He soon saw Mrs. Fairfax
and her little girl in front of him. He overtook her, and she showed no
surprise at seeing him.
"I have been thinking," said he, "about what you told me"--this was a
reference to an interview not recorded. "I am annoyed that Mrs. Harrop
should have been impertinent to you."
"You need not be annoyed. The import of a word is not fixed. If
anything annoying is said to me, I always ask myself what it means--not
to me but to the speaker. Besides, as I have told you before, shop
insolence is nothing."
"You may be justified in not resenting it, but Mrs. Harrop cannot be
excused. I am not surprised to find that she can use such language, but
I am astonished that she should use it to you. It shows an utter lack
of perception. Your Epictetus has been studied to some purpose."
"I have quite forgotten him. I do not recollect books, but I never
forget the lessons taught me by my own trade."
"You have had much trouble?"
"I have had my share: probably not in excess. It is difficult for
anybody to know whether his suffering is excessive: there is no means
of measuring it with that of others.
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