"'I asked if we might smoke, and she said we might do whatever we liked.'
"Whereupon I lighted my cigar.
"'Did not she say anything more?'
"'If you had counted her words you would have noticed that she used exactly six, two of which gave me to understand that she knew no French, so four remained, and a lot cannot be said in four words.'
"Paul seemed quite unhappy, disappointed, and at sea.
"But suddenly the Italian asked me, in that tone of discontent which seemed habitual to her, 'Do you know at what time we shall get to Genoa?'
"'At eleven o'clock,' I replied. Then after a moment I went on:
"'My friend and I are also going to Genoa, and if we can be of any service to you, we shall be very happy. As she did not answer, I insisted: 'You are alone and if we can be of service...' But she interrupted with such a 'mica,' that I did not venture on another word.
"'What did she say?' Paul asked.
"'She said that she thought you were charming.'