15/31 How do you, as a poet, account for that, Mr.Denham ?" "I'm not a poet," said Ralph good-humoredly. "I'm only a solicitor." "But you write, too ?" Mrs.Cosham demanded, afraid lest she should be balked of her priceless discovery, a young man truly devoted to literature. "That is a proof of devotion, indeed." She half closed her eyes, and indulged herself in a fascinating picture of a briefless barrister lodged in a garret, writing immortal novels by the light of a farthing dip. But the romance which fell upon the figures of great writers and illumined their pages was no false radiance in her case. She carried her pocket Shakespeare about with her, and met life fortified by the words of the poets. |