It all has to come
out; he cannot hold his peace. And then a number of people begin to
see that it was what they had been vaguely admiring and desiring
all the time; and then a few highly intellectual people think that
they can analyse it, and produce the same effects by applying their
analysis. It can't be done so; art must have a life of its own."
"Yes," I said, "I think you are right. Herries is ascetic and
eremitical--a beautiful thing in many ways; but there is no
transmission of life in such art; it is a sterile thing after all,
a seedless flower."
"Let us express the vulgar hope," said Musgrave, "that he may fall
in love; that will bring him to his moorings! And now," he added,
"we will go to the music-room and I will see if I cannot tempt the
shy bird from his roost." And so we did--Musgrave is an excellent
musician. We flung the windows open; he embarked upon a great Bach
"Toccata"; and before many bars were over, our idealist crept
softly into the room, with an air of apologetic forgiveness.
XIV
A MIDSUMMER DAY'S DREAM
I suppose that every one knows by experience how certain days in
one's life have a power of standing out in the memory, even in a
tract of pleasant days, all lit by a particular brightness of joy.
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