What we saw was certainly very nice. Edelgard said so at once. There were flowered curtains, and a shelf with books, and a comfortable chair with a cushion near a big window, and at the end two pretty beds placed one above the other as in a ship.
“A thing like this,” said Frau von Eckthum, “does away at once with hotels, waiters, and expense. It costs fourteen pounds for two persons for a whole month, and all your days are spent in the sun.”
She then explained her plan, which was to hire one of these vehicles for the month of August and lead a completely free and bohemian existence during that time, wandering through the English lanes, which she described as flowery, and drawing up for the night in a secluded spot near some little streamlet, to the music of whose gentle rippling, as Edelgard always easily inclined to sentiment suggested, she would probably be lulled to sleep.
“Come too,” said she, smiling up at us as we looked over her shoulder.
“Two hundred and eighty marks is fourteen pounds,” said I, making mental calculations.
“For two people,” said Edelgard, obviously doing the same.
“No hotels,” said our hostess.
“No hotels,” echoed Edelgard.
“Only lovely green fields,” said our hostess.
“And no waiters,” said Edelgard.