"I see that the air of a dungeon has not done you much harm, either."
"And how did you get in here?"
"Not very easily, I can tell you. They would hardly let me in. They said that the prisoner was confined to his room. I thought of giving the warder a box on the ears, and then perhaps they would have shut me up along with you by way of punishment."
"That would have, indeed, been a heavy chain to bear."
She laughed.
"I understand the allusion. My figure has become a little sturdy, I know. What else has a person to do in a little country town but grow fat?"
"It is a sign of peace of mind," I said.
I offered her my arm-chair, and in this act of politeness she read another allusion.
"It has good strong legs, I hope?" said she, as she sat down in it.
I must candidly admit that her figure had grown pronouncedly rotund, but this by no means injured her beauty. She really looked quite appetizing! I was very glad, too, to see her again.