 been altered.  Inside, the clock struck ten with a rich and confident note.  Other clocks confirmed it, and the discussion moved towards its close.
    To follow it is unnecessary.  It is rather a moment when the commentator should step forward.  Ought the Wilcoxes to have offered their home to Margaret?  I think not.  The appeal was too flimsy.  It was not legal; it had been written in illness, and under the spell of a sudden friendship; it was contrary to the dead woman's intentions in the past, contrary to her very nature, so far as that nature was understood by them.  To them Howards End was a house: they could not know that to her it had been a spirit, for which she sought a spiritual heir.  And--pushing one step farther in these mists--may they not have decided even better than they supposed?  Is it credible that the possessions of the spirit can be bequeathed at all?  Has the soul offspring?  A wych-elm tree, a vine, a wisp of hay with dew on it--can passion for such things be transmitted where there is no bond of blood?  No; the Wilcoxes are not to be blamed.  The problem is too terrific, and they could not even perceive a problem.  No; it is natural and fitting that after due debate they should tear the note up and throw it on to their dining-room fire.  The practical moralist may acquit them absolutely.  He who strives to look deeper may acquit them--almost.  For one hard fact remains.  They did neglect a personal appeal.  The woman who had died did say to them, "Do this," and they answered, "We will not."
    The incident made a most painful impression on them.  Grief mounted into the brain and worked there disquietingly.  Yesterday they had lamented: "She was a dear mother, a true wife: in our absence she neglected her health and died." Today they thought: "She was not as true, as dear, as we supposed."  The desire for a more inward light had found expression at last, the unseen had impacted on the seen, and all that they could say was "Treachery." Mrs. Wilcox had been treacherous to the family, to the laws of property, to her own written word.  How did she expect Howards End to be conveyed to Miss Schlegel?  Was her husband, to whom it legally belonged, to make it over to her as a free gift?  Was the said Miss Schlegel to have a life
