“I suppose so. I must tell her. She likes the boy very much.”
“What is it that attracts her to this boy, do you think?”
The question was ordinary enough, but there was a peculiar intonation in Artois’ voice as he asked it, an intonation that awakened surprise in Hermione.
“I don’t know. He is an attractive boy.”
“You think so too?”
“Why, yes. What do you mean, Emile?”
“I was only wondering. The sea breeds a great many boys like Ruffo, you know. But they don’t all get Khali Targa cigarettes given to them, for all that.”
“That’s true. I have never seen Vere pay any particular attention to the fishermen who come to the island. In a way she loves them all because they belong to the sea, she loves them as a décor. But Ruffo is different. I felt it myself.”
“Did you?”
He looked at her, then looked out of the window and pulled his beard slowly.