“Will you take another cup of tea?” said Belle.
I took another cup; we were again silent. “It is rather uncomfortable,” said I, at last, “for people to sit together without having anything to say.”
“Were you thinking of your company?” said Belle.
“The present company.”
“The present company! Oh, ah!—I remember that I said one only feels uncomfortable in being silent with a companion, when one happens to be thinking of the companion. Well, I had been thinking of you the last two or three minutes, and had just come to the conclusion, that to prevent us both feeling occasionally uncomfortably towards each other, having nothing to say, it would be as well to have a standing subject, on which to employ our tongues. Belle, I have determined to give you lessons in Armenian.”
“What is Armenian?”
“Did you ever hear of Ararat?”
“Yes, that was the place where the ark rested; I have heard the chaplain in the great house talk of it; besides, I have read of it in the Bible.”
“Well, Armenian is the speech of people of that place, and I should like to teach it you.”