"Wouldn't care if I did. I'd like to smash something."
"You shan't smash Confucius there, young lady. I'll not let you." Fanshaw put the big blue Chinese teapot in a place of safety on the mantelpiece.
Nan got to her feet and wiped her eyes with her handkerchief.
"O, dear!... But I must give you children some fresh tea to make up for all you've suffered."
She ran out to the kitchenette to put fresh tea in the pot. From there she called: "Wenny, bring the debris, I'll leave it for the maid to clean up." The glasses in a row along a shelf whined with the vibration of her voice. She felt all at once curiously constrained. Absurd. She'd known Wenny when he was in knickerbockers. Why should it embarrass her to be alone with him in the kitchenette? The tea sizzled faintly, and the steam came up scalding in her face as she poured the boiling water into the pot. She did not turn around she was flushing so, when he heard Wenny's step and the rattle of china behind her.
"After the battle mother," sang Wenny as he put the tea things down beside the sink.
"Here, you cut this lemon and bring it in, Wenny, if you don't mind," she said and fled with the pot and a couple of clean cups into the other room. Fanshaw's voice was always so soothing when one was excited.
"There's still a bit of the afterglow," said Fanshaw from near the window. "It's wonderful how long it lingers these fall evenings."
Wenny had come back with the lemon and dropped a piece into each of the three cups. Then he sniffed at his hands.
"That's a splendid lemon. It's wonderful how good it makes your fingers smell."