That natural bent of her mind! That Bagehot that ministered to
her natural bent! Fascinated by Banks, fascinated by the Exchange,
fascinated by the Pool of London, where, obedient to the behests
of the counting-houses, floated the wealth that the countinghouses
made, fascinated by these was Rosalie as maidens of her years
commonly are fascinated by palaces, by the Tower and by the Abbey.
Remember, it is not what their eyes see that fascinates these
romantic young misses. A dolt can see the Tower walls and see no
more than crumbling bricks and stone. It is what their minds see
that fascinates the ardent creatures. Well, Rosalie's mind saw
strange romance in countinghouses.
That Bagehot!
And then must be picked up--and were with time picked up--others
of the magic man's enchantments. "Literary Studies," but she passed
over that, the burning subject was not there. "Economic Studies";
it much was there. "International Coinage." She read that! It approached
the subject of a Universal Money and her thought was, "Why, what
a splendid idea to have one coinage that would go everywhere!" And
then, opening a new field, and yet a connected field and a field
profoundly engrossing to her, "The English Constitution." How laws
came; how laws worked; the mysteriousness (her word) within the
Council chambers that produced governance as the mysteriousness
within the countinghouses produced wealth! The mysterious quality
within precedent and necessity and change that reproduced itself
in laws as the mysterious quality within money caused money to
reproduce itself in wealth; the romance of governance.
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