“And you don’t know how sorry I am that I see so little of Théodore’s six. The boy is in love with country life, and won’t hear of it when I attempt to persuade him to come and live in the Hague.”
“Your daughter in England has only one child, has she not?” asked Madame Verstraeten and Madame van Stralenburg.
Madame van Erlevoort bent down to Madame Verstraeten, and whispered something mysterious in her ear, whilst in reply to Mr. Verstraeten, who nodded to her smilingly, she archly winked her eye.
Thereupon Madame van Erlevoort related how the little van Ryssels had placed their shoes aside the previous evening, when Henk and Jan Verstraeten came in, both smiling, and Henk with a very red face. Mathilde too came back, and many nice things were related about the children. All at once there was a furious ringing at the house-bell. [[80]]
All eyes turned to the door as it opened. Willem, Truitje, and Rika between them dragged a big box into the room, towards Madame van Erlevoort.
“Oh!” exclaimed Frédérique; “that is the box from London!”
Madame van Erlevoort informed Madame van Raat that every year at St. Nicholas, her son-in-law Howard sent her a big box containing something for everybody. Willem, armed with crowbar and pincers, and assisted by Etienne, removed the screws and nails. Every one was on the watch, and the shower of presents commenced.
Eline made a little heap of her presents. Oh, how she was being spoilt, she declared, radiant with smiles. From Martha’s hand she took another packet; slowly she broke the string, cautiously looking about for a seal, or some stray letter or cipher, to give her a clue to the sender. But she found nothing of the kind, the address ran simply—“Mdlle. E. Vere.” It was a gray leather case; she opened it, wondering who could have sent it. Inside the case, resting on the gray velvet, lay a fan of beautifully-carved mother-of-pearl. She took it up, and slowly opened it; she looked at it in admiration.
“Bucchi!” she softly said, as she read the name of the painter at the bottom; “Bucchi!”
The fan was, in fact, painted by the Italian artist, a fantasy of roses and fairies on a groundwork of ivory satin.