"
"She spoke to me," Pickering answered, after a pause, "as I had never
been spoken to before, and she offered me, formally, all the offices of a
woman's friendship."
"Which you as formally accepted?"
"To you the scene sounds absurd, I suppose, but allow me to say I don't
care!" Pickering spoke with an air of genial defiance which was the most
inoffensive thing in the world. "I was very much moved; I was, in fact,
very much excited. I tried to say something, but I couldn't; I had had
plenty to say before, but now I stammered and bungled, and at last I
bolted out of the room."
"Meanwhile she had dropped her tragedy into your pocket!"
"Not at all. I had seen it on the table before she came in. Afterwards
she kindly offered to read German aloud with me, for the accent, two or
three times a week. 'What shall we begin with?' she asked. 'With this!'
I said, and held up the book. And she let me take it to look it over."
I was neither a cynic nor a satirist, but even if I had been, I might
have been disarmed by Pickering's assurance, before we parted, that
Madame Blumenthal wished to know me and expected him to introduce me.
Among the foolish things which, according to his own account, he had
uttered, were some generous words in my praise, to which she had civilly
replied.
Pages:
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51