The House of the Seven Gables

"It is natural enough, Mr. Holgrave, that you should have ideas like

these," rejoined Hepzibah, drawing up her gaunt figure with slightly

offended dignity. "You are a man, a young man, and brought up, I

suppose, as almost everybody is nowadays, with a view to seeking your

fortune. But I was born a lady, and have always lived one; no matter

in what narrowness of means, always a lady."

"But I was not born a gentleman; neither have I lived like one," said

Holgrave, slightly smiling; "so, my dear madam, you will hardly expect

me to sympathize with sensibilities of this kind; though, unless I

deceive myself, I have some imperfect comprehension of them. These

names of gentleman and lady had a meaning, in the past history of the

world, and conferred privileges, desirable or otherwise, on those

entitled to bear them. In the present--and still more in the future

condition of society-they imply, not privilege, but restriction!"

"These are new notions," said the old gentlewoman, shaking her head.

"I shall never understand them; neither do I wish it."

"We will cease to speak of them, then," replied the artist, with a

friendlier smile than his last one, "and I will leave you to feel

whether it is not better to be a true woman than a lady. Do you really

think, Miss Hepzibah, that any lady of your family has ever done a more

heroic thing, since this house was built, than you are performing in it

to-day? Never; and if the Pyncheons had always acted so nobly, I doubt

whether an old wizard Maule's anathema, of which you told me once,

would have had much weight with Providence against them."

"Ah!--no, no!" said Hepzibah, not displeased at this allusion to the

sombre dignity of an inherited curse. "If old Maule's ghost, or a

descendant of his, could see me behind the counter to-day, he would

call it the fulfillment of his worst wishes. But I thank you for your

kindness, Mr. Holgrave, and will do my utmost to be a good shop-keeper."

"Pray do" said Holgrave, "and let me have the pleasure of being your

first customer. I am about taking a walk to the seashore, before going

to my rooms, where I misuse Heaven's blessed sunshine by tracing out

human features through its agency. A few of those biscuits, dipt in

sea-water, will be just what I need for breakfast. What is the price

of half a dozen?"

"Let me be a lady a moment longer," replied Hepzibah, with a manner of

antique stateliness to which a melancholy smile lent a kind of grace.

She put the biscuits into his hand, but rejected the compensation. "A

Pyncheon must not, at all events under her forefathers' roof, receive

money for a morsel of bread from her only friend!"