“I want you to take me at once to a china shop.”
“To a what?” I cried.
“To a shop where they sell dishes,—dinner sets and that sort of thing. You know what I mean,—a crockery store.”
I did, but I was so astonished by the request coming right on the heels of the message from her father, and taken in conjunction with his previous order, that I am afraid I stood looking very much like a fool, whereupon she laughed heartily, and I joined her. I saw she was quite a merry young lady, with a keen sense of the humour of things.
“Haven’t they any crockery stores in this town?” she asked.
“Oh, there are plenty of them,” I replied.
“Why, you look as if you had never heard of such a thing before. Take me, then, to whichever is the best. I want to buy a dinner set and a tea set the very first thing.”
I bowed, and, somewhat to my embarrassment, she took my arm, tripping along by my side as if she were a little girl of ten, overjoyed at her outing, to which feeling she gave immediate expression.
“Isn’t this jolly?” she cried.