"Even the London we know seems delightful," he remarked.
"London, though sometimes impelling to revolt, is always wonderful—it has always the fascination of the unknown."
"And is as supremely problematic as the unknowable of the philosophers."
"But it is solid and real, comes to us through all the five senses. Look at that strange old man with the tiger-lilies. I wonder how he comes by them at this time of year."
"That is one of the wonders of London," said Wyndham. "One sees the flowers of all seasons at every season."
"And sometimes the weather of all seasons at every season. Has Aldgate Pump a history?"
He confessed to ignorance, though he had an idea that he had read much about it in his boyhood, an epoch when he had been fascinated by all the odd monuments of the town. He recalled, however, after a time, that there was a legend connected with it, not unlike that of the wandering Jew.
"Is it actually a pump?" she asked.
"Oh, it's a real pump," he assured her.
"Because I had a suspicion just now; it struck me it might be a sort of old coaching-inn or something of the kind. I've often been deceived like that, have gone off to see strange things, and have found a coaching-inn."