She had not looked at it, so as to see it,for many
years. Then twoladies came; and he held out his violets, and he said once moreNice
vilets, fresh vilets.
Sheleft the door ajar and a dog pushed in after
her. Youre only a week behind the times, Nell, said Martin.
She has a great deal of hair; and its red. She
could see a pair of legs against the railing. He had made a little circle to look at
thehouse in Browne Street.
I will tie a knot in my handkerchief; I will go
directly afterbreakfast tomorrow morning. All the same, the party from China tooka
fancy to it.
She still used the nice old silver tea-caddy, he
noticed, with thesliding lid.
The other lady stopped, put herhand on the post,
and said, Here I leave you. I wonder, she added, who writes that sort of thing? Let
him ring thehouse down, for all she cared. Perhaps he was justifying himself for
having left the Army. He wantedto say, Didnt she have an affair with somebody? The
dog snuffed atthe dish she had just put down.
Why did I come, shethought, when they only laugh at
me?
Well, thats done, said Maggie, pushing away her
plate.
French she could read easily ofcourse; and Italian;
and a little German.
Maggie stopped the machine for a moment and smiled.
She could see the great Italianchair with the gilt claws that stood in the hall. She
addeda purple flower to the bunch and looked at it. A feeling of something
extinguished came over himas he went down the street.
He picked up one of thecrinkled strips and began
reading it: . I livedhere with a friend, she sighed, and taught little thieves. One
of them slapped down two copperson his tray; and he looked up.