"You know the lines?" Mr. Topes smiled delightedly. "This makes me think, you make me think of them. 'F'aime dans les temps Clara d'Ellébeuse....' But, my dear Barbara, what is the matter?"
She had started crying, for no reason whatever.
V: NUNS AT LUNCHEON
"What have I been doing since you saw me last?" Miss Penny repeated my question in her loud, emphatic voice. "Well, when did you see me last?"
"It must have been June," I computed.
"Was that after I'd been proposed to by the Russian General?
"Yes; I remember hearing about the Russian General."
Miss Penny threw back her head and laughed. Her long ear-rings swung and rattled corpses hanging in chains: an agreeably literary simile. And her laughter was like brass, but that had been said before.
"That was an uproarous incident. It's sad you should have heard of it. I love my Russian General story. 'Vos yeux me rendent fou.'" She laughed again.