A rustle from the large audience greeted it .sx Jack gazed and said to himself :sx " I know her .sx I shall be with her to-morrow .sx " It was , perhaps , very absurd , but he felt an extraordinary enticement for him in this quiet , unsmiling woman .sx She enticed him by her apparent simplicity , which made her stand out from the vast mass of artificial women who , in the modern world , may be seen posing in every public place , and in many private drawing-rooms , whose photographs , assuming the maternal , the mystic , the ardently vague or the tenderly innocent expression , may be seen in every picture paper .sx He loved her for what she was not .sx Perhaps - would he ever love her for what she was ?sx As he followed again the story of the film he wondered whether he would ever know what she really was .sx " What a darling !sx " .sx That was the exclamation in his mind , renewed again as she gave herself to him on the screen .sx There , she was the woman a man wanted to take in his arms , to confide in , to protect , to be tender to , and to be manly to .sx Jack thought how intensely repellent , hard , impudent , or even merely saucy women were as he compared them with this delicious type of soft , earnest , deep,still woman .sx She could never be a " pal .sx " No ; but how many other things she could be to a man !sx A pal - chumming up with a topping girl - a thundering good sort - a regular ripper up to every move on the board .sx Such expressions , so common in modern England , floated through Jack's mind .sx And he knew that he could only love the woman who was absolutely different from man , different not merely in body , but in mind , soul , desires and ways .sx The regular ripper might rip - for him !sx He wanted the mistress rather than the comrade .sx The comrade he could find in a man .sx The minx he could find everywhere .sx The topping girl swarmed on every golf-course and tennis lawn .sx The painted puppet stared meretriciously in every theatre , dance-club and restaurant .sx This was the woman who could be a man's mistress and mate , this film-woman .sx But she had said to him , off the screen :sx " I only do those things in films .sx " Now what had she meant exactly by that ?sx He determined he would ask her on the morrow .sx An airman surely would ask her .sx Boldness in man was doubtless as attractive as it was the opposite in woman .sx The sexes of mentality , of nature in woman and man , ought to be as different one from the other as the sexes of body .sx But a painted and powdered audacity was hybrid .sx Away with it !sx Jack was certainly becoming very intense , almost violent , under the film influence .sx Next day , after fortifying himself with a round of golf , in which he satisfied the professional's requirements , and even pleased himself , Jack set out to pay his visit to the Maison Blanche .sx The day was very still and very hot .sx The forest seemed sleeping under a smooth grey sky .sx In the morning the sky had been blue , but soon after midday clouds had come up and muffled the blue , and their greyness made the peace of the forest seem more profound , more mysterious .sx Jack , however , did not feel at peace as he walked up the empty road .sx He was excited .sx He even felt slightly nervous .sx Kit's treatment of him had , of course , at the time wounded his heart .sx But it had done more than that .sx It had injured his opinion of himself , it had lowered his self-esteem .sx Her abrupt preference for another man had made Jack very doubtful about his power to attract , or even to please , any woman .sx Ever since he had been jilted he had been secretly humble .sx He knew - none better - that the humble man had little chance with most women .sx The meek may inherit the earth , but the male meek are usually disinherited in matters of love .sx Jack hated , simply hated , the humble feeling which a woman's caprice had brought to birth in him , but he had never been able to get rid of it since his broken engagement .sx He was aware of it now as he walked up the road towards the Maison Blanche .sx Presently he stood still and listened .sx The hidden fountain was playing .sx He could hear it faintly , and now he connected it very definitely with Antoinette Durier .sx It had a lonely voice , like the voice of something holding itself apart , withdrawn , remote from the rough and tumble of life .sx In her personality there was something remote .sx When Krahmer had laid his big hand on her arm Jack had felt that she must surely be hating the heavy , intimate touch .sx So would the fountain hate an inrush of muddy water , dimming its silvery spray , clouding its elegant murmur .sx Not that Krahmer was vulgar or unpleasant !sx But some women , like some things , ought not to be handled except with a certain reverence , the delicacy which respect always prompts .sx Delicacy !sx Respect !sx Where was the airman ?sx Where were Jack's resolutions ?sx Those questions came , and he was suddenly conscious of a sense of confusion .sx He rang at the gate , was admitted by a man with whiskers , wearing a striped waistcoat , walked up to the house , skirting a smooth-shaven lawn bright with flower beds , and rang another bell at the door of the Maison Blanche .sx Silence - complete - profound .sx He waited , motionless .sx No one came .sx Presently , after a long wait , he rang again .sx Then he heard a shuffle of steps , and the door was opened by an elderly Frenchwoman in a white cap .sx Jack inquired if Mademoiselle Durier were at home .sx As he was doing this a brindled bull-dog , with large , bulging eyes , a broad , inquisitive nose , and a short tail with a determined crook in it , joined them and asked questions in the usual dog's way about Jack's ankles .sx The elderly servant gravely asked Jack what his name was .sx He told her and gave her his card .sx She looked at it and said that Mademoiselle Durier was in .sx Would Jack follow her ?sx The bull-dog , who wore a strange collar which looked rather like an Elizabethan ruff , preceded them across a formal little hall into a salon with French windows opening on to the garden .sx He walked slowly with bowed legs , and his tongue protruding from the left hand corner of his capacious mouth .sx The elderly servant left him and Jack together , and went out , shutting the door behind her .sx The bull-dog stood for a moment , looked round at Jack with his enormous , self-possessed eyes , yawned , stepped over the window-sill and disappeared in the garden .sx Immediately afterwards Jack heard the sound of a piano close at hand .sx He believed it to be in the house , butsomewhere upstairs .sx Someone began playing a valse of Chopin's .sx She - or he - played a section of it in a very delicate and brilliant , but almost mincing way , then stopped .sx There was a short pause .sx Then the piano was struck again , but as if by different hands , and the section of the same valse was played again in a totally different way , powerfully , fiercely almost , with a sort of defiant authority .sx Silence followed .sx The rest of the valse was not played .sx Jack wondered if Krahmer were in the house .sx If so , he would no doubt be down in a moment with Mademoiselle Durier .sx But when , perhaps five minutes later , the door of the salon opened , it was to let in Mademoiselle Durier alone .sx VIII .sx SHE smiled as she came up and greeted him .sx " I scarcely thought you would come so soon , " she said , in her low , quiet voice .sx " But why ?sx " he asked , holding her warm , soft hand , which she left in his without any coquetry , even negligently he fancied , as if she had forgotten that it was there .sx " I thought Englishmen always played games in the afternoon .sx " " Do you know many Englishmen ?sx " .sx " No ; very few , and none well .sx Of course I have seen hundreds during the war .sx But to know people one must see them alone and often , and quietly .sx " " In a place like this , for instance .sx " " Yes .sx " She sat down on a small sofa near the window .sx Her head was uncovered .sx The shape of it was beautiful , and her bright and dark hair , curiously mingled , did not hide that beauty but emphasized it , and was drawn away to show her small white ears .sx She was dressed in a very pale lilac-coloured gown , with tiny white lines in it , and looked even simpler than she had in Madame's salon .sx Jack thought that she was the most unselfconscious woman that he had ever met .sx Yet he realized that she was watchful .sx Certainly she observed closely .sx As she said nothing after sitting down he took up the light burthen of talk , and , standing by the window , told her that he had been again to the picture-house to see her once more on the screen .sx " Do you care for moving pictures ?sx " she asked .sx He told her frankly that , till recently , he had cared very little about them , had thought of them as cheap entertainment for the people , tremendously talked about and " boosted , " but second rate as a pleasure , indeed , to put it plainly , vulgar and almost coarsely sensational .sx " Yes , " she said .sx " But why - till recently ?sx " Jack sat down opposite her .sx " I want to tell you something .sx " " Yes ?sx Do .sx " He told her of the discussion which had taken place in the Club between him , Torrington , Mervyn Smith and Langton , and how Torrington had spoken of La Rose and of another film , the name of which he had forgotten , and had praised them both for their delicacy , sincerity and truth to life .sx " La Rose - I know it .sx It is charming , and Signoret is quite perfect in it .sx And what was the other about ?sx " " I don't know .sx But you were in it .sx " " Did Monsieur - your friend - say so ?sx " " No .sx " " Then how do you know ?sx " " Because he described you , and your performance .sx And there can be no other actress on the screen like you .sx " " No , " she said very simply , " I don't think there is .sx " " And now not only have I seen you , " said .sx Jack , " but I know you .sx When I think of that .sx night in the Club it seems awfully odd .sx " " Know me !sx Well , you have met me .sx " " Of course - that's what I mean .sx " He summoned the airman .sx " After what Torrington said I dreamed about you a lot - open-eyed dreams , " he said .sx " I thought you must be utterly different from the general run of women .sx Fact is , during the war I lost my belief in women .sx " " But what is that ?sx " " How d'you mean ?sx " " What is - belief in women ?sx " .sx Her eyes were fixed upon him , but earnestly , not satirically .sx " Well , you know what believing in anyone means .sx It means trusting in their sincerity , intheir straightness , taking a promise from them as meant , relying on their word , admiring their character - and so on .sx " " But did you ever believe in women like that ?sx " Jack felt that he reddened .sx " I suppose I did , in a way , " he said , feeling suddenly very young .sx " I could never believe in a sex like that , " she said .sx " No , not in everyone .sx I only mean in a general way .sx " He was floundering badly , and knew it .sx She said nothing to help him out .sx " It's like this .sx Lots of men - when we're young , you know - make a sort of ideal of women .sx It's very foolish , of course .sx But still we - they do .sx They idealize women .sx " " I don't think women ever do a similar thing .sx I don't think they ever idealize men as a sex .sx " " That's because you're cleverer than we are , then !sx " said Jack , not without a touch of bitterness .sx " No ; I don't think we are , except in small ways .sx Would you like to see the garden ?sx " Although the question was abrupt she asked it so gently and naturally that it did not sound abrupt .sx She did not get up .sx Evidently she wanted to know really whether he did wish to see the garden or not .sx And it struck him that .sx