Eleanor was silent, watching Julia's uncompromising business-like air as she turned over her bunch of ferns. The little one was full of her own affairs; her long locks of hair waving with every turn of her busy head. Suddenly she looked up.
"What is your question, Eleanor?"
"You must not ask it as if from me."
"How then?"
"Just ask it—as if you wanted to know yourself; without saying anything."
"As if I wanted to know what?"
Eleanor hesitated, and Mrs. Powle came into the room.
"What, Eleanor—what?" Julia repeated.
"Nothing. Study your ferns."
"I have studied them. This is the rachis—and down here below this, is the rhizoma; and the little seed places that come on the back of the frond, are thecae. I forget what Mr. Rhys called the seeds now. I'll ask him."