“It was,� he said then.
“You were here to receive her when she came?�
“No, but I arrived very soon after she did.�
“The same day, I suppose, eh? You must have arranged so that you could be together as soon as possible?�
“Oh, we did so arrange by telegraph, but I made a mistake in the schedule of the special that brought her back from her trip with her friends, so I was a little late at the meeting. But it was none the less pleasant, for all that.�
“So you met, really, only a day or two ago? I suppose she found you greatly changed, eh?�
“Not at first. She was too glad to see me for that.�
“Why do you say not at first?�
“Because later, after she had had an opportunity to observe me more closely, she decided that I had changed very much—for the better. Stouter, you know, and ruddier; and healthier. I was never very robust, until since this last trip.â€�
“Until since the poisoning in the mountains of Switzerland, eh?�