“I have never set out upon that task.”
“Again I offend!”
Hadria, dropping the subject, enquired whether the Professor was well acquainted with this part of the country.
He knew it by heart. A charming country; warm, luxuriant, picturesque, the pick of England to his mind. What could beat its woodlands, its hills, its relics of the old world, its barns and churches and smiling villages?
“Then it is not only Tudor mansions that attract you?” Hadria could not resist asking.
Tudor mansions? There was no cottage so humble, provided it were picturesque, that did not charm him.
“Really!” exclaimed Hadria, with a faintly emphasized surprise.
“Have I put my luckless foot into it again?”
“May I not be impressed by magnanimity?”
The Professor’s mouth shut sharply.