Later, he stopped her as she was following
out.
For me to discover England to him, she thought; for
him todiscover the East to me.
He was attending to neither when the two in the
corner rose andcame up to him. There seems to me asort of obligation on one to let
Mr. Dinny, how pleasant after those hosts of Midian! He was down for both, and the
matter had not yet beendecided. At last she said:The whole thing is most irregular.
Protective tenderness almost annulled thewilder, sweeter feeling in her. Well, hes
over here, said Sir Lawrence, gravely.
Desert had in fact returned fromDarfur soon after
the month mentioned.
But that wouldnt be Deserts reason; a
fastidiouscreature, if I remember. Reaching down a volume of Burtons Arabian Nights,
he rang for tea.
Yule, said Sir Lawrence, andthought: Queer-looking
little cuss! The words burst from Michael, but no otherswould follow.
Later, he stopped her as she was following
out.
Michael received his mothers kiss, wrung his
fathers hand, andwent. The thin, dark, smallish man, with a face rather like a
monkeys,grinned.
Under pukka sahibism it couldnt be avoided. But
Dinny was regarding her uncle across her aunts shoulder.
Wilfrid, I heard something about your having turned
Moslem.
Wilfrid had been caught, as it were, in a
snare!
I remember when you said you couldnt see anything
in marriage,Hubert.
Before we fash ourselves, my dear, we must find out
if its true. Dad, by the way, has a great feeling for Nature,likes beasts and birds
and trees.
Im afraidits a first-sight case like yours, Hubert.
Winchesterseems to me so superior and dry.
We cant all have divine sympathy, Michael. At last
he said: Desert was my boys best man. Jeans cheeks the night of their arrival,
whenAunt Em quoted the multiply exceedingly.
Desert had in fact returned fromDarfur soon after
the month mentioned. I know there are things you would die for, Wilfrid, and
thatsenough.
Protective tenderness almost annulled thewilder,
sweeter feeling in her.
Shortly: The Bedouin are saying that your
conversion to Islam wasat the pistols point. In France andsouthern countries, where
theres a peasantry, more, at least onthe surface. There doesnt seem to be much
enthusiasm, murmured Dinny.
The monastic visage of the henchman Stack relaxed
at sight of him. We cant all have divine sympathy, Michael.
The storys true; he doesnt and wont deny it.
CHAPTER XAfter dinner Michael set forth, without saying where he was going.