Ramsay. He did not look at the flowers, which his wife was considering, but at a spot about a foot or so above them. There was no harm in him, he added, and was just about to say that anyhow he was the only young man in England who admired his -- when he choked it back. He would not bother her again about his books. These flowers seemed creditable, Mr. Ramsay said, lowering his gaze and noticing something red, something brown.

Yes, but then these she had put in with her own hands, said Mrs. Ramsay. The question was, what happened if she sent bulbs down; did Kennedy plant them? It was his incurable laziness;

she added, moving on. If she stood over him all day long with a spade in her hand, he did sometimes do a stroke of work. So they strolled along, towards the red-​hot pokers. “ You're teaching your daughters to exaggerate, ” said Mr. Ramsay, reproving her.

Her Aunt Camilla was far worse than she was, Mrs.

Ramsay remarked. “ Nobody ever held up your Aunt Camilla as a model of virtue that I'm aware of, ”

said Mr. Ramsay. “ She was the most beautiful woman I ever saw, “said Mrs. Ramsay.” Somebody else was that, ” said Mr. Ramsay. Prue was going  

to be far more beautiful than she was, said Mrs.

Ramsay. He saw no trace of it, said Mr. Ramsay.

“Well, then, look tonight,” said Mrs. Ramsay. They paused. He wished Andrew could be induced to work harder. He would lose every chance of a scholarship if he didn't. “Oh, scholarships!” she said.

Mr. Ramsay thought her foolish for saying that, about a serious thing, like a scholarship. He should be very proud of Andrew if he got a scholarship, he said. She would be just as proud of him if he didn't she answered. They disagreed always about this but it did not matter. She liked him to believe in scholarships, and he liked her to be proud of Andrew whatever he did.