"I remember, though, I thought you were enjoying it."
"Oh, I was."
"I can always find out whether people really enjoy things. How many times did you go to see the gladiator? Let me see,—you were in Rome three months?"
"Nearer four."
"Four! Well, and how many times did you see the gladiator?"
"I don't quite know. Half a dozen times, I think. I went until I had got it by heart; and now I can look at it whenever I like."
"Humph!" said Mr. Thayer. "The only thing Christina wanted to see a second time was the mosaics; and those she did not get by heart exactly, but brought them away, a good many of them, bodily. And have you developed any taste for architecture during your travels?"
"I take great pleasure in some architecture," said Dolly.
"May I ask what instances? I am curious to see how our tastes harmonise."
"Ah, but I know nothing about it," said Dolly. "I am entirely—or almost entirely—ignorant; and you know and understand."