"Who taught you to say that? Grandmother?"
"Ye-es."
When the child had left the room the lady beckoned to me.
"What shall we give you?"
I told her that I did not want anything; but could she let me have a book to read?
She lifted my chin with her warm, scented fingers, and asked, with a pleasant smile:
"So you are fond of reading? Yes; what books have you read?"
When she smiled she looked more beautiful than ever. I confusedly told her the names of several books.
"What did you find to like in them?" she asked, laying her hand on the table and moving her fingers slightly.
A strong, sweet smell of some sort of flowers came from her, mixed with the odor of horse-sweat. She looked at me through her long eyelashes, thoughtfully grave. No one had ever looked at me like that before.