Thetimeshetooktomeetmylastremarkisnaturallynotrepresentedbythisprolongedglanceofmineattheamountofsuggestionthatjustthenhappenedtoreachmefromtheotherquarter。ItatalleventsdulycameoutbetweenusthatMrs。ServerwasthepersonIdidhaveonmymind；
andIrememberthatithadseemedtomeattheendofaminutetomattercomparativelylittlebywhichofus，afterall，shewasfirstdesignated。
Thereisperhapsanoddity——whichImustsetdowntomyemotionofthemoment——inmynotnowbeingabletosay。IshouldhavebeenhugelystartledifthesightofGilbertLonghadappearedtomakemycompanionsuddenlythinkofher；andreminiscenceofthatshockisnotoneofthoseIhavefoundmyselfstoringup。Whatdoesabidewithmeisthememoryofhow，afteralittle，myapprehensions，ofvariouskinds，dropped——mostofallunderthedeepeningconvictionthatLadyJohnwasnotawhitlessagreeablysuperficialthanIcouldevenattheworsthavedesired。Thepointestablishedformewasthat，whereasshepassedwithherselfandsomanyothersastakingineverything，shehadtakeninnothingwhateverthatitwastomypurposesheshouldnottake。Vast，truly，wastheworldofobservation，thatwecouldbothgleaninitsoactivelywithoutcrossingeachother’ssteps。Therewestoodclosetogether，yet——savefortheaccidentofafinaldash，asIshallnote——wereatoppositeendsofthefield。
It’samatterastowhichthetruthsoundspriggish，butIcan’thelpitif——yes，positively——itaffectedmeashopelesslyvulgartohavemadeanyinductionatallaboutourcompanionsBUTthoseIhaverecorded，insuchdetail，onbehalfofmyownenergy。Itwasbetterverilynottohavetouchedthem——whichwasthecaseofeveryoneelse——thantohavetakenthemup，withknowinggestures，onlytodosolittlewiththem。ThatIfelttheinterestofMayServer，thatMayServerfelttheinterestofpoorBriss，andthatmyfeelingincongruouslypresenteditselfasputtingup，philosophically，withtheinconvenienceofthelady’s——thesewere，infine，circumstancestowhichsheclearlyattachedideastoocommonplaceformetojudgeitusefultogatherthemin。Shereadallthings，LadyJohn，heavenknows，inthelightoftheuniversalpossibilityofa\"relation\"；butmostoftherelationsthatshehaduphersleevecouldthrustthemselvesintomytheoryonlytofindthemselves，thenextminute，eliminated。Theywereofaliensubstance——insolubleinthewhole。GilbertLonghadforhernoconnection，inmydeepersense，withMrs。Server，norMrs。ServerwithGilbertLong，northehusbandwiththewife，northewifewiththehusband，norIwitheithermemberofeitherpair，noranyonewithanything，noranythingwithanyone。ShewasthusexactlywhereIwantedhertobe，for，frankly，Ibecameconscious，atthisclimaxofmyconclusion，thatIalittlewantedhertobewhereshebaddistinctlyendedbybetrayingtomethatherproperinspirationhadplacedher。IfIhavejustsaidthatmyapprehensions，ofvariouskinds，hadfinallyandcompletelysubsided，amoreexactstatementwouldperhapshavebeenthatfromthemomentoureyesmetovertheshowofourcoupleonthesofa，thequestionofanyothercalculablethingthanTHAThintofarelationhadsimplyknownitselfsuperseded。
Reducedtoitsplainestterms，thissketchofanimprovedacquaintancebetweenourcomradeswasdesignedtomakeLadyJohnthink。Itwasdesignedtomakemedonoless，butwethought，inevitably，ondifferentlines。