Jacks; he conversed with
her more naturally, more variously, than with any other lady of his
friends; and Mrs. Jacks, through the unimpeachable correctness of
her exterior, almost allowed it to be suspected that she found a
special satisfaction in listening to him. Eustace was a frequent
guest at the Jacks'; yet there could hardly be much in common
between him and the lady's elderly husband, nor was he on terms of
much intimacy with Arnold. Of course two such excellent persons,
such models of decorum, such examples of the English ideal,
masculine and feminine, would naturally see in each other the most
desirable of acquaintances; it was an instance of social and
personal fitness, which the propriety of our national manners
renders as harmless as it is delightful. They talked of art, of
literature, discovering an entire unanimity in their preferences,
which made for the safely conventional. They chatted of common
acquaintances, agreeing that the people they liked were undoubtedly
the very nicest people in their circle, and avoiding in the suavest
manner any severity regarding those they could not approve. When
Eustace apologised for touching on a professional subject (he had
just been called to the Bar), Mrs. Jacks declared that nothing could
interest her more. If he ventured a jest, she smiled with surpassing
sweetness, and was all but moved to laugh. They, at all events,
spent a most agreeable evening.
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