"When I asked thee once before, Margot, thou didst not mention Eschine at all."
"Let my Damoiselle pardon me. I did not know enough of her then. And she is not one to know in a minute. Some are like an open book, quickly read: and others are like a book in a strange tongue, of which one knows but little, and they have to be spelt out; and some, again, are like a locked book, which you cannot read at all without the key. Dame Eschine, if my Damoiselle pleases, is the book in the strange tongue; but the book is very good, and quite worth the trouble to learn it."
"Where didst thou find such a comparison, Margot? Thou canst not read."
"I? Ha!—no. But I can see others do it."
"And what kind of book am I, Margot?"
"Ha!—my Damoiselle is wide, wide open."
"And the Lady Sybil?" asked I, feeling much amused.
"Usually, open; but she can turn the key if she will."
I was rather surprised. "And Count Guy?"
"Quite as wide open as my Damoiselle."