“But I know you always do that. You have such a wide choice and are so clever in selection.”
Miss Van Tuyn slightly frowned.
“There isn’t such a wide choice in London as there is in Paris,” she said rather morosely.
“I dare say not. Paris is much smaller than London, but much cleverer, I think. Where would you find an author like Bourget among the English? Which of them could have written ‘Mensonges’? Which of them could—”
“I know, dear, I know! They haven’t the bite. That is what you mean. They have only the bark.”
“Exactly! And when one sits down to a book—”
“Just so, dear. The dog that can only bark is a very dull dog. I saw a wonderful dog the other day that looked as if it could bite.”
“Indeed! In London?”
“Yes. But I’m sure it wasn’t English.”
“Was it a poodle?”