“For what purpose?”
“I do not know——. He said it would be pretty—that my sister and her children would form a group under it, and that this would have a pretty effect at a distance.”
“And would it be very agreeable to your sister to produce ‘a very pretty effect’ at a distance?”
“Oh, I don’t think she would care about it.”
“But who are we building the house for?”
“Why, for my sister.”
“Not for strolling idlers, therefore. But the portico in question would have the same inconveniences as the loggias; it would make the apartments opening under the arcades or colonnades dark and gloomy. Since then, in our country we spend more of our time in rooms than under porticos, we should have to pay rather dearly for the pleasure of forming groups for the gratification of passing strangers.”
“Doubtless we should. Besides, in front of the billiard-room we have a conservatory, with steps down to the garden, which may serve for a portico without darkening the room, as it will be glazed.”
“Certainly.”
“Perhaps M. Durosay did not observe this.”