" It was almost on a level with Bibbs's window and not thirty
feet away; and it was easy for him to imagine the present dynasty of
Vertreeses in grievous outcry when they had found this retreat ruined
by the juxtaposition of the parvenu intruder. Probably the "summer-
house" was pleasant and pretty in summer. It had the look of a place
wherein little girls had played for a generation or so with dolls
and "housekeeping," or where a lovely old lady might come to read
something dull on warm afternoons; but now in the thin light it was
desolate, the color of dust, and hung with haggard vines which had
lost their leaves.
Bibbs looked at it with grave sympathy, probably feeling some kinship
with anything so dismantled; then he turned to a cheval-glass beside
the window and paid himself the dubious tribute of a thorough
inspection. He looked the mirror up and down, slowly, repeatedly,
but came in the end to a long and earnest scrutiny of the face.
Throughout this cryptic seance his manner was profoundly impersonal;
he had the air of an entomologist intent upon classifying a specimen,
but finally he appeared to become pessimistic. He shook his head
solemnly; then gazed again and shook his head again, and continued
to shake it slowly, in complete disapproval.
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