“I should think so,” said Miss Elver rapturously, and nodded.
“Have you ever had a parrot of your own?”
“No.”
“Or a monkey?”
She shook her head.
“Not even a Shetland pony?” asked Mr. Cardan on a note of astonishment.
Miss Elver’s voice trembled as she again had to answer “No.” At the thought of all these enchanting things she had never possessed, the tears came into her eyes.
“In my house,” said Mr. Cardan, conjuring up fairy palaces as easily as Aladdin, “there are hundreds of them. I’ll give you some when you come to stay with me.”
Miss Elver’s face became bright again. “Will you?” she said. “Oh, that would be nice, that would be nice. And do you keep bears?”
“One or two,” said Mr. Cardan modestly.