networks, and
the Internet are now introducing fundamental changes in businesses. The opening case,
“Wireless Technology makes Dundee Precious Metals Good as Gold,” illustrates some of the
new capabilities and opportunities provided by contemporary networking technology.
Dundee implemented an underground wireless Wi-Fi network that allows electronic devices to
exchange data wirelessly to monitor the location of equipment, people, and ore throughout the
mine’s tunnels and facilities. The company also uses Wi-Fi radio frequency identification
(RFID) technology to track workers, equipment, and vehicles in underground gold mines.
Dundee has decreased equipment downtime and utilizes its resources more efficiently. It uses
data from the underground wireless network in its mine management software and mobile
planning software. Now the company can more closely account for its mine workers, making
them more safe and the workers can communicate more closely with the mine’s control room.
Control room staff can actually see the location of machinery and direct traffic more effectively,
quickly identify problems and respond more rapidly to emergencies.
The opening vignette provides an example of how businesses are adapting to new technologies
based on the Internet. It shows how companies must continually evolve as technology improves.
Section 7-1, “What are the principal components of telecommunications networks and key
networking technologies?” Telecommunications and networks are vital to the majority of
businesses today, and this section explains why. Because telecommunications technology serves
as the foundation for electronic commerce and the digital economy, the concepts and
terminology in Chapter 7 are important for both MIS and business majors. This section explains
the basic configuration of networks, regardless of their size.
You may want to contrast the origin and history of telephone networks and computer networks.
Then diagram how the two are converging into one pipeline for all types of communication
transmissions. Convergence is leading to more efficient transmission traffic and ubiquitous
communications thanks to the Internet.
A contemporary corporate network infrastructure relies on both public and private infrastructures
to support the movement of information across diverse technological platforms. It includes the
traditional telephone system, mobile cellular communications, wireless local area networks,
videoconferencing systems, a corporate website, intranets, extranets, and an array of local and
wide area networks, including the Internet.
Contemporary networks have been shaped by the rise of client/server computing, the use of
packet switching, and the adoption of TCP/IP as a universal communications standard for linking
disparate networks and computers. Client/server networks have distributed much of the
organization’s computing power to the desktop and factory floor. Packet switching makes more

4
efficient use of network communications capacity by breaking messages into small packets that
are sent independently along different paths in a network and then reassembled at their
destination. Protocols provide a common set of rules that enable communication among diverse
components in a telecommunications network. TCP/IP is a suite of protocols that has become
the dominant model of achieving connectivity among different networks and computers. It is the
connectivity model used in the Internet.
One exercise you may try to help show how much we rely on communications today is to ask
students to count the number of text messages, phone calls, e-mails, and IM messages they either
sent or received in the last 24 hours or the last week. You could even go so far as to ask them to
not send or receive any of these communications for a day to prove how reliant we’ve become on
telecommunications.
Section 7-2, “What are the different types of networks?” It may help for you to bring several
props to show the different transmission media explained in this section. For example, bring
twisted wire, coaxial cable, and fiber-optic cable to show to the class and discuss the advantages
and disadvantages of each type of media. Students should note the different ranges (frequencies)
of wireless media. Also, you should discuss bandwidth and its connection to frequencies, as this
is a critical concept today. Table 7.1 compares the range of four different area networks.
This section describes the different network topologies and how they pass data across a network.
If you have students working in business, ask them to identify the network topologies used in
their organizations.
Section 7-3, “How do the Internet and Internet technology work and how do they support
communication and e-business?” Most students are familiar with the Internet and motivated to
discuss it. You might begin this section by asking students how they spend their time on the
Internet and how their online activities have changed since they started using the Internet. Also,
ask them to identify which client platforms they currently use or have used. Ask your students to
identify several of the many benefits that the Internet offers to organizations. Ask them to
provide specific examples that they have read about in the text or have personally observed.
The principal Internet services and communication tools are e-mail, chatting, instant messaging,
newsgroups, telnet, file transfer protocol, and the web. Most students will probably be familiar
with these services, having used them in their personal life. What they may not understand or
relate to quite yet is how effective the tools are in a business setting. These tools reduce time and
cost when firms must manage organizational activities and communicate with many employees.
If you have students working in businesses, ask them to discuss the communications tools their
organization uses. This section introduces a fairly new concept of unified communications. It
also compares Web 2.0 with Web 3.0 that is now in the conceptual stage.
Make students aware that while the new information technology infrastructure provides many
benefits and capabilities, it does require careful management and planning. Challenges posed by
networking and the Internet include loss of management control over information systems; the
need for organizational change; and the difficulty of ensuring infrastructure scalability and
reliability.

5
Interactive Session: Organizations: The Battle over Net Neutrality
Case Study Questions
1. What is network neutrality? Why has the Internet operated under net neutrality up to
this point in time?
Network neutrality is the idea that Internet service providers must allow customers equal access
to content and applications, regardless of the source or nature of the content. Presently the
Internet is indeed neutral: all Internet traffic is treated equally on a first-come, first-serve basis by
Internet backbone owners. The Internet is neutral because it was built on phone lines, which are
subject to ‘common carriage’ laws. These laws require phone companies to treat all calls and
customers equally. They cannot offer extra benefits to customers willing to pay higher premiums
for faster or clearer calls, a model known as tiered service.
2. Who’s in favor of network neutrality? Who’s opposed? Why?
Those in favor of network neutrality include organizations like MoveOn.org, the Christian
Coalition, the American Library Association, every major consumer group, many bloggers and
small businesses, and some large Internet companies like Google and Amazon. Verizon and
Google proposed a split proposition – enforce net neutrality on wired connections, but not on
wireless networks. Some members of the U.S. Congress also support network neutrality. This
group argues that the risk of censorship increases when network operators can selectively block
or slow access to certain content. Others are concerned about the effect of slower transmission
rates on their business models if users can’t download or access content in a speedy fashion.
Those who oppose network neutrality include telecommunications and cable companies who
want to be able to charge differentiated prices based on the amount of bandwidth consumed by
content being delivered over the Internet. Some companies report that five percent of their
customers use about half the capacity on local lines without paying any more than low-usage
customers. They state that metered pricing is “the fairest way” to finance necessary investments
in its network infrastructure. Internet service providers point to the upsurge in piracy of
copyrighted materials over the Internet as a reason to oppose network neutrality. Comcast
reported that illegal file sharing of copyrighted material was consuming 50 percent of its network
capacity. The company posits that if network transmission rates were slower for this type of
content, users would be less likely to download or access it. Those who oppose network
neutrality argue that it removes the incentive for network providers to innovate, provide new
capabilities, and upgrade to new technology.
3. What would be the impact on individual users, businesses, and government if Internet
providers switched to a tiered service model for transmission over landlines as well as
wireless?
Proponents of net neutrality argue that a neutral Internet encourages everyone to innovate
without permission from the phone and cable companies or other authorities. A more level

6
playing field spawns countless new businesses. Allowing unrestricted information flow becomes
essential to free markets and democracy as commerce and society increasingly move online.
Heavy users of network bandwidth would pay higher prices without necessarily experiencing
better service. Even those who use less bandwidth could run into the same situation.
Network owners believe regulation like the bills proposed by net neutrality advocates will
impede U.S. competitiveness by stifling innovation and hurt customers who will benefit from
‘discriminatory’ network practices. U.S. Internet service already lags behind other nations in
overall speed, cost, and quality of service, adding credibility to the providers’ arguments.
Obviously, by increasing the cost of heavy users of network bandwidth, telecommunication and
cable companies and Internet service providers stand to increase their profit margins.
4. It has been said that net neutrality is the most important issue facing the Internet since
the advent of the Internet. Discuss the implications of this statement.
Under current conditions, the Internet is neutral; all Internet traffic is treated equally on a first-
come, first-served basis by Internet backbone owners. Proponents of net neutrality say that
changing anything would disrupt normal service for users and begin a trend of discrimination
based on the types of Internet usage.
Network owners believe regulation to enforce net neutrality will impede U.S. competitiveness by
discouraging capital expenditure for new networks and curbing their networks’ ability to cope
with the exploding demand for Internet and wireless traffic.
Internet service providers (ISPs) assert that network congestion is a serious problem and that
expanding their networks would require passing on burdensome costs to consumers. These
companies believe differential pricing methods, which include data caps and metered use—
charging based on the amount of bandwidth consumed—are the fairest way to finance necessary
investments in their network infrastructures.
5. Are you in favor of legislation enforcing network neutrality? Why or why not?
Student answers will vary. Some components and principles to consider in answering this
question include:
• Price differentials: how much more would heavy bandwidth users pay than those who
consume less bandwidth?
• Speed: how much faster would network transmissions be with a tiered service model?
• Stifle innovation: would a tiered service model stifle innovation by charging more for
heavy bandwidth use or would it free up bandwidth thus allowing more innovation?
• Censorship: would telecommunication and cable companies and Internet service
providers increase censorship of content transmitted over networks?
• Discrimination by carriers: would the end of network neutrality be the beginning of more
discrimination?
Interactive Session: People: Monitoring Employees on Networks: Unethical or Good
Business?

7
Case Study Questions
1. Should managers monitor employee e-mail and Internet usage? Why or why not?
Student answers will vary on this question. The case study statistics show that corporate misuse
and abuse of e-mail for personal reasons is exploding. Simply stated, employees who use
company resources for work not related to the company are, in essence, engaged in “service
theft.” They are being paid to work for the company, and this does not include abusing corporate
resources for personal time. Companies are in business to generate profits for their shareholders.
Managers certainly should be concerned with the loss of time and employee productivity, the
additional traffic it creates on their networks that inhibits the efficiency for real business
purposes, lost revenue or missed opportunities, as well as overcharging clients because of lost
employee efficiencies. The company itself is responsible for the use of its resources and what
employees do while using them. Adverse publicity can seriously affect a company and could
even result in expensive lawsuits. Companies also fear e-mail leakage of trade secrets. Other
legal and regulatory problems involve the safe keeping of all e-mails that are generated on
corporate equipment. This information must be retained for specific time periods and may be
requested as evidence in a lawsuit.
2. Describe an effective e-mail and web use policy for a company.
Like all policies, an effective e-mail and web use policy must be carefully designed and clearly
communicated to all persons who use these corporate resources. There are a number of different
policies in existence. Some companies allow absolutely no personal use of corporate networks,
whereas others allow some degree of activity that is easily monitored. A good policy will detail
exactly what type of activity is acceptable and what is not allowed. The policy should clearly
articulate sanctions that will be followed for any and all offenses in relation to the policy. Most
of all, rules for Internet usage should be tailored to specific business needs and organizational
cultures.
As an instructor you might wish to show students an example of the University of South
Australia’s policy at http://www.unisa.edu.au/policies/policies/corporate/C22.asp
3. Should managers inform employees that their web behavior is being monitored? Or
should managers monitor secretly? Why or why not?
Opinions will vary according to personal values and workplace experiences. However, most
students will probably answer that managers should inform employees that their web behavior is
being monitored as a way to foster open communications and trust between both sides. Many
consultants believe companies should write corporate policies on employee e-mail and Internet
use. The policies should include explicit ground rules that state, by position or level, under what
circumstances employees can use company facilities for e-mail, blogging, or web surfing. The
policies should also inform employees whether these activities are monitored and explain why.
Section 7-4, “What are the principal technologies and standards for wireless networking,
communication, and Internet access?” Ask your students how many of them use cellular

8
phones, smartphones, wireless laptops, tablet computers, or wireless e-book readers. Most
students are excited to demonstrate their “latest devices,” and you may wish to ask one of them
to discuss the capabilities of theirs. Ask them to discuss what they like or dislike about the
features found on their appliance.
If you have the class time, you can ask the campus IT director to discuss the telecommunications
technology used on your campus, take a tour of the campus facilities, or invite an IT director
from a local company to discuss his company’s telecommunications technology. Ask your
students to find out what their university does in order to support mobile wireless
communications. Have them investigate applications where Bluetooth, Wi-FI, or hotspot
technology is used and how it benefits them. Are they able to use their own personal appliances
to connect and utilize these technologies on their campus?
Review Questions
7-1 What are the principal components of telecommunications networks and key
networking technologies?
Describe the features of a simple network and the network infrastructure for a large
company.
A simple network consists of two or more connected computers. Basic network components
include computers, network interfaces, a connection medium, network operating system
software, and either a hub or a switch. The networking infrastructure for a large company
relies on both public and private infrastructures to support the movement of information
across diverse technological platforms. It includes the traditional telephone system, mobile
cellular communication, wireless local-area networks, videoconferencing systems, a
corporate website, intranets, extranets, and an array of local and wide-area networks,
including the Internet. This collection of networks evolved from two fundamentally different
types of networks: telephone networks and computer networks. (Learning Objective 1: What
are the principal components of telecommunications networks and key networking
technologies?, AACSB: Application of knowledge.)
Name and describe the principal technologies and trends that have shaped
contemporary telecommunications systems.
Client/server computing, the use of packet switching, and the development of widely used
communications standards such as TCP/IP are the three technologies that have shaped
contemporary telecommunications systems.
Client/server computing has extended to networking departments, workgroups, factory
floors, and other parts of the business that could not be served by a centralized architecture.
The Internet is based on client/server computing. Packet switching technology allows nearly
full use of almost all available lines and capacity. This was not possible with the traditional
dedicated circuit-switching techniques that were used in the past. TCP/IP is a suite of
protocols that has become the dominant standard of network communications. Having a set

9
of protocols for connecting diverse hardware and software components has provided a
universally agreed upon method for data transmission. (Learning Objective 1: What are the
principal components of telecommunications networks and key networking technologies?,
AACSB: Application of knowledge.)
Define an analog and a digital signal.
Analog: a continuous waveform that passes through a communications medium and has been
used for voice communication. Traditionally used by telephone handsets, computer speakers,
or earphones.
Digital: a discrete, binary waveform, rather than a continuous waveform, represented by
strings of two states: one bit and zero bits, which are represented as on-off electrical pulses.
Computers use digital signals and require a modem to convert these digital signals into
analog signals that are transmitted across telephone lines, cable lines, or wireless media.
(Learning Objective 2: What are the different types of networks?, AACSB: Application of
knowledge.)
Distinguish between a LAN, MAN, and WAN.
LAN (Local Area Network): a telecommunications network that is designed to connect
personal computers and other digital devices within a half-mile or 500-meter radius. LANs
typically connect a few computers in a small office, all the computers in one building, or all
the computers in several buildings in close proximity. LANs require their own dedicated
channels.
MAN (Metropolitan Area Network): a network that spans a metropolitan area, usually a
city and its major suburbs. Its geographic scope falls between a WAN and a LAN.
WAN (Wide Area Network): spans broad geographical distances – entire regions, states,
continents, or the entire globe. The most universal and powerful WAN is the Internet.
Computers connect to a WAN through public networks, such as the telephone system or
private cable systems, or through leased lines or satellites. (Learning Objective 2: What are
the different types of networks?, AACSB: Application of knowledge.)
7-3 How do the Internet and Internet technology work and how do they support
communication and e-business?
Define the Internet, describe how it works, and explain how it provides business value.
The Internet is a vast network of computers that connects millions of people all over the
world. The Internet uses the client/server model of computing and the TCP/IP network
reference model. Every computer on the Internet is assigned a unique numeric IP address. No
one owns the Internet, and it has no formal management organization. However, worldwide
Internet policies are established by organizations and government bodies, such as the Internet

10
Architecture Board and the World Wide Web Consortium. The Internet must also conform to
the laws of the sovereign nation-states in which it operates, as well as the technical
infrastructure that exists within the nation-state.
The Internet enables employees to gain remote access to the company’s internal systems
through its website. They are able to better service customers and suppliers, improve
operational efficiency, increase productivity, lower operational costs, have a broader market
base, and reach more individual customers on a global scale by establishing a web presence.
The cost of email and other Internet services tend to be far lower than equivalent voice,
postal, or over night delivery costs, making the Internet a very inexpensive communication
medium. It is also a very fast method of communication, with messages arriving anywhere in
the world in a matter of seconds or minutes. (Learning Objective 3: How do the Internet and
Internet technology work and how do they support communication and e-business?, AACSB:
Application of knowledge.)
Explain how the Domain Name System (DNS) and IP addressing system work.
The Internet is based on the TCP/IP networking protocol suite. Every computer on the
Internet is assigned a unique Internet Protocol (IP) address, which currently is a 32-bit
number represented by four strings of numbers ranging from 0 to 255 separated by periods.
A domain name is the English-like name that corresponds to the unique 32-bit numeric IP
address for each computer connected to the Internet. The Domain Name System (DNS)
converts IP addresses to domain names so that users only need to specify a domain name to
access a computer on the Internet, instead of typing the numeric IP address. DNS servers
maintain a database containing IP addresses mapped to their corresponding domain names.
When a user sends a message to another user on the Internet, the message is first decomposed
into packets using the TCP protocol. Each packet contains its destination address. The
packets are then sent from the client to the network server and from there on to as many other
servers as necessary to arrive at a specific computer with a known address. At the destination
address, the packets are reassembled into the original message. (Learning Objective 3: How
do the Internet and Internet technology work and how do they support communication and e-
business?, AACSB: Analytical thinking.)
List and describe the principal Internet services.
Table 7-2 lists and describes the major Internet services:
• Email—person-to-person messaging; document sharing.
• Newsgroups—discussion groups on electronic bulletin boards.
• Chatting and instant messaging—interactive conversations.
• Telnet—logging on to one computer system and doing work on another.
• File Transfer Protocol (FTP)—transferring files from computer to computer.
• World Wide Web—retrieving, formatting, and displaying information (including text,
audio, graphics, and video) using hypertext links.

11
(Learning Objective 3: How do the Internet and Internet technology work and how do they
support communication and e-business?, AACSB: Application of knowledge.)
Define and describe VoIP and virtual private networks and explain how they provide
value to businesses.
• Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) enables Internet technology to be used for
telephone voice transmission over the Internet or private networks. VoIP offers the
advantage of avoiding tolls charged by local and long-distance telephone networks.
VoIP provides businesses an opportunity to reduce costs because they no longer have
to maintain separate networks or provide support services and personnel for each
different type of network. It gives organizations flexibility because phones can be
added or moved to different offices without rewiring or reconfiguring networks.
• Virtual private networks are secure, encrypted, private networks that have been
configured within a public network to take advantage of the economies of scale and
management facilities of large networks, such as the Internet. VPNs are low-cost
alternatives to private WANs. VPNs give businesses a more efficient network
infrastructure for combining voice and data networks.
List and describe alternative ways of locating information on the web.
• Search engines are a facility on the web that helps you find sites with the information
and/or services you want. Examples: Google, Yahoo!, and MSN.
• Intelligent agent shopping bots use intelligent agent software for searching the
Internet for shopping information. Examples: MySimon and Froogle.
• Blogs are informal yet structured websites where subscribing individuals can publish
stories, opinions, and links to other websites of interest.
• Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is a simple way for people to
have content they want pulled from websites and fed automatically to their
computers, where it can be stored for later viewing. It’s commonly used with blogs.
• Wikis are collaborative websites where visitors can add, delete, or modify content on
the site, including the work of previous authors.
• Web 2.0 provides second-generation interactive Internet-based services that enable
people to collaborate, share information, and create new services online. Web 2.0
software applications run on the web itself instead of the desktop and bring the vision
of web-based computing closer to realization.
• Web 3.0 (Semantic Web) reduces the amount of human involvement in searching for
and processing web information. It’s still in its infancy but promises to establish
specific meanings for data on the web, categories for classifying the data, and
relationships between classification categories.

12
Describe how online search technologies are used for marketing.
Search engine marketing monetizes the value of the search process. Searching is one of the
web’s most popular activities with billions of queries performed each month. Search engines
are the foundation for the most lucrative form of online marketing and advertising. When
users enter a search term in a search engine, they receive two types of listings: sponsored
links, for which advertisers have paid to be listed, and unsponsored organic search results.
Advertisers can also purchase small text boxes on the side of search results pages. Paid,
sponsored advertisements are the fastest growing form of Internet advertising and are
powerful new marketing tools that precisely match consumer interests with advertising
messages at the right moment. (Learning Objective 3: How do the Internet and Internet
technology work and how do they support communication and e-business?, AACSB:
7-4 What are the principal technologies and standards for wireless networking,
communications, and Internet access?
Define Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, WiMax, and 3G and 4G networks.
Standards for wireless computer networks include Bluetooth (802.15) for small personal-area
networks (PANs), Wi-Fi (802.11) for local-area networks (LANs), and WiMax (802.16) for
metropolitan-area networks (MANs). Bluetooth can link up to eight devices within a 10-
meter area using low-power, radio-based communication and can transmit up to 722 Kbps in
the 2.4 GHz band. Wireless phones, keyboards, computers, printers, and PDAs using
Bluetooth can communicate with each other and even operate each other without direct user
intervention.
Wi-Fi is useful for creating wireless LANs and for providing wireless Internet access. Its
access range is limited to anywhere between 300 feet and three miles. Hotspots are public
access points individuals use to obtain high speed Internet access.
WiMax has a wireless access range of up to 31 miles and a data transfer rate of up to 75
Mbps, making it suitable for providing broadband Internet access in areas lacking DSL and
cable lines. The 802.16 specification also has robust security and quality-of-service features
to support voice and video.
3G is a short term for third-generation wireless technology, especially mobile
communications. Cellular networks have evolved from slow-speed (1G) analog networks to
high-speed, high-bandwidth, digital packet-switched, third-generation (3G) networks with
speeds ranging from 144 Kbps to more than 2 Mbps for data transmission.
4G is a short term for fourth-generation wireless technology. It is entirely packet-switched
and capable of 100 Mbps transmission speed (which can reach 1 Gbps under optimal

13
conditions), with premium quality and high security. Voice, data, and high-quality streaming
video are available to users anywhere, anytime. (Learning Objective 4: What are the
principal technologies and standards for wireless networking, communications, and Internet
access?, AACSB: Application of knowledge.)
Describe the capabilities of each and for which types of applications each is best suited.
• Bluetooth: Access very limited; useful for creating small personal-area networks.
• Wi-Fi: Access is limited to 30–50 meters; useful for creating small local area
networks.
• WiMax: Access is limited to a range up to 31 miles: useful for creating wide area
networks.
• 3G networks: Access is available on major cellular telephone carriers that have
configured their networks for 3G services.
• 4G networks: Provides premium quality for voice, data, and streaming video from
cellular telephone carriers.
(Learning Objective 4: What are the principal technologies and standards for wireless
networking, communications, and Internet access?, AACSB: Application of knowledge.)
Define RFID, explain how it works, and describe how it provides value to businesses.
Mobile wireless technology facilitates supply chain management by capturing data on the
movement of goods as these events take place and by providing detailed, immediate
information as goods move among supply chain partners. Radio frequency identification
(RFID) systems provide a microchip that contains data about an item and its location. The
tags transmit radio signals over a short distance to special RFID readers. The RFID readers
then pass the data over a network to a computer for processing.
RFID gives businesses an opportunity to further automate their supply chain networks. The
technology allows more data on an RFID chip than typical barcodes. RFID systems track
each pallet, lot, or unit item in a shipment. The technology helps companies improve
receiving and storage operations by improving their ability to “see” exactly what stock is
stored in warehouses or on retail store shelves. (Learning Objective 4: What are the principal
technologies and standards for wireless networking, communications, and Internet access?,
AACSB: Application of knowledge.)
Define WSNs, explain how they work, and describe the kinds of applications that use
them.
Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are networks of interconnected wireless devices with
some processing and radio-transmitting capability that are embedded into the physical
environment to provide measurements of many points over large spaces.
Wireless sensor networks are valuable for monitoring environmental changes, traffic
patterns, security incidents, or supply chain events. Wireless sensor networks can be placed

14
in the field for years without any maintenance or human intervention. That reduces costs to
businesses using them. (Learning Objective 4: What are the principal technologies and
standards for wireless networking, communications, and Internet access?, AACSB:
Discussion Questions
7-5 It has been said that within the next few years, smartphones will become the single most
important digital device we own. Discuss the implications of this statement.
Student answers to this question will vary.
7-6 Should all major retailing and manufacturing companies switch to RFID? Why or why
not?
7-7 What are some of the issues to consider in determining whether the Internet would
provide your business with a competitive advantage?
Hands-On MIS Projects
Management Decision Problems
7-8 Floor tile company: Asked by major retailing customers to begin using RFID to improve
management of products. Use the web to identify the cost of hardware, software, and
networking components for an RFID system for your company. What factors should be
considered? What are the key decisions that have to be made in determining whether your
firm should adopt this technology?
(The following information was copied from www.zebra.com, Nov 2010)
What is the estimated incremental cost for adopting RFID?
If one is discussing incremental costs over and above what was invested in your bar code
infrastructure, then you can say that you will be making an investment in tags,
printer/encoders, readers, middleware, and professional services to integrate these
components into your bar code legacy environment. If you are not working with bar codes
already, obviously you will need to make an investment in back-office, manufacturing, or
WMS systems to use RFID data.
What is a ballpark figure for implementing RFID in a warehouse and distribution process?
According to Forrester Research, a typical supplier that attempts to comply with a mandate

15
can expect to spend as much as $9 million on RFID—depending on the size of its
distribution network and Walmart volume. According to this research, the largest
expenditures are tag costs and additional warehouse labor. Again, it is stressed that this
figure is derived from studying one company seeking compliance with the Walmart mandate.
However, this study provides a good perspective on the areas from which costs will derive.
How do smart label costs compare to conventional thermal/thermal-transfer printed labels?
A smart label runs in the vicinity of about $0.50 per label vs. about $0.01 for a conventional
label. This is mainly due to the addition of the tag. This cost is also variable based on the
total volume printed and the economies of scale associated with large quantities.
What companies are currently developing RFID software? Is it all customized or are there
off-the-shelf solutions?
Numerous start-up and established software providers—including those who provide ERP
software—have developed applications to deal with RFID reader and printer/encoder
management, plus “tag data capture event” management. As with most business applications
software, packages are typically customized to meet customers’ requirements rather than
being ready to go “off the shelf.”
How will RFID integrate with EDI software?
EDI messages contain data about business transactions. While the format of an EDI message
may change to accommodate “new data” (such as an EPC by comparison with a GTIN),
fundamentally EDI message processors are unaware of the source of the data contained in
messages. So there should be no reason that RFID cannot integrate with EDI software,
provided the data structures are fundamentally the same. However, one area of difference is
that many EDI systems typically deliver data in periodic batch mode; in contrast, the strength
of RFID is its ability to deliver real-time data, so systems are up-to-the-minute.
Key decisions that a company needs to make when considering adopting RFID include:
• Hardware and software costs
• Implementation costs
• Return on investments
• How technology fits into overall business strategy
(Learning Objective 4: What are the principal technologies and standards for wireless
networking, communications, and Internet access?, AACSB: Analytical thinking,
7-9 BestMed Medical Supplies Corporation: Sells products and equipment from over 700
different manufacturers to hospitals, health clinics, and medical offices. The company
employs 500 people at seven different locations. Management is considering adopting a
unified communications system. What factors should be considered? What are the key

16
decisions that have to be made in determining whether to adopt this technology? Use the
web, if necessary, to find out more about unified communications and its costs.
Because the costs of purchasing and implementing a unified communication system will vary
based on the chosen system, so too will student answers.
(The following information was copied from www.networkworld.com, Nov 2010)
From a broad perspective, Verizon Business suggests that organizations need to evaluate and
measure how UC&C will benefit their organizations, determine whether the enterprise has
adequate in-house technical resources, personnel and network capacity; and define how to
integrate UC&C into business processes to align the deployment with critical business
initiatives.
At a more detailed level, Verizon Business suggested that in preparation for UC&C,
enterprises should:
• Invest in advanced IP networks because “UC&C starts with a capabilities-rich IP
infrastructure. . . [and] flexible and expansive IP networks serve as the foundation of
a successful UC&C deployment.”
• Inventory technology and personnel resources to better understand the technological
scope of UC&C deployments and “help identify potential network, equipment, and
application gaps.” Verizon Business also recommends a skills-assessment of technical
staff “to identify possible new hires and individuals requiring additional training.”
• Align technology with business objectives to “make purchasing decisions with a
focus on meeting specific business goals.” Any deployment should be designed to
maximize the impact of UC&C on business processes. The enterprise should also
establish benchmarks for success to better understand its ultimate objectives.
• Create a comprehensive roadmap that is “far reaching and covers areas such as
technology and finances, as well as detailed deployment and implementation plans.”
• Tackle security at the onset, with a design that integrates “seamlessly with a business’
current network and leverage existing technology investments.”
• Determine capabilities for ongoing management and decide “whether in-house staff
has the skills and time required to effectively manage and troubleshoot performance
issues.” As needed, enterprise should “select a managed services provider with the
people, tools, and processes to help provide consistent performance of UC&C
applications.”
• Develop support systems and processes so that the corporate IT staff is prepared to
address end-user performance issues and questions.
• Train and educate end users “to help users adopt and embrace these new tools so they
can work more efficiently and productively.”
• Measure and modify, with built-in milestones planned that “go beyond reliability and
availability measurements to assess the impact of UC&C from a financial, customer
service, business process, and end-user satisfaction perspective.”

17
(Learning Objective 3: How do the Internet and Internet technology work and how do
they support communication and e-business?, AACSB: Analytical thinking, Reflective
thinking, Application of knowledge.)
Improving Decision Making: Using Spreadsheet Software to Evaluate Wireless Services
Software skills: Spreadsheet formulas, formatting
Business skills: Analyzing telecommunications services and costs
7-10 You would like to equip your sales force of 35, based in St. Louis, Missouri with mobile
phones that have capabilities for voice transmission, text messaging, Internet access, and taking
and sending photos. Use the web to select two wireless providers that offer nationwide voice and
data service as well as good service in your home area. Examine the features of the mobile
handsets and wireless plans offered by each of these vendors. Assume that each of the 35
salespeople will need to spend three hours per weekday between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. on mobile
voice communication, send 30 text messages per weekday, use 1 gigabyte of data per month, and
send five photos per week. Use your spreadsheet software to determine the wireless service and
handset that will offer the best pricing per user over a two-year period. For the purposes of this
exercise, you do not need to consider corporate discounts.
Answers will vary, since plan rates and costs of mobile phones are constantly changing. The
answer to this question can be found in the sample solution found in the Microsoft Excel file
named MIS14ch07solutionfile.xls. (Learning Objective 3: How do the Internet and Internet
technology work and how do they support communication and e-business?, AACSB: Analytical
thinking, Reflective thinking, Application of knowledge.)
Achieving Operational Excellence: Using Web Search Engines for Business Research
Software skills: Web search tools
Business skills: Researching new technologies
7-11 Use Google and Bing to obtain information about ethanol as an alternative fuel for motor
vehicles. If you wish, try some other search engines as well. Compare the volume and quality of
information you find with each search tool. Which tool is the easiest to use? Which produced the
best results for your research? Why?
Answers will vary according to the search phrases students enter in the search engines. The
object of this question should be for students to explore new search engines and web services and
not stick with “what they already know.” To that end, encourage students to use a different
search engine than what they normally use and explore how their search results are framed—
sponsored links or organic listings. Also encourage them to search for audio and video files,
blogs, wikis, and Web 2.0 services about the subject. Is the information more useful, less useful,
pertinent, or trustworthy? Do they prefer simple text documents or do they find the newer web
services more helpful? (Learning Objective 3: How do the Internet and Internet technology work
and how do they support communication and e-business?, AACSB: Analytical thinking,
Reflective thinking, Application of knowledge.)

18
Collaboration and Teamwork Project
7-12. In MyMISLab, you will find a Collaboration and Teamwork Project dealing with the
concepts in this chapter. You will be able to use Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sites,
Google +, or other open source collaboration tools to complete the assignment.
Case Study: Google, Apple, and Facebook Battle for Your Internet Experience
7-13 Compare the business models and core competencies of Google, Apple, and Facebook.
Google: Its business model has always focused on the Internet and the web. It began as one
of many search engines. It quickly ran away from the pack with its copyrighted PageRank
search algorithm which returns superior search results for web users. It also has developed
extensive online advertising services for businesses of all sizes. Google provides value to the
user by using an inexpensive, flexible infrastructure to speed up web searches and provide its
users with a vast array of web-based services and software tools.
Apple: Its business model focuses on centralized control of almost all aspects of its hardware
and software. It believes smartphones and tablets should have proprietary standards and be
tightly controlled. It only allows apps from its App store that have been vetted by the
company to be loaded to its products. Apple has a very loyal user base that has steadily
grown and most likely will stay with Apple products in the future.
Facebook: Facebook has built its business around social networking better than any other
company. It has more worldwide users than any other company. Facebook Platform enables
developers to build applications and websites that integrate with Facebook to reach its global
network of users and to build pesonalized and social products. (Learning Objective 3: How
do the Internet and Internet technology work and how do they support communication and e-
business?, AACSB: Analytical thinking, Reflective thinking, Application of knowledge.)
7-14 Why is mobile computing so important to these three firms? Evaluate the mobile
strategies of each firm.
This case demonstrates the fundamental paradigm shift from primarily desktop PC
computing to mobile computing devices accessing services through the Internet that is
currently taking place. This environment is projected to be a $400 billion e-commerce
marketplace where the major access device will be a mobile smartphone or tablet computer.
Each company is vying for the lead in a world of ubiquitous computing based on Internet
access. The leader stands to make untold profits from advertising but in order to do that, the
leader needs to claim the largest user base.
Apps greatly enrich the experience of using a mobile device. Whoever creates the most
appealing set of devices and applications will derive a significant competitive advantage over
rival companies.

19
Google: Aggressively follows eyeballs. It has introduced the Android mobile operating
system for a host of non-Apple devices. The Droid system adds features that Apple devices
don’t have – the ability to run multiple apps at the same time. Uses an open non-proprietary
system that allows users to grab apps from any source. Command of the smartphone
operating system market provides built-in channels for serving ads to mobile devices. Google
has successfully tailored its search results to respond to mobile searchers needs and
accommodate smartphone functionality.
Apple: By far the current leader in the number of apps users can download – over one
million. Apple takes a 30% cut of every app purchased. Uses a closed proprietary system
and apps that only provide “one way in.” It unveiled Siri in 2011 that has the potential to
serve as a market disruption technology by combining search, navigation, and personal
assistant tools.
Facebook: Realized that much of its advertising revenue will come from mobile device
searches. Introduced Sponsored Stories as a way to triple its revenue. It overhauled its home
page to increase the size of both photos and links and allow users to create topical streams. It
de-cluttered smartphone screens. It gave advertisers more opportunties and more interesting
information with which to target markets. Facrbook has a mobile application suite that
replaces the typical smartphone home screen. It essentially turns an Android mobile device
into a Facebook phone. (Learning Objective 4: What are the principal technologies and
standards for wireless networking, communication, and Internet access?, AACSB: Analytical
thinking, Reflective thinking, Application of knowledge.)
7-15 What is the significance of search to the success or failure of mobile computing? How
have Apple and Facebook attempted to compete with Google? Will their strategies
succeed?
Mobile computing is eclipsing desktop computing as the main entry point to the Internet.
Today, people spend more than half their time online using mobile devices. Mobile devices
take advantage of a growing cloud of computing capacity available to anyone with a
smartphone and Internet connectivity.
Apple’s attempt to compete with Google came in the form of Siri, a combined search,
navigation, and personal assistant app. Siri uses Yelp for local business searches, tapping into
its user recommendations and ratings. It uses Wolfram Alpha for factual and mathematical
questions. It only uses Google search when all else fails.
Facebook is attempting to create a Graph Search feature to rival Google’s search. It mines
Facebook’s vast repository of user-generated data and delivers results based on social signals
such as Facebook ‘likes’ and friend recommendations. If the desire for friend-based
recommendations outweighs users’ reluctance to divulge more personal information, Graph
Search may be a winner. However, Facebook has an uphill battle in its efforts to convince
users to trust it with their Facebook activities. (Learning Objective 3: How do the Internet
and Internet technology work and how do they support communication and e-business?,
AACSB: Analytical thinking, Reflective thinking, Application of knowledge.)

20
7-16 Which company and business model do you think is most likely to dominate the
Internet and why?
Students should consider these principles in their answers:
• The size, complexity, and bureaucracy of organizations affect the ability of any
company to continue to innovate, grow, and expand its reach. (see Chapter 3) As all
three companies try to expand into mobile computing, their ability to “turn on a
dime” in the face of other competitors may be in serious jeopardy.
• Google currently has the major share of the web-based advertising market, however
Facebook and other market entrants will be a major threat to them. Apple has had a
significant lead in mobile computing for several years. However, as more companies,
Google, Facebook, and others, continue to expand into the arena, its lead will be
threatened. Legal and regulatory compliance will be a major issue as this market
grows and more concerns are expressed from external environments.
• History is not on anyone’s side. Every major company that’s been a force in
technology in one era has lost its lead in the next era. For example, IBM was king of
mainframe computing in the 1940s and 1950s. DEC was king in the mini-computer
era during the 1970s. Microsoft was king in the 1980s and 1990s during the reign of
desktop computers. Google reigns in the 2000s with its web-based services. Apple
began as king of mobile computing devices. Will it remain on top as technology
continues to evolve? (Learning Objective 1: What are the principal components of
telecommunications networks and key networking technologies?, Learning Objective
3: How do the Internet and Internet technology work and how do they support
communication and e-business?, AACSB: Analytical thinking, Reflective thinking,
7-17 What difference would it make to a business or to an individual consumer if Apple,
Google, or Facebook dominated the Internet experience? Explain your answer.
Right now, Apple leads Google in the number of apps available to users. That gap is closing
quickly thanks to Google’s improvements of the Android operating system and its
encouragement to app developers. Open, non-proprietary systems historically have beat
closed, proprietary systems because developers and users have a wider range of choices.
Business managers must try to forecast which platform will provide the right choices for
employees. Consumers must choose which platform will best fulfill their personal needs for
the next two to three years. Switching costs play into both scenarios, not just in terms of
phone purchases but the price of apps. Once a user purchases and adjusts to using a certain
platform, it’s difficult and expensive to switch to a whole different system.
Apps greatly enrich the experience of using a mobile device, and without them, the
predictions for the future of mobile Internet would not be nearly as bright. Whoever creates
the most appealing set of devices and applications will derive a significant competitive
advantage over rival companies. (Learning Objective 3: How do the Internet and Internet
technology work and how do they support communication and e-business?, Learning
Objective 4: What are the principal technologies and standards for wireless networking,

21
communication, and Internet access?, AACSB: Analytical thinking, Reflective thinking,
MyMISLab
Go to the Assignments section of your MyLab to complete these writing exercises.
7-18 Compare Web 2.0 and Web 3.0.
Visit MyMISLab for suggested answers.
7-19 How do social search, semantic search, and mobile search differ from searching for
information on the Web using conventional search engines?
Visit MyMISLab for suggested answers.
For an example illustrating the concepts found in this chapter, view the videos
in mymislab.com.

Other documents randomly have
different content

days of primeval epics, had never roused in her one tithe of the emotion that
those clippings afforded.
Keeling himself had no such craving to see in print all that he was
perfectly well aware of, and even looked undazzled at the cards which his
wife had ordered, on one set of which he appeared alone as ‘Sir Thomas
Keeling, Bart.,’ to differentiate him from mere knights, whilst on the other
the Bart. appeared in conjunction with her. But the events themselves filled
him with a good deal of solid satisfaction, due largely to their bearing on
the approaching election at the County Club. Never from a business point of
view had there been a more successful ‘timing’ of an enterprise: it was as if
on the very day of his getting out his summer fashions, summer had come,
with floods of hot sunshine that made irresistible to the ladies of
Bracebridge the muslins and organdies and foulards that floated
diaphanously in the freshly dressed windows. The summer of his
munificence and his honours had just burst on the town, and, in spite of
Lord Inverbroom’s warning, he felt, as he walked down to his office on the
morning of the day on which the election took place, that every member of
the Club would be, so to speak, a customer for his presence in future in
those staid bow-windows. During these months of his Mayoralty, he had
come into contact with, and had been at civic functions the host of a
quantity of members of the County Club whose suffrages he sought to-day,
and there was none among them who had not shown him courtesy and even
deference. That no doubt was largely due to his position as mayor, but this
Thomas Keeling who was a candidate for the Club was the mayor, he who
had given the new wing to the hospital, thereby averting a very unpleasant
financial mess, he, too, whom his King had delighted to honour. To the
business mind nothing could have happened more opportunely, and the
business mind was his mind. He could not see how he could fail, after this
bouquet of benefits and honours, to be ‘an attractive proposition’ to any
club. As he walked down to his office that morning he swept the cobweb of
Lord Inverbroom’s apprehensions away, and wondered at himself for
having allowed them to infect him with a moment’s uneasiness, or to make
him consider, even at the very back of his brain, what he should do if he
were not elected. This morning he did not consider that at all: he was sure
that the contingency for which he had provided would not arrive. The
provision was filed away, and with it, shut up in the dusty volume, was the
suggestion his agent had made that he might quite reasonably raise the rent

that the Club paid for the premises which were now his property. That
business was just concluded; he proposed to inform Lord Inverbroom at
once of the fact that he was now the landlord of the County Club, and that
the question of a rise in the rental might be considered as shelved. Lord
Inverbroom would be in Bracebridge this morning, since he would be
presiding at the election at the Club at twelve o’clock, and had promised to
communicate the result at once. Very likely Keeling would drop in at the
club to have a bit of lunch there, and he could get a chat with Lord
Inverbroom then.... But as he slid upwards in the droning lift that took him
to the floor where his office was, the Club, the election, and all connected
with it, vanished from his brain like the dispersing mists on a summer
morning, for a few steps would take him along the corridor to the room
where Norah was opening his letters.
That moment of his entry had become to him a matter of daily
excitement and expectation. Sometimes the soft furrow would be ruled
between her eyebrows, and she would give him but the glance of a stranger
and a chilly ‘Good-morning,’ and instantly turn her attention to her work
again. Sometimes she would show such a face as she had shown him that
Sunday morning on the downs when they had listened to the skylark
together, a face of childhood and the possession of spring, sometimes (and
it was this that gave the grizzled elderly man the tremulous excitement of a
boy when his hand opened the door) she would give him that look which
had shot across the town-hall like the launching of a silver spear and
transfixed him. But if he did not get it then, sometime during the morning,
in some pause in the work, or perhaps even in the middle of his dictation, he
would receive it from her, just that one look which made him know, so long
as it lasted, that there was no bar or impediment between himself and her.
‘There was neither speech nor language,’ but her essential self spoke,
revealing, affirming to him its existence. Then without pause she would
drop her eyes to her work again, and her busy pencil scooped and dabbed
over the paper, and he heard in some secret place of his brain, while his lips
pronounced sharp business-like sentences, the words, ‘And thou beside me
singing in the wilderness.’... In the afternoon, when he came to read over
her typewritten transcription of the dictation, he always knew at what point
in some peremptory letter out of all the sheaf that moment of the clear
glance had come. He was always on the look-out for it, but he could never

induce it: she gave it him, so it had begun to seem, not in answer to him, but
just when she could withhold it no longer.
This morning the correspondence was both heavy and complicated. A
whole series of widely scattered dates had to be turned up, in order to trace
some question of the payment of carriage on a certain consignment. It was a
tiresome job, which Norah recommended him to leave for verification to
the clerk downstairs whose business it was, and probably for that very
reason Sir Thomas insisted on doing it himself. He was fractious, he was
obstinately determined to have the matter settled here and now, and like a
child, cross with hunger, he wanted the clear look she had not yet given
him. The furrow, that soft smudge, had long been marked on Norah’s
forehead, as she turned up letter after letter that failed to deal with the point,
and she spent what she considered a wasted half hour over it. She was still
rather irritated when she found what she had been looking for, unclipped the
communication from the spring that fastened it into its place and passed it
him.
‘I think that’s what you are wanting, Sir Thomas,’ she said.
He took it from her, and noticing the rather incisive politeness of her
tone, looked up at her. The furrow was still there, very impatiently ruled,
but the clear glance was there also: radiantly it shone on him, quite
undisturbed by the superficial agitation. It concerned not the surface of her,
but the depths.
He did not look at the paper she handed him, on which his unconscious
fingers had closed. He was not going to miss one infinitesimal fraction of
the moment that she had at last given him. She frowned still, but that was
the property of her tiresome search: it was neither his nor hers, as he or she
‘mattered.’
‘You will find it on the third line from the end,’ she said. ‘Messrs
Hampden are perfectly right about it.’
And then the moment was over, except that in the secret place of his
brain the voice sang in the wilderness, and he looked at the letter she had
given him. The words danced and swam; presently they steadied
themselves.
‘I see,’ he said. ‘Well then, Miss Propert, you must cross out what I have
dictated to you about it. Please read the letter through.... Yes, cross out from
the sentence beginning, “Re the payment for carriage of goods.” Dear me, it

is nearly one: what a lot of time we have spent over that. The booking-clerk
would have done it much more quickly.’
The frown cleared, but the clear look did not return. It was over: it
seemed she had satisfied herself.
‘I think we should have saved time,’ she said.
‘Yes, you were quite right. You like being right, don’t you?’
He got a smile for that, the sort of smile that anybody might have had
from her.
‘I suppose I do,’ she said. ‘Certainly I hate being wrong.’
‘But I was wrong this time,’ he said. ‘I gave you a lot of trouble in
consequence.’
That again was no use: he but got another smile and a friendly look of
the sort he no longer wanted.
‘Is that all, then?’ he asked.
‘No, Sir Thomas, there are half a dozen more letters yet.’
He had just taken the next, when there came a tap at the door, and a boy
entered. He was not one of the messenger-boys of the Stores, with peaked
cap and brass buttons, but Keeling had an impression of having seen him
before. Then he recollected: he often lounged at the door of the County
Club.
‘A note from Lord Inverbroom, sir,’ he said. ‘His lordship told me to
give it you personally.’
‘Wait and see if there is an answer,’ said Keeling.
He tore open the envelope: it was already after one, and probably there
would be no answer, since he would see Lord Inverbroom at the Club,
where he proposed to have lunch. The note was quite short.
‘Dear Sir Thomas,—I promised to let you know the result of the
election. The meeting is just over, and I am sorry to say you have not been
elected. Please allow me to express my sincere regrets.
‘Yours truly,
‘Inverbroom.’
Keeling had one moment of sheer surprise: he had been perfectly sure of
being elected. Then without any conscious feeling of rancour or
disappointment, his mind passed direct to what he had already determined

to do if this contingency, which since the opening of the hospital-wing he
had thought impossible, actually occurred.
‘Wait a moment,’ he said to the messenger. ‘There will be an answer for
you to take back to Lord Inverbroom.’
He turned to Norah.
‘Please take this down direct on your typewriter,’ he said, ‘with a carbon
copy to file.’
Norah put the two sheets on the roller, dated the paper, and waited.
Keeling thought for half a minute, drumming with his fingers on the
table.
‘Are you ready?’ he said, and dictated.
‘Dear Lord Inverbroom,—Yours to hand re the election at the County
Club to-day of which I note the contents.
‘I wish also to acquaint you as President with the fact that I have lately
bought the freehold of your premises. I see that there is a break in your
lease at Midsummer this year on both tenants’ and landlord’s side, and
therefore beg to give you this formal notice that I do not intend to renew the
lease hitherto held by your Club, as I shall be using the premises for some
other purpose.
‘Yours faithfully,
‘Read it over please Miss Propert,’ he said, ‘and I will sign it. File this
note of Lord Inverbroom’s with your carbon copy, and docket them.’
Norah brought him over the typed letter.
‘What docket shall I put on them?’ she asked.
‘Non-election to County Club. Notice of termination of Club’s lease.’
He signed the letter to Lord Inverbroom and sent the boy back with it.
‘Now we will go on with the rest of the shorthand,’ he said.
Norah came back to the table, took up her pencil and then laid it down
again. The frown was heavily creased in her forehead.
‘May I just say something to you before we begin?’ she said. ‘You may
think it a great impertinence, but it is not meant impertinently.’
‘What is it?’ he said.

‘I beg you to call the boy back, and not send that note,’ she said. ‘I hate
to think of your doing that. It isn’t the act of——’
She stopped suddenly. He easily supplied the rest of her sentence.
‘It isn’t the act of a gentleman,’ he said. ‘But they’ve just told me that
I’m not one, or they would have elected me. They will like to know how
right they are.’
He paused a moment.
‘I am sure you did not mean an impertinence, Miss Propert,’ he added,
‘but I think you have committed one.’
‘I am very sorry then,’ said she.
‘Yes. We will get on with the shorthand, please.’
Keeling seldom wasted thought or energy on irremediable mischances: if
a business proposition turned out badly he cut his loss on it, and dismissed
it from his mind. But it was equally characteristic of him to strike, and
strike hard, if opportunity offered at any firm which had let him in for his
loss, and, in this case, since the Club had hit at him, he felt it was but fair
that he should return the blow with precise and instantaneous vigour. That
was right and proper, and his rejoinder to Norah that the Club who did not
consider him sufficient of a gentleman to enter their doors should have the
pleasure of knowing how right they were, had at least as much sober truth
as irony about it. The opportunity to hit back was ready to hand; it would
have been singular indeed, and in flat contradiction to his habits, if he had
not taken it. But when once he had done that, he was satisfied; they did not
want him as a member, and he did not want them as tenants, and there was
the end of it. Yet, like some fermenting focus in his brain, minute as yet, but
with the potentiality of leaven in it, was the fact that Norah had implored
him not to send his answer to Lord Inverbroom. He still considered her
interference an impertinence, but what stuck in his mind and began faintly
to suggest other trains of thought was the equally undeniable fact that she
had not meant it as an impertinence. In intention it had been a friendly
speech inspired by the good-will of a friend. But he shrugged his shoulders
at it: she did not understand business, or, possibly, he did not understand
clubs. So be it then: he did not want to understand them.
It was with a mixture of curiosity and annoyance that he saw Lord
Inverbroom walking towards him along Alfred Road when he left the Stores
that afternoon. The curiosity was due to the desire to see how Lord

Inverbroom would behave, whether he would cross the street or cut him
dead; the annoyance arose from the fact that he could not determine how to
behave himself at this awkward encounter. But when he observed that there
was to be no cutting or crossing the street at all, but perfect cordiality and
an outstretched hand, it faintly and pleasantly occurred to him that, owing
to his letter, there might be forthcoming another election at the Club, with a
request that he would submit himself to a further suffrage. That would
certainly have pleased him, for he had sufficient revengefulness in his
character to decline such a proposition with thanks.
No such proposition was submitted to him.
‘I was just going to leave this note at your office, Sir Thomas,’ said Lord
Inverbroom. ‘May I give it you instead and save myself a further walk? It is
just the acknowledgment of your letter about the termination of our lease.
Perhaps you will glance at it, to see that it is in order.’
Keeling felt, in spite of his business-like habits, that this was
unnecessary. True, this was a matter of business, and he should have
verified the correctness of Lord Inverbroom’s information. But instead he
merely put it into his pocket.
‘That is all right,’ he said.
‘Are you going home?’ asked the other. ‘My wife, I know, is calling on
Lady Keeling, and she will pick me up there. If she has not been so
fortunate as to find Lady Keeling in, she will wait for me in the motor. May
we not walk down there together?’
‘I shall be delighted,’ said Keeling. He still did not know how to behave,
but was gradually becoming aware that no ‘behaviour’ was necessary.
‘Behaviour’ as such, did not seem to exist for his companion, and he could
not help wondering what took its place.
‘My wife is furious with me,’ Lord Inverbroom went on. ‘I have
succumbed to the Leonardo book, instead of having the dining-room ceiling
whitewashed. She has a materialistic mind, preferring whitewash to
Leonardo. Besides, as I told her, she never looks at the ceiling, and I shall
often look at my book. Have you come across anything lately which life is
not worth living without? Perhaps you had better not tell me if you have, or
I shall practise some further domestic economy.’
‘I shall be very pleased to show you anything I’ve got,’ said Keeling.
‘We will have a cup of tea in my library unless Lady Inverbroom is waiting

in your motor.’
‘Ah, that would be a great treat. Let us do that, in any case, Sir Thomas.
Surely we can go in some back way so as to escape my wife’s notice if she
is really waiting outside. It will do her good to wait: she is very impatient.’
Keeling was completely puzzled: if he had ventured to speak in this
sense of Lady Keeling, he knew he would have made a sad mess of it. In his
mouth, the same material would have merely expressed itself in a rude
light. He tried rather mistakenly to copy the manner that was no manner at
all.
‘Ah, I should get a good scolding if I treated Lady Keeling like that,’ he
said.
It did not sound right as he said it; he had the perception of that. He
perceived, too, that Lord Inverbroom did not pursue the style. Then,
presently arriving, they found that the waiting motor contained no impatient
Lady Inverbroom, and they stole into the library, at her husband’s desire, so
that no news of his coming should reach her, until he had had a quarter of
an hour there with his host. Then perhaps she might be told, if Sir Thomas
would have the goodness....
Lord Inverbroom sauntered about in the grazing, ambulatory fashion of
the book-lover and when his quarter of an hour was already more than
spent, he put the volume he was examining back into its place again with a
certain air of decision.
‘I should like to express to you by actual word of mouth, Sir Thomas,’ he
said, ‘my regret at what happened to-day. I am all the more sorry for it,
because I notice that in our rules the landlord of the club is ex officio a
member of it. If you only had told me that you had become our landlord, I
could have informed you of that, and spared you this annoyance.’
There was no mistaking the sincerity of this, the good feeling of it.
Keeling was moved to be equally sincere.
‘I knew that already,’ he said.
Lord Inverbroom looked completely puzzled.
‘Then will you pardon me for asking why you did not take advantage of
it, and become a member of the club without any further bother?’
‘Because I wished to know that I was acceptable as a member of the club
to the other members,’ said Keeling. ‘They have told me that I am not.’

There was a good deal of dignity in this reply: it sprang from a feeling
that Lord Inverbroom was perfectly competent to appreciate.
‘I understand,’ he said. ‘And what you have said much increases my
regret at the election going as it did.’ He paused a moment, evidently
thinking, and Keeling, had an opportunity to wager been offered him, would
have bet that his next words would convey, however delicately, the hope
that Keeling would reconsider his letter of the morning, announcing the
termination of the Club’s lease. He was not prepared to do anything of the
sort, and hoped, indeed, that the suggestion would not be made. But that he
should have thought that the suggestion was going to be made showed very
precisely how unintelligible to him was the whole nature of the class which
Lord Inverbroom represented. No such suggestion was made, any more
than half an hour ago any idea of a fresh election being held was mooted.
‘I had the pleasure of speaking very warmly in your favour, Sir Thomas,’
said Lord Inverbroom, at length, ‘and, of course, of voting for you. I may
tell you that I am now considering, in consequence of the election, whether
I shall not resign the presidency of the Club. It is an unusual proceeding to
reject the president’s candidate; I think your rejection reflects upon me.’
Keeling was being insensibly affected by his companion’s simplicity.
‘Behaviour’ seemed a very easy matter to Lord Inverbroom: it was a mere
matter of being simple....
‘I should be very sorry to have been the cause of that,’ he said, ‘and I
don’t think it would be logical of you. You urged me to withdraw, which
was the most you could do after you had promised to propose me.’
Lord Inverbroom’s sense of being puzzled increased. Here was a man
who had written a letter this morning turning the Club out of their premises
merely because he had been blackballed, who yet showed, both by the fact
of his seeking election in the ordinary way instead of claiming it ex officio,
and by this delicate unbusiness-like appreciation of his own position, all
those instincts which his letter of this morning so flatly contradicted.
‘Yes, I urged you not to stand,’ he said, ‘and that is the only reason why I
hesitate about resigning. I should like you to know that if I remain in my
post, that is the cause of my doing so. Otherwise I should resign.’
The other side of the question presented itself to Keeling. It would be a
rare stroke to deprive the Club not only of its premises but of its president.
Though he had just said that he hoped Lord Inverbroom would not resign,

he felt it would be an extreme personal pleasure if he did. And then a
further scheme came into his head, another nail in the coffin of the County
Club, and with that all his inherent caddishness rose paramount over such
indications of feelings as Lord Inverbroom understood and appreciated.
‘Perhaps if you left the County Club,’ he said, ‘you would do us the
honour to join the Town Club. I am the president of that: I would think it,
however, an honour to resign my post if you would consent to take it. I’ll
warrant you there’ll be no mischance over that election.’
Lord Inverbroom suddenly stiffened.
‘You are very good to suggest that,’ he said. ‘But it would be utterly out
of the question. Well, Sir Thomas, I envy you your library. And here, I see,
is your new catalogue. Miss Propert told me she was working at it. May I
look at it? Yes, indeed, that is admirably done. Author and title of the book
and illustrator as well, all entered. Her father was a great friend of mine.
She may have told you that very tragic story.’
‘She has never mentioned her father to me. Was he—well, the sort of
man whom the County Club would not have blackballed?’
Perhaps that was the worst thing he had said yet, though, indeed, he
meant but a grimly humourous observation, not perceiving nor being able to
perceive in how odious a position he put his guest. But Lord Inverbroom’s
impenetrable armour of effortless good breeding could turn even that aside.
He laughed.
‘Well, after what the Club has done to-day,’ he said, ‘there is no telling
whom they would blackball. But certainly I should have been, at one time,
very happy to propose him.’
Keeling’s preoccupation with the Club suddenly ceased. He wanted so
much more to know anything that concerned Norah.
‘Perhaps you would tell me something about him,’ he said.
‘Ah, that would not be quite right, would it?’ said Lord Inverbroom, still
unperturbed, ‘if Miss Propert has not cared to speak to you of him.’
Keeling found himself alternately envying and detesting this
impenetrable armour. There was no joint in it, it was abominably complete.
And even while he hated it, he appreciated and coveted it.
‘I understand,’ he said. ‘No telling tales out of school.’

‘Quite so. And now will you take me to find my wife? Let us be in a
conspiracy, and not mention that we have been in the house half an hour
already. I should dearly like another half-hour, but all the time Lady
Keeling is bearing the infliction of a prodigiously long call.’
‘Lady Keeling will be only too gratified,’ said her husband.
‘That is very kind of her. But, indeed, I think we had better go.’
Gratification was certainly not too strong a term to employ with regard
to Lady Keeling’s feelings, nor, indeed, too strong to apply to Lady
Inverbroom’s when her call was brought to an end. The sublimity of
Princesses was not to be had every day, and the fortnight that had elapsed
since that memorable visit, with the return of the routine of undistinguished
Bracebridge, had caused so prolonged a visit from a peeress to mount into
Lady Keeling’s head like an hour’s steady drinking of strong wine.
‘Well, I’ve never enjoyed an hour’s chat more,’ she said, as Keeling
returned after seeing their guests off, ‘and it seemed no more than five
minutes. She was all affability, wasn’t she, Alice? and so full of admiration
for all my—what did she call them? Some French word.’
‘Bibelots,’ suggested Alice.
‘Biblos; that was it. And she never seemed to think how time was flying,
for she never once alluded to her husband’s being so late. To be sure she
might have; she might perhaps have said she was afraid she was keeping me
from my occupations, for I could have assured her very handsomely that I
was more than pleased to sit and talk to her. And it is all quite true, Thomas,
about the Princess’s visit next month. You may be sure I asked about that.
She is coming down to spend three days with them, very quietly, Lady
Inverbroom said; yes, she said that twice now I come to think of it, though I
caught it perfectly the first time. But I shall be very much surprised if I
don’t get a note asking us to dine and sleep, with Alice as well perhaps, for I
said what a pleasure it would be to Alice to see her beautiful house and
grounds some day. But I shall quite understand after what she said about the
visit being very quiet, why there will be no party. After all, it was a very
pleasant evening we spent there before when there were no guests at all. I
said how much we enjoyed quiet visits with no ceremony.’
‘Did you ask for any more invitations?’ said Keeling, as his wife paused
for breath.

‘My dear Thomas, you quite misunderstand me. I asked for nothing,
except that I might take Mamma some day for a drive through their park. I
hope I know how to behave better than that. Another thing, too: Miss
Propert has been there twice, once to tea and once to lunch. I hope she will
not have her head turned, for it seems that she did not take her meals in the
housekeeper’s room, but upstairs. But that is none of my business: I am sure
Lady Inverbroom may give her lunch on the top of the church-steeple if she
wishes, and I said very distinctly that I had always found her a very well-
behaved young woman, and mentioned nothing about her bouncing in in the
middle of my dinner-party, nor when she spent Sunday morning in your
library. Bygones are bygones. That’s what I always say, and act on, too.’
This certainly appeared to have been the case: Lady Keeling’s
miscroscopic mind seemed to have diverted its minute gaze altogether from
Norah. To Keeling that was a miscroscopic relief, but no more, for it
seemed to him to matter very little what his wife thought about Norah.
‘Lord Inverbroom was a great friend of Miss Propert’s father at one
time,’ he said. ‘He told me so only to-day.’
‘Oh, indeed. Very likely in the sense that a man may call his butler an
old friend of the family. I should be quite pleased to speak of Parkinson like
that. I am all for equality. We are all equal in the sight of Heaven, as Mr
Silverdale says. Dear me, I wish I was his equal in energy: next month he
holds a mission down at Easton Haven among all those ruffians at the
docks, in addition to all his parish work.’
‘He is doing far too much,’ said Alice excitedly, ‘but he won’t listen. He
is so naughty: he promises me he will be good, and not wear himself out,
but he goes on just the same as ever, except that he gets worse and worse.’
Keeling listened to this with a mixture of pity and grim amusement. He
felt sure that his poor Alice was in love with the man, and was sorry for
Alice in that regard, but what grimly amused him was the utter impotence
of Alice to keep her condition to herself. He was puzzled also, for all this
spring Alice seemed to have remained as much in love with him as ever, but
not to have got either worse or better. Silverdale filled her with some frantic
and wholly maidenly excitement. It was like the love of some antique
spinster for her lap-dog, intense and deplorable and sexless. He could even
joke in a discreet manner with poor Alice about it, and gratify her by so
doing.

‘Well, all you ladies who are so much in love with him ought to be able
to manage him,’ he said.
Alice bent over her work (she had eventually induced Mr Silverdale to
sanction the creation of a pair of slippers) with a pleased, lop-sided smile.
‘Father, you don’t know him,’ she said. ‘He’s quite, quite unmanageable.
You never saw any one so naughty.’
‘Punish him by not giving him his slippers. Give them me instead, and
I’ll wear them when he comes to dinner.’
Alice looked almost shocked at the notion of such unhallowed feet being
thrust into these hardly less than sacred embroideries: it was as if her
mother had suggested making a skirt out of the parrots and pomegranates
that adorned the ‘smart’ altar-cloth. But she divined that, in spite of her
father’s inexplicable want of reverence for the Master (they had become
Master and Helper, and sometimes she called him ‘sir,’ much as Norah had
called her father, but for antipodal reasons), there lurked behind his rather
unseemly jokes a kindly intention towards herself. He might laugh at her,
but somehow below that she felt (and she knew not how) that a part of him
understood, and did not laugh. It was as if he knew what it meant to be in
love, to thirst and to be unslaked, to be hungry and not to be fed.
She gave him a quick glance out of her short-sighted eyes, a glance that
deprecated and yet eagerly sought for the sympathy which she knew was
somewhere about. And then Lady Keeling put in more of her wrecking and
shattering remarks, which so unerringly spoiled all the hints and lurking
colours in human intercourse.
‘Well, that would be a funny notion for Sir Thomas Keeling to wear
slippers at dinner,’ she said. ‘What a going-back to old days! I might as well
wear some high-necked merino gown. But what your father says is quite
true, Alice. We might really take Mr Silverdale in hand, and tell him that’s
the last he’ll see of us all, unless he takes more care of himself. I saw him
coming out of the County Club to-day, looking so tired that I almost
stopped my carriage and told him to go home to bed. And talking of the
County Club, Thomas, doesn’t your election come on soon? You must be
sure to take me to have lunch in the ladies’ room one of these days. Lady
Inverbroom told me she was lunching there to-day, and had quite a clean
good sort of meal. Nothing very choice, I expect, but I dare say she doesn’t
care much what she eats. I shall never forget what a tough pheasant we had

when we dined there. If I’d been told I was eating a bit of leather, I should
have believed it. Perhaps some day when Lord and Lady Inverbroom are in
Bracebridge again, we might all have lunch together there.’
For the last six months Keeling had been obliged to keep a hand on
himself when he was with his wife, for either she had developed an
amazing talent for putting him on edge, or he a susceptibility for being
irritated by her. Both causes probably contributed, for since her accession to
greatness, her condescension had vastly increased, while he on his side had
certainly grown more sensitive to her pretentiousness. It was with the
utmost difficulty that he restrained himself from snapping at her.
‘No, I’m afraid that can’t be, Emmeline,’ he said. ‘The election came off
to-day, and the Club has settled it can do without me.’
‘Well, I never heard of such a thing! They haven’t elected you, do you
mean, the Mayor of Bracebridge, and to say nothing of your being a
baronet? Who are those purse-proud people, I should like to know? My dear
Thomas, I have an idea. I should not wonder if Lord Inverbroom was in it.
He has been quite cock of the walk, as you may say, up till now, and he
doesn’t want any rival. What are you going to do? I hope you’ll serve them
out well for it somehow.’
‘I have done so already. I bought the freehold of the Club not so long
ago, and I have given them notice that I shall not renew their lease in the
summer.’
Lady Keeling clapped her soft fat hands together.
‘That’s the right sort of way to treat them,’ she said, in great glee. ‘That
will pay them out. I never heard of such a thing as not electing a baronet.
Who do they think they are? What fun it will be to see all their great sofas
being bundled into the street. And they bought all their furniture at your
Stores, did they not? That is the cream of it to my mind. I should not
wonder if they want to sell it all back to you, second-hand. That would be a
fine joke.’
For the first time, now that his wife so lavishly applauded his action,
Keeling began to be not so satisfied with it. The fact that it commended
itself to her type of mind, was an argument against it: her praise disgusted
him: it was at least as impertinent as Norah’s disapprobation.
Alice fixed her faint eyes on her father.

‘Oh, I wish you hadn’t done that!’ she said. ‘Does Lord Inverbroom
know that?’
‘Mark my words,’ said his wife, ‘Lord Inverbroom’s at the bottom of it
all.’
‘Nothing of the kind, Emmeline,’ he said sharply. ‘Lord Inverbroom
proposed me.’
Then he turned to Alice.
‘Yes, he knows,’ he said. ‘I gave notice to him. And why do you wish I
hadn’t done it? I declare I’m getting like Mr Silverdale. All the ladies are
concerning themselves with me. There’s your mother saying I’ve done
right, and you and Miss Propert saying I’ve done wrong. There’s no
pleasing you all.’
‘And what has Miss Propert got to do with it,’ asked Lady Keeling, ‘that
she disapproves of what you’ve done? She’ll be wanting to run your Stores
for you next, and just because she’s been to lunch with Lord Inverbroom. I
never heard of such impertinence as Miss Propert giving her opinion. You’ll
have trouble with your Miss Propert. You ought to give her one of your
good snubs, or dismiss her altogether. That would be far the best.’
Keeling felt as some practitioner of sortes Virgilianæ might do when he
had opened at some strangely apposite text. To consult his wife about
anything was like opening a book at random, a wholly irrational
proceeding, but he could not but be impressed by the sudden applicability
of this. His wife did not know the situation, any more than did the musty
volume, but he wondered if she had not answered with a strange wisdom,
wholly foreign to her.
‘Now you have given your opinion, Emmeline,’ he said, ‘and you must
allow somebody else to talk. I want to know why Alice disapproves.’
Alice stitched violently at the slipper.
‘Mr Silverdale will be so sorry,’ she said. ‘He drops in there sometimes
for a rubber of bridge, for he thinks that it is such a good thing to show that
a clergyman can be a man of the world too.’
Keeling rose: this was altogether too much for him.
‘Well, we’ve wasted enough time talking about it all,’ he said, ‘if that’s
all the reason I’m to hear.’

‘But it isn’t,’ said Alice. ‘I can’t express it, but I can feel it. I know I
should agree with Miss Propert and Lord Inverbroom about it. What did
Miss Propert say?’
‘Well, talking of waste of time,’ observed Lady Keeling indignantly, ‘I
can’t think of any worse waste than caring to know what Miss Propert said.’
Keeling turned to her.
‘Perhaps you can’t,’ he said, ‘and you’d better have your nap. That won’t
be waste of time. You’re tired with talking, and I’m sure I am too.’
He left the room without more words, and Lady Keeling settled another
cushion against what must be called the small of her back.
‘Your father’s served them out well,’ she said. ‘That’s the way to get on.
To think of their not considering him good enough for their Club. He has
shown his spirit very properly. But the idea of Miss Propert telling him
what’s right and what isn’t, on twenty-five shillings a week.’
‘I can’t bear to think of Mr Silverdale not having his rubber of bridge
now and then,’ said Alice. ‘It was such a refreshment to him.’
Keeling had intended to pass an hour among his books to wash off the
scum, so to speak, of this atrocious conversation, but when he got to his
library, and had taken down his new edition of Omar Khayyam, which
Charles Propert had induced him to buy, he found it could give him very
little emotion. He was aware of the exquisite type, of the strange sensuous
wood-cuts that somehow affected him like a subtle odour, of the beautiful
binding, and not least of the text itself, but all these perfections were no
more than presented to him; they did not penetrate. He could not rid himself
of the scum; the odiousness of his wife’s approbation would not be washed
off. And what made it cling was the fact that she had divined him correctly,
had rejoiced at his ‘serving the Club out.’ It was just that which Norah
deprecated, and he felt that Lord Inverbroom’s complete silence on the
point, his forbearance to hint ever so faintly that perhaps Keeling would
reconsider his action, expressed disapprobation as eloquently as Norah’s
phrase, which he had finished for her, had done. It was a caddish act, that
was what they both thought about it, and Alice, when she had finished her
nonsense about Mr Silverdale’s rubber of bridge, had a similar protest in her
mind. He did not rate poor Alice’s mind at any high figure; it was but the

fact that she was allied to the other two, and opposed to her mother, that
added a little weight to her opinion.
He wanted to be considered a gentleman, and when others declined to
receive him as such, he had but justified their verdict by behaving like a
cad.... He was a cad, here was the truth of it, as it struck him now, and that
was why he had behaved like one.
He shut his meaningless book, now intensely disliking the step he had
taken, which at the time had seemed so smart a rejoinder. Probably if at this
moment Lord Inverbroom had appeared, asking him to cancel it, he would
have done so. But that was exactly what it was certain Lord Inverbroom
would not do. There remained Norah; he wondered whether Norah would
refer to it again. Probably not: he had made clear that he thought the
offering of her opinion was a great impertinence. And now to his annoyance
he remembered that his wife had also considered it as such. Again she
agreed with him, and again the fact of her concurrence made him lose
confidence in the justice of his own view. He had instantly acquitted Norah
of deliberate impertinence; now he reconsidered whether it had been an
impertinence at all.... What if it was the simple desire of a friend to save a
friend from a blunder, an unworthiness?
He had grown to detest the time after dinner passed in the plushy,
painted drawing-room. Hitherto, in all these years of increasing prosperity,
during which the conscious effort of his brain had been directed to business
and money-making, he had not objected after the work of the day to pass a
quiescent hour or two before his early bedtime giving half an ear to his
wife’s babble, which, with her brain thickened with refreshment, always
reached its flood-tide of voluble incoherence now, giving half an eye to
Alice with her industrious needle. All the time a vague simmer of
mercantile meditation gently occupied him; his mind, like some kitchen fire
with the damper pushed in, kept itself just alight, smouldered and burned
low, and Alice’s needle was but like the bars of the grate, and his wife’s
prattle the mild rumble of water in the boiler. It was all domestic and
normal, in accordance with the general destiny of prosperous men in middle
age. Indeed, he was luckier in some respects than the average, for there had
always been for him his secret garden, the hortus inclusus, into which
neither his family nor his business interests ever entered. Now even that had

been invaded, Norah’s catalogue had become to him the most precious of
his books: she was like sunshine in his secret garden or like a bitter wind,
something, anyhow, that got between him and his garden beds, while here
in the drawing-room in the domestic hour after dinner the fact of her made
itself even more insistently felt, for she turned Lady Keeling’s vapidities, to
which hitherto he had been impervious, into an active stinging irritation,
and even poor Alice’s industrious needle and the ever-growing pattern of
Maltese crosses on Mr Silverdale’s slippers was like some monotonous
recurring drip of water that set his nerves on edge. This was a pretty state of
mind, he told himself, for a hardheaded business man of fifty, and yet even
as with all the force of resolution that was in him he tried to find something
in his wife’s remarks that could awake a relevant reasonable reply, some
rebellious consciousness in his brain would only concern itself with
counting on the pink clock the hours that lay between the present moment
and nine o’clock next morning. And then the pink clock melodiously
announced on the Westminster chime that it was half past ten, and Alice put
her needle into the middle of the last Maltese cross, and Lady Keeling
waddled across the room and tapped the barometer, which a marble Diana
held in her chaste hand, to see if the weather promised well for the bazaar
to-morrow. The evening was over, and there would not be another for the
next twenty-four hours.
He was always punctual at his office; lately he had been before his time
there, and had begun to open letters before Norah arrived. This happened
next morning, and among others that he had laid on his desk was Lord
Inverbroom’s acknowledgment of his notice to terminate the County Club’s
lease. Norah, when she came, finished this business for him, and in due
course handed him the completed pile. Then, as usual, she took her place
opposite him for the dictation of answers. She wore at her breast a couple of
daffodils, and he noticed that, as she breathed, the faint yellow reflection
they cast on her chin stirred upwards and downwards. No word had passed
between them since she had expressed regret for what he considered her
impertinence the day before, and this morning she did not once meet his
eye. Probably she considered herself in disgrace, and it maddened him to
see her quiet acceptance of it, which struck him as contemptuous. She was
like some noble slave, working, because she must work, for a master she
despised. Well, if that was her attitude, so be it. She might despise, but he

was master. At his request she read out a letter she had just taken down. In
the middle he stopped her.
‘No, you have got that wrong,’ he said. ‘What I said was this,’—and he
repeated it—‘please attend more closely.’
She made no reply, and two minutes afterwards he again found her at
fault. And the brutality, the desire to make the beloved suffer, which in very
ugly fashion often lies in wait close to the open high road of love, became
more active.
‘You are wasting your time and mine, Miss Propert,’ he said, ‘if you do
not listen.’
Again he waited for some reply, some expression of regret which she
undoubtedly owed him, but none came. Then, looking up, while her pencil
was busy, he saw that she did not reply because she could not. The
reflection of the daffodils trembled violently on her chin, and her lower
teeth were fast clenched on her upper lip to stifle the surrender of her
mouth. And when he saw that, all his brutality, all the impulse that bade him
hurt the thing he loved, drained out of him, and left him hateful to himself.
He paused, leaving unfinished the sentence he was dictating, and sat
there silent, not daring to look at her. He still felt she despised him, and now
with additional reason; he resented the fact that any one should do that, his
pride choked him, and yet he was ashamed. But oh, the contrast between
this very uncomfortable moment, and the comfortable evenings with
Emmeline!
But he could not bring himself to apologise, and presently he resumed
his dictation. Norah, it appeared, had recovered control of herself, and when
that letter was finished, she read it over to him quite steadily. The next she
handed him was Lord Inverbroom’s acknowledgment, which he had himself
placed among the rest of the morning’s correspondence.
‘Is that just to be filed?’ she said, ‘or is there any answer?’
He took it up.
‘Yes, there’s an answer,’ he said, and dictated.
‘Dear Lord Inverbroom,—Re lease of premises of County Club. If
you will allow me I should like to cancel the notice of termination of said
lease which I sent you yesterday, if this would be any convenience to the

Club. I should like also to express to you personally my regret for my
action.’
He paused.
‘I think that’s all I need say, Miss Propert, isn’t it?’ he asked.
And then there came for him the direct glance, a little dim yet, with the
‘clear shining after rain’ beaming through it.
‘Oh, I am so glad,’ she said. ‘And if it’s not impertinent may I suggest
something?’
Never had the clear glance lasted so long. He expanded and throve in it.
‘Well, go on; but take care,’ he said.
‘It’s only that you should write it yourself,’ she said. ‘It would be more
—more complete.’
‘And that will satisfy you?’
‘Quite. You will have done yourself justice.’
He pushed back his chair.
‘I don’t see why you should care,’ he said. ‘I’ve treated you like a brute
all morning.’
‘I know you have. I cared about that too.’
‘Would you like me to apologise?’ he asked.
She shook her head and pointed at the letter.
‘Not again,’ she said. ‘You’ve sent me a lovely apology already,
addressed to Lord Inverbroom.’
‘Have I, indeed? You must have everything your own way. And how are
the bluebells getting on?’
‘Quite well. They’ll all be out in a fortnight, I think. I went to look again
yesterday. The buds, fat little buttons, do you remember, have got tall stalks
now. And the lark is still singing.’
‘May we go there then on Saturday week?’ he asked.
She looked down a moment.
‘Yes,’ she said softly, raising her eyes again. ‘And now shall we get on
with the letters, Sir Thomas. There are still a good many not answered.’
‘I would sooner talk to you,’ he said.

‘You shall dictate. That will be talking. And I will try to listen very
attentively.’
‘Now don’t be mean, Miss Propert,’ said he.
For the second time that morning she let the clear glance shine on him. It
brightened like dawn, filling the space between them. And it smote on his
heart, stupefyingly sweet.

CHAPTER X
Keeling had ten days to wait for the Saturday when he and Norah were to
visit the bluebells together. He knew with that certainty of the heart which
utterly transcends the soundest conclusions of reason and logic that she
loved him; it seemed, too, that it was tacitly agreed between them that some
confession, some mutual revelation would then take place. That was to be
the hour of their own, away from the office and the typewriting, and all
those things which, though they brought them together, essentially sundered
them. What should be said then, what solution could possibly come out of it
all, he could form no notion. He ceased even to puzzle over it. Perhaps there
was no solution: perhaps this relationship was just static.
Outwardly the days passed precisely as usual. They had made their
appointment, and no further allusion or reminder was necessary. Each
evening brought nearer the hour of azure in that hollow among the empty
downs, and he desired neither to shorten nor to lengthen out the days that
separated him from it. But to him everything, except that moment, regular
but rarely recurring, when her eye sought his with need and love in it,
seemed dream-like and unsubstantial. Nothing had power either to vex or
please him. He was, as always, busy all day, and transacted his own or
municipal business with all his usual thoroughness and acute judgment. But
it all went on outside him; the terra-cotta cupolas which his industry had
reared in the market-place were as unreal as the new system of drainage in
the lower part of the town, which he had exerted all his influence to get
carried through the obdurate conservatism that pointed to the low-death rate
of Bracebridge under the old conditions. He got his way; all his life he had
been accustomed to dominate and command and organise. Then when his
day’s work was done, and he returned home for dinner and the ensuing
hours, which lately had been so intolerable, he found they irritated him no
longer, and the fatuous drip of his wife’s conversation was no more to him
than some gutter that discharged not into his house but into the street
outside. Simply he cared nothing for it, nor, when his failure to get elected
to the County Club occurred to him, did he care: it appeared to have
happened, but it must have happened to some stranger. Sometimes, before
the pink clock announced that it was half-past ten, he would leave the

drawing-room and go to his library, to see whether in his books there was to
be found anything that stimulated his reactions towards life. But they had
no message: they were dumb or he was deaf. Even the catalogue showed no
sign of life: it was Norah’s work, of course, but it was not Norah.
The day before their tryst out among the downs, this stupefied stagnation
of emotion suddenly left him. All morning and through half the afternoon a
succession of Spring showers had flung themselves in mad torrents against
the plate-glass windows of his office, and more than once he had seen
Norah look up, and knew as well as if she had spoken that she was
speculating on the likelihood of another drenching afternoon to-morrow.
But she said nothing, and again he knew that neither storm nor tempest
would keep her back from their appointment, any more than it would keep
him. The thing had to be: it was arranged so, and though they should find
all the bluebells blackened and battered, and the thunder bellowed round
them, that meeting in the bluebell wood was as certain as the rising of the
sun.... And then the clock on his chimney-piece chimed five, and with a
rush of reawakened perception, a change as swift and illuminating as the
return of consciousness after an anaesthetic, he realised that by this time to-
morrow their meeting would be over, and they would know, each of them,
what they were to become to each other. The week’s incurious torpor,
broken once and sometimes twice a day by her glance, rolled away from
him: the world and all that it contained started into vividness again.
Simultaneously with the chiming clock, she got up, and brought him the
finished typewritten letters for his signature. To-day there were but a dozen
of them, and the work of reading and signing and bestowal in their
envelopes was soon finished. But an intolerable sense of restraint and
discomfort surrounded these proceedings: he did not look at her, nor she at
him, and though both were hugely conscious of each other, it was as if they
were strangers or enemies even under some truce. That feeling increased
and intensified: once in handing a letter to him a finger of hers touched his,
and both drew their hands quickly away. She hurried over her reading, he
scrawled his name; they wanted to get away from each other as soon as was
possible. Then the thought that they would have to sit here again together
all morning to-morrow occurred to him, and that to him at least was
unfaceable. In this reawakened vividness to the crisis that now impended in
less than the space of a day and a night, he felt he could not meet her again
over common tasks.

It had happened before occasionally that he had given her a holiday on
Saturday morning from the half-day’s work, and he seized at this, as she
handed him the last of the batch to be signed.
‘I don’t think you need come down to-morrow morning, Miss Propert,’
he said. ‘You can take the half-day off.’
He did not look up, but heard her give a little sigh of relief, and knew
that once again he had found the pulse in her that beat with his own.
‘Yes,’ she said, and dropped the letters into his post-box.
She had been working that day at the table in his big room and stood
there tidying it. Then she went back into the small room adjoining, and he
heard her rustle into her mackintosh. Then returning she stood at the door of
it a moment and from underneath his half raised eyes, he saw that she
looked slowly all round his room, as if, perhaps, searching for something,
or as if rather committing it to her memory. Then without another word to
him she went out, and he heard her steps tapping along the cement-floored
corridor to the lift. Once they paused, and he half-longed, half-dreaded that
she was coming back. They began again, and stopped, and immediately
afterwards he heard the clang of the grille, and the faint rumble of the
descending lift. He had one overpowering impulse that brought him to his
feet, to dash downstairs, and see her go out, or if she was gone already to
follow her into the street, just for the sake of setting eyes on her once more,
but it took him no further than that, and presently he sat down again.
That intense vividness of perception that had been lit within him when,
half an hour ago, the clock on his chimney-piece chimed, still blazed. He
noticed a hundred minute details in the room, his ear separated the hum of
the street below into its component ingredients: there was a boy whistling,
there was a motor standing with its engines still working, there was a street-
cry concerning daffodils, another concerning evening papers. Memory was
similarly awake: he remembered that his wife was giving a little dinner-
party this evening, that Silverdale, who was setting out on his mission to the
docks next day, was to be among the guests, and that Alice expected that the
slippers of Maltese crosses would be back from being made up, in time for
him to take them with him. He recalled, out of the well of years, how in the
early days of his married life Emmeline had made him a pair of slippers
which did not fit, and in the same breath remembered the exact look of her
face this very morning when a message had come from her cook saying that

she could not get a bit of salmon anywhere. And as each impression
registered itself on eye and ear and memory, he hated it. But nothing
concerning Norah came into his mind: sometimes for a moment a blank
floated across it, behind which perhaps was Norah, but she produced no
image on it. He could not even recollect her face: he did not know what she
was like. There was the horror of it all: everything in the world but she had
the vividness of nightmare, and she, the only thing that did not belong to
nightmare, had gone from him.
He sat there, alone in the darkening room, doing nothing as far as
definite effort went, and yet conscious of an intense internal activity in just
looking at the myriads of images that this magic lantern of the mind
presented to him. Now for a little it seemed to him that he contemplated a
series of pictures that concerned the life which had once been his, and was
now finished and rolled up, done with for ever. Now again for a little it
seemed that all that was thus presented to him was the life that was going to
be his, until for him all life was over. Alice would always be sewing
slippers, his wife would always be ordering a bit of salmon, he would
always be sitting in an empty office. For a few weeks there had passed
across those eternal reiterations somebody whose very face he could not
now recall, and when he tried to imagine her, he could see nothing but a
blank, a black strip where words had been erased. To-morrow by this time
he would know which of those two aspects was the true one: either the
salmon and the slippers and this lonely meditation would be his no longer,
or they would be all that he could call his. He felt, too, that it was already
settled which it was to be: fate had already written in the inexorable book,
and had closed it again. To-morrow the page would be shown him, he
would read what was inscribed there. No effort on his part, no imposition of
his will, no power of his to organise and build up would alter it. Though the
crisis was yet to come, its issue was already determined.
He struggled against this nightmare sense of impotence. All his life he
had designed his own career, in bold firm strokes, and fate had builded as
he had planned. Fate was not a predetermined thing: the book of destiny
was written by the resolute and strong for themselves, they had a hand on
the pen, and made destiny write what they willed. It should be so to-
morrow: he had but to determine what he chose should be, and this was the
hour of his choice....

Suddenly into the blanks, into the black erasures, there stole the images
which just now he had tried in vain to recall. All else was erased, and Norah
filled the empty spaces. Her presence, voice and gesture and form pervaded
his whole consciousness: there was room for nothing else. They loved each
other, and to each other they constituted the sum of all that was real. There
was nothing for it but to accept that, to go away together, and let all the
unrealities of life, The Cedars, the salmon, the slippers, pass out of focus, be
dissolved, disintegrated.... And yet, and yet he knew that he did not make
the choice with his whole self. Deep down in him, the very foundation on
which his character was built, was that hidden rock of his integrity, of his
stern Puritanism, of the morality of which his religion was made. He was
willing to blow that up, he searched for the explosive that would shatter it,
he hacked and hammered at it, as if in experiment to see if he had the power
to shatter it. It could hardly be that his character was stronger than himself:
that seemed a contradiction in terms.
And yet all else in the world was hateful to him; he could contemplate
life neither without Norah nor with her in continuance of their present
relations. This afternoon he had longed for her to go away, and when she
had gone he had been on the point of hurrying down like a madman into the
street only to set eyes on her again. He could not imagine sitting here all
day with her week after week, dictating letters, hearing her typing them,
getting the clear glance from her now and again (and that would be the most
intolerable of all), saying ‘good-evening’ to her when the day’s work was
done, and ‘good-morning’ to her when it was beginning. Something must
happen, and whatever that was, was already written in the book. There was
no escape.
The clock chimed again, and his room had grown so dark that he had to
turn on the electric light to see what the hour was. He went downstairs and
through the show rooms, blazing with lights still populous with customers,
into the square. The toneless blue of night had already advanced far past the
zenith; in the west a band of orange marked where the sun had set, and just
above it was a space of delicate pale green on the upper edge of which a
faint star twinkled. As he passed between the hornbeam hedges in the
disused graveyard, the odour of the spring night, of dew on the path, of the
green growth on the trees, was alert in the air. The mysterious rapture of the
renewal of life tingled round him, the summons to expand, to blossom, to
love was echoed and re-echoed from the bushes, where mated birds were

still chirruping. As he walked through the gathering dusk, thick with the
choruses of spring, the years fell from him like withered leaves long-
lingering, and his step quickened into the pace of youth, though it only bore
him to The Cedars, and the amazing futility of one of Lady Keeling’s
smaller dinner-parties.
Two very auspicious pieces of news awaited him when he got home, and
found his wife and Alice just about to go upstairs to dress. Alice’s slippers
had come back from the shoe-maker’s, and could be presented to Mr
Silverdale to-night, while, as by a miracle, a bit of salmon had been
procured also. Lady Keeling had been driving by that little fishmonger’s in
Drury Place, and there on the marble slab was quite a nice bit of salmon.
She had brought it home herself on the box of the victoria, for fear of there
being any mischance as to its delivery. Alice was even more excited, for
nobody else had ever been permitted to work Master a pair of slippers, and
Julia Fyson was coming to dinner, who, with eyes green with jealousy,
would see the presentation made. They were to be brought into the dining-
room at the end of dinner, when Lady Keeling gave two short pressures to
the electric bell that stood by her on the table, by the boy covered with
buttons, wrapped round with endless swathings of paper. He was to present
this bale to Mr Silverdale, saying that it was immediate and asking if there
was any answer. Would it not be fun to see the astonished Master take off
all those wrappings, and find the Maltese crosses within?
This entertaining scheme succeeded admirably. Alice showed a
remarkable sense of dramatic by-play, and talked very eagerly to her
neighbour, while Mr Silverdale stripped off layer after layer of paper, as if
she was quite unaware that anything unusual was happening, and it was not
till an unmistakable shape of slippers began to reveal itself in the core, that
Master guessed.
‘It’s my Helper,’ he cried, ‘my sly little Helper.’ Then pushing back his
chair, he took off his evening shoes, and putting on the slippers went
solemnly round the table, saying to each of his hosts and fellow-guests,
‘May I introduce you to my slippers?’ But when he came to Alice he said, ‘I
think you and my slippers have met before!’ There was never anything so
deliciously playful.... But when he had padded back to his place, Keeling
saw poor Alice’s eye go wandering, looking at every one in turn round that
festive table except Master. Finally, for one half second, her eye rested on
him, and Keeling, as one of those who run, could read, and his heart went

out to poor Alice. She was prodigiously silly, yet that one self-revealing
glance decorated her. She loved, and that distinguished and dignified her.
After the guests had gone, Lady Keeling launched forth into her usual
comments on the success of her dinner-party.
‘Well, I’m sure I should be puzzled to name a pleasanter evening’ she
said. ‘I thought it all quite brilliant, though I’m sure I claim no share in its
success except that I do think I gave you all a very good dinner. I’m sure I
never tasted a better bit of spring salmon than that. Was it not lucky it
caught my eye this afternoon. And the slippers, too, Alice! It was quite a
little comedy: I am sure I have seen many less amusing scenes in a play. To
introduce everybody to his slippers! That was a good idea, and it must have
been quite ex tempore, for I am certain he did not know what was inside the
packet till he came to the last wrappings.’
...Perhaps this was the last time that Keeling would ever listen to those
maunderings. That would be determined in the bluebell wood. Perhaps to-
morrow evening....
‘And then saying to Alice, “I think you and my slippers have met
before!” That was fun, was it not? I saw you enjoyed that, Thomas, and
when you are pleased, I’m sure the joke is good enough for anybody. I wish
I had asked Lord and Lady Inverbroom to dine to-night. They would have
enjoyed it too, though perhaps he would feel a little shy of meeting you
after that snub you gave him and his Club in taking their premises away
from them.’
...Would the bluebells reflect their colour on to her face, as the daffodils
she wore one day had done? By the way, no word had been said about the
hour at which they should meet. But it did not matter: he would be there
and she....
‘I have cancelled the notice I gave them,’ he said. ‘You will not have the
pleasure of seeing the club furniture coming out into the street.’
‘Well, indeed! You are much too kind to them after what they did to you,
Thomas. I am sorry you did that; they deserved a good slap to serve them
out.’
An awful spirit of raillery seized the unfortunate woman. She would say
something lightly and humorously, just to show she had nothing but
goodwill towards Miss Propert; it should be quite in that felicitous comedy-
style which had made the business of the slippers such a success.

‘Ah, but now I remember that Miss Propert did not want you to give
them notice,’ she said. ‘Now we can guess why you took it back again. Oh,
not a word more. I am discretion itself.’
Even this did not hurt him. He was rather amused than otherwise.
‘Trust you for hitting the nail on the head, Emmeline,’ he said. ‘That was
why.’
Lady Keeling rose in great good humour. Once, she remembered, her
husband had been very rude when she made a little joke about his regard for
Miss Propert. She had hit the nail on the head then, too, for no doubt there
was something (ever so little) of truth in what she said, and it had ‘touched
him up.’ But now he did not mind: that showed that there was no truth in it
at all now. She had never thought there was anything serious, for Thomas
was not that sort of man (and who should know better than she?), but
perhaps he had been a little attracted. She was delighted to think that it was
certainly all over.
‘Ah, I knew I had guessed,’ she said. ‘And perhaps Miss Propert’s right,
for it is always best to be friendly with everybody even if they do behave
shabbily. I have always found Miss Propert very sensible and well-behaved,
and if she and her brother are coming to see your books on Sunday
afternoon, Thomas, and you like to bring them in to tea, you will find me
most civil and pleasant to them both. There! And now I think Alice and I
will be getting to bed. Dear me, it’s after eleven already. Time flies so,
when you are enjoying yourself.’
She gave him a cheerful kiss, she tapped the barometer, and, taking Alice
in tow, she left him. Their cheerful voices, talking about the slippers, died
away as they went upstairs.
It was not one lark but many that were carolling specks against the blue,
as Keeling walked along the ridge of the down next day, to where after an
upland mile it dipped into the hollow where he and Norah had met before,
and where they would meet again now. The afternoon was warm and
windless, and the squalls and showers of yesterday had been translated into
the vivider green that clothed the slopes. But all this epiphany of spring that
had so kindled his heart before, passed by him to-day quite unobserved: he
saw only the tops of the trees, which, climbing up on the sides of the hollow
for which he was bound, fringed the edge of the ridge. Soon he had reached

that, the track dipped over down the slope, and on each side, between the
oak-trunks, and the stumps of the felled hazels, there was spread one
continuous sheet of azure, as if the sky had flooded the ground with itself.
But he hardly saw that even, for sitting on the bank, where, at the bottom of
the hollow, the stream crossed the track, was Norah.
She had watched him come down the path, and when he was some ten
paces from her, she rose. She had no word, it would seem, for him, nor he
for her, and they stood in silence opposite each other. But the clear glance
shone on him, steady and quiet and complete. Then, as by some common
impulse, her hands and his were clasped together.
‘Just Norah,’ he said.
The grave smile with which she had welcomed him grew a shade graver,
a shade more tender.
‘Do you know how I love you?’ he asked.
‘Yes, I know. And—and I give you all you bring me. You know that,
don’t you?’
Again by some common impulse they moved off the path, still with
hands clasped. They walked through the fallen sky of bluebells, not seeing
it, and came to where a fallen trunk, lopped of its branches, lay on the
ground.
‘We will sit here a little, shall we?’ she said. ‘It mustn’t be long.’
‘Why not for ever?’ he asked.
‘You know that, too,’ she said.
At that moment there was nothing in the world for him but she.
‘I know nothing of the sort,’ he said. ‘We belong to each other. That’s all
I know. I have you now: you needn’t think I shall let you go. You will leave
that damned place this evening with me. That’s the only reason why we
mustn’t be long here.’
She raised her eyes to his, and without speaking shook her head.
‘But it is to be so,’ he cried. ‘There’s no other way out. We’ve found
each other: do you think I am going to let us lose each other? There is no
other way.’
Even as he spoke, that silent inexorable tug, that irresistible tide of
character which sweeps up against all counter-streams of impulse which do
not flow with it, began to move within him. He meant all he said, and yet he

knew that it was not to be. And as he looked at her, he saw in her eyes that
fathomless eternal pity, which is as much a part of love as is desire.
‘There is no way out there,’ she said. ‘Look into yourself and tell me if
you really believe there is. The way is barred. You yourself bar it. How
could I then pass over it?’
‘If you loved me——’ he began.
‘Ah, hush; don’t say that. It is nonsense, wicked nonsense. Isn’t it?’
‘Yes,’ he said.
She was infinitely stronger than he: a dozen times in details she had
proved that. Now, when there was no detail, but a vital issue at stake, she
could show all her strength, instead of but sparring with him.
‘Well, then, listen,’ she said. ‘We are honest folk, my dear, both you and
I. You are under certain obligations; you have a wife and children. And
since I love you, I am under the same obligations. They are yours, and
therefore they are mine. If it weren’t for them—but it is no use thinking of
that.’
‘But I repudiate them,’ he said. ‘They have become meaningless. You are
the only thing which means anything to me. Norah! Norah! Thou beside me
singing in the wilderness! What else is there? What else?’
His passion had lifted him upon his feet: he stood there before her,
strong and masterful. He was accustomed always to get his way: he would
get it now in spite of the swift-flowing tide against which his impulse
struggled, in spite of her who was sailing up on the tide.
‘There is nothing else,’ she said. ‘But there is not that.’
He knelt down on the ground by her.
‘But, my darling,’ he said, ‘it is not our fault. It happened like that. God
gave us hearts, did He not, and are we just to disobey what our hearts tell
us? We belong to each other. What else can we do? Are we to eat our hearts
out, you on one side of the table in that hell upstairs, I on the other? Don’t
tell me that is the way out!
She raised her hands and let them lie with strong pressure on his
shoulders.
‘No, there is no way out there,’ she said. ‘I couldn’t stand that, nor could
you. But there is a way out, and you and I are going to take it.’
Again the infinite pity of her strength welled up and dimmed her eyes.

‘I am going away,’ she said. ‘I shall leave Bracebridge to-night. It’s all
settled.’
He shook himself free of her hands.
‘We go together then,’ he said, but there was no conviction in his voice.
It was but a despairing, drowning cry.
She made a little gesture with her head.
‘Come back here,’ she said. ‘Let me put my hands on your shoulders
again. Yes, just like that. It is all settled. Charles agrees. He knows enough:
I think he guesses the rest. I shall go back to London, and get work there. I
shall find it perfectly easy to do that. If you will give me a little testimonial,
it would help me. You mustn’t come to see me. You mustn’t write to me. I
won’t say anything so foolish as to tell you to forget me. You can’t, to begin
with, and also I don’t want you to. I want you to remember me always, with
love and with honour——’
She stopped for a moment, smiling at him through her tears.
‘You made me cry two mornings ago,’ she said, ‘and I felt so ashamed of
myself. I don’t feel ashamed of myself now. I—I am rather proud of myself,
and I want you to be proud of me.’
Her voice broke utterly, and she sat with her head in her hands, sobbing
her heart out. Presently with one hand she felt for his, and sat thus clasping
it.
‘Sit by me,’ she said at length, ‘and very soon we must walk back over
the down, and when we come to the skylark’s nest you shall go on and I
will follow after a few minutes. Let’s go through these few months, as if
pasting them into our memories. We must each have the same remembrance
as the other. I hated you at first, do you know? I hated working for you. The
books began to bring us together, the mischievous things. Then there came
the wood-block for your book-plate, but you apologised. And then came the
catalogue, was not that it? By that time I had got to love working for you,
though I did not guess at once what was the matter with me. Then came the
spring day, that first day of real spring, and I knew. And there is one thing I
want to ask you. Did Lord Inverbroom ever tell you about my people?’
‘No, never.’
‘Well, you might like to know. My father was a great friend of his at one
time. But he went off with another woman, deserting my mother. That was

another reason why we have settled our affairs as we have settled them. I
thought I would like to tell you that. We can’t bring on others the misery
they brought.’
She put her hand through the crook of his arm.
‘Look,’ she said. ‘We came to see the bluebells, and we have never
noticed them till now. Did I not say they would be a carpet spread under the
trees. Shall we pick some? I should like to leave a bunch at the hospital on
my way home.’
Very soon her hands were full of them, and she tied her handkerchief
round their juicy stems.
‘We must go’ she said. ‘But there will be bluebells in my heart all my
life.’
They walked together up the slope on to the down, and along the ridge.
As they got near to the end of it, where it plunged down again towards
Bracebridge, their pace grew slower, and at last they stopped altogether.
‘It is good-bye’ she said, and quite simply like a child she raised her face
to his.
He went on alone after that, and she sat down on the turf to wait, as she
had done before, with her bunch of bluebells beside her. She kept her eyes
on his receding figure, and just before it passed downwards out of sight he
turned, as she knew he would do. A moment afterwards he had disappeared.
Late that night he was sitting alone in his library. The evening had
passed precisely as it always did when he and his wife and Alice were by
themselves. Lady Keeling had been neither more nor less fatuous than
usual, Alice, the slippers being off her mind, had played a couple of games
of backgammon with him, and had shown herself as futile an adversary as
ever.
Norah had gone: that fact was indelibly imprinted on his mind, but as yet
it aroused no emotion. It had produced no sense of desolation in him: all the
strainings of doubt and desire which had racked him before were dead. The
suspense was over, his love would enjoy no fruition, and he had been all
evening exactly as is the man who has been condemned to be hung, and
now, though he has passed a month of sleeplessness or nightmare, has no
anxiety to torture him, and for that first night after his trial is over, can rest

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Essentials of MIS 12th Edition Laudon Solutions Manual

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