I recalled him as when of an evening in front of a good fire, I pulled off his little socks. What a treat.
I would say "one, two." And he, clad in his long nightgown, his hands lost in the sleeves, would wait with glittering eyes, and ready to break into a fit of laughter for the "three."
At last after a thousand delays, a thousand little teasings that excited his impatience and allowed me to snatch five or six kisses, I said "three."
The sock flew away. Then there was a wild joy; he would throw himself back on my arm, waving his bare legs in the air. From his open mouth, in which two rows of shining little pearls could be distinguished, welled forth a burst of ringing laughter.
His mother, who, however, laughed too, would say the next minute, "Come, baby, come, my little angel, you will get cold . . . . But leave off. . . . Will you have done, you little demon?"
She wanted to scold, but she could not be serious at the sight of his fair-haired head, and flushed, smiling, happy face, thrown back on my knee.
She would look at me, and say:
"He is unbearable. Good gracious! what a child."
But I understood that this meant:
"Look how handsome, sturdy and healthy he is, our baby, our little man, our son."