They liked the house, and liked everything in it; and he thanked old Coney very earnestly for the trouble he had taken. I never saw a man, as I learnt later, so considerate for the feelings of others, or so grateful for any little service rendered to himself.
“It is delightful,” said Miss Lewis, smiling at me. “I shall call it our little château. And those hills in the distance are the beautiful Malvern Hills that my father has so often told me of!”
“How well you speak English!” I said. “Just as we do.”
“Do you suppose I could do otherwise, when my father and my mother were English? It is in truth my native tongue. I think I know England better than France. I have always heard so much of it.”
“But you speak French as a native?”
“Oh, of course. German also.”
“Ah, I see you are an accomplished young lady, Miss Lewis.”
“I am just the opposite,” she said, with a laugh. “I never learnt accomplishments. I do not play; I do not sing; I do not draw; I do not—but yes, I do dance: every one dances in France. Ours was not a rich home, and my dear mother brought me up to be useful in it. I can make my own dresses; I can cook you an omelette, or——”
“Anne, this is Mr. Todhetley,” interrupted her father.
The Squire had come in through the open glass doors, round which the jessamine was blooming. When they had talked a bit, he took me up to Dr. Lewis.