16253As she lurched - for she rolled like a a ship at sea, & leered, forher eyes though seemed fell on nothing directly, but with a sidelongas ifglance, expressing a whimsical approach, a method perhaps ofof the worlddeprecating the scorn or anger which might be directed upon her -forshe was not completely mistress of her wits, & yet haddid not mind toThe revisions on these four lines are very difficult to unravel. The phrase 'did not mind to' (in which the word 'to' could be 'if' or almost anything) seems to have been added after the addition of 'a humourless' was inserted on the next line. (And 'a humourless' could be '& humorous'.) And yet the final version seems to require the cancellation of the phrase 'did not mind to' even though it is not actually cancelled. The following is intended as a possible, not an undisputed, set of sequences of revision. The sequence of this passage may have been: 1) mistress of her wits, & yet had enough to laugh at dust & clean, & 2) mistress of her wits, & yet did not mind to dust & clean, & 3) mistress of her wits, & yet [had] a sort of tolerance 4) mistress of her wits, & yet [had] a humourless tolerance for the sanity of other people, [Shillingsburg, P.]had [?]a [?]humourenough to laugh at dust & clean, or laugha sort of tolerancefor the sanity of other people,as she rolled thus, smilingwh lend[?]Seems to be a true marginal note, never integrated into the syntax of the text. [Shillingsburg, P.]indeedMay have been meant to replace 'she rolled thus' [Shillingsburg, P.]even in the empty rooms at something shesangshe raisedthe a her voice in a song, whichRubbing the glass of thelook long looking glass, & leering sideways at her ownswinging figure, she chanted something about which hadbeen gay, & surely perhaps'surely perhaps' is both redundant and contradictory, and an unusual combination for VW. [Shillingsburg, P.] on the stage twenty years before,but now, like a coming from the toothless bonnetedoldcaretaking woman had lost its starch, become & turneddenuded of allthe force of wordsof accent,meaning,as far as words can turn, into rolled out like theso whimsical the voice of witlessness itself & endurance &long agAll humbleness which depressed almost to theverge of non existence without itself.Vertical lines from 'humbleness' to 'existence' and from 'which' to 'without' suggest the cancellation of everything from 'humbleness' through 'itself'. [Shillingsburg, P.] The voice of theindomitable principle of life, & its power to persist; &its sorrow, & its courage, & its sidelong persist assiduity,for rejected & its determination, denied one entrance, toseektry another - & its humour, & its sorrow, so that ifseemedMrs. McNab had been chanting / crooning anto have turnedher old sprightlyelegy which had long living had robbed of allbitterness, so that while she the burden of her tune&dance song into
seemed to be accept, if it was (as shelurched about dusting, wiping) accept [?]&The '&' could be 'or' suggesting that Mrs McNab's choice was either to accept or to accept - ie: no choice at all. [Shillingsburg, P.] acceptnot to fight, but to accept; & if this humble creaturecould accept, if even her old body had its indomitablereason for continuing in its humble way persistinpersistA vertical line runs upward from 'continuing' to the word 'this' and appears to cancel the whole passage - though to do so leaves the previous thought dangling. The large space before 'And if' in the last line suggests a new beginning. [Shillingsburg, P.]And if she in her bonnet thus survived,