"You can hate nothing beautiful," he said with a sort of hollow
assurance.
"I think cows hideous."
"Cuyp's?"
"All cows. You've never had one running after you."
She took up her gloves, which she had laid down on the table beside her,
and began to pull them gently through her fingers. Both Sir Donald and
Robin looked at her hands, which were not only beautiful in shape but
extraordinarily intelligent in their movements. Whatever they did they
did well, without hesitation or bungling. Nobody had ever seen them
tremble.
"Do you consider that anything that can be dangerous for a moment must be
hideous for ever?" asked Sir Donald, after a slight pause.
"I'm sure I don't know. But I truly think cows hideous--I truly do."
"Don't put on your gloves," exclaimed Robin at this moment.
Sir Donald glanced at him and said:
"Thank you."
"Why not?" said Lady Holme.
It was obvious to both men that there was no need to answer her question.
She laid the gloves in her lap, smoothed them with her small fingers, and
kept silence. Silence was characteristic of her. When she was in society
she sometimes sat quite calmly and composedly without uttering a word.
After watching her for a minute or two, Sir Donald said:
"You must know Venice very well and understand it completely."
"Oh, I've been there, of course."
"Recently?"
"Not so very long ago. After my marriage Fritz took me all over Europe.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25