"Thank you, Francesca, for these confidences. And having lost your position you are now free to roam the hills and dream on orchard walls. Your scheme of life is to my liking. I can see with half an eye that you were born for the open, and that the walls of no prison-house can ever hold you again."
She nodded a dreamy acquiescence. Then she turned two very brown eyes full upon me and demanded:—
"What is your name, please?"
I mentioned it.
"And you doctor chimneys? That sounds very amusing."
"I 'm glad you like it. Most people think it absurd."
"What are you doing here? There's not a chimney in sight."
"Oh, I have a commission in the neighborhood. Hopefield Manor; you may have heard of Miss Hollister's place."
"Of course; every one knows of her."
"And now that I think of it, it was she about whom you asked in the Asolando that afternoon. You wanted to know what she said about the tea-room."