“Don’t be cantankerous, and don’t be subtle, because I’ve been bathing.”
“I notice that.”
“And I feel so calm and delicious. Tea, please, Giulia.”
The plump, dark woman who had opened the door smiled and retreated.
“So calm and so delicious, Monsieur Emile, and as if I were made of friendliness from top to toe.”
“The all-the-world feeling. I know.”
He sat down, rather heavily.
“You are tired. When did you come?”
“I arrived this morning. It was hot travelling, and I shared my compartment in the wagon-lit with a German gentleman very far advanced in several unaesthetic ailments. Basta! Thank Heaven for this. Calm and delicious!”
His large, piercing eyes were fixed upon Vere.