78 TO THE LIGHTHOUSEthem? It was his incurable laziness, she added,moving on. If she stood over him all day long witha spade in her hand, he did sometimes do a stroke ofwork. So they strolled along, towards the red-hotpokers. ‘You’re teaching your daughters to exag-gerate,' said Mr Ramsay, reproving her. Her AuntCamilla was far worse than she was, Mrs Ramsayremarked. ‘Nobody ever held up your Aunt Camillaas a model of virtue that I’m aware of,’ said MrRamsay. ‘She was the most beautiful woman Iever saw,’ said Mrs Ramsay. ‘Somebody else wasthat,’ said Mr Ramsay. Prue was going to be farmore beautiful than she was, said Mrs Ramsay. Hesaw no trace of it, said Mr Ramsay. ‘Well, then,look to-night,’ said Mrs Ramsay. They paused.He wished Andrew could be induced to work harder.He would lose every chance of a scholarship if hedidn’t. ‘Oh scholarships!’ she said. Mr Ramsaythought her foolish for saying that, about a seriousthing, like a scholarship. He should be very proudof Andrew if he got a scholarship, he said. Shewould be just as proud of him if he didn’t, she an-swered. They disagreed always about this, but itdid not matter. She liked him to believe in scholar-ships, and he liked her to be proud of Andrew what-ever he did. Suddenly she remembered those littlepaths on the edge of the cliffs.

Wasn’t it late? she asked. They hadn’t comehome yet. He flicked his watch carelessly open. Butit was only just past seven. He held his watch openfor a moment, deciding that he would tell her whathe had felt on the terrace. To begin with, it was notreasonable to be so nervous. Andrew could look

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