Walter said:
‘Helen does not like fumed oak.’
‘Oh really! I thought every one liked fumed oak now. What does Helen like?’
They always talked of me as though I was not there.
Walter said:
‘She likes old furniture. Old mahogany and . . . and walnut.’
Maud laughed:
‘Oh, of course,’ she said, ‘we should all like old walnut best, I imagine. I am afraid Helen will find that a professor’s salary will hardly allow of furnishing in that style!’
She smiled at me, in what I think she meant to be an encouraging way.
She said: