“Assez pour m’ faire comprendre,” she came back quickly. “Et vous, m’sieur? Vous l’parlez aussi?”
“Where on earth did you learn the language?” he showed his admiration for her glib prowess. “I read easily enough. It cost me the hardest kind of grubbing, too. But I couldn’t talk it two minutes.”
She grew suddenly statuesque.
“Who taught you?” he persisted.
“Bardek,” she whispered. “You must not tell. You will not tell?”
He crossed his heart.
“It’s a great secret. Mother must not know. Bardek is Bohemian; he speaks all languages.”
“Who is Bardek?”
She lowered her voice.
“Promise you won’t tell.”