is astounding, and the astounding part of it, my dear young lady, the astounding part of it, is that it is true.”
Anne laughed suddenly. “Ah, Sir Arthur, Sir Arthur!” she cried.
“But you are so young,” he continued, “and coming from a country which is certainly considered to be new, and—er—rich.”
“I know,” she said, “but we are being educated quite nicely. You old nations are educating us. Every year we buy your precious manuscripts, your pictures, your mantelpieces, parts even of your palaces, and there doesn’t seem any way for you to stop us.”
The Englishman was conscious through his rather thick skin that he had been hit, and he looked at the young girl with something of bewilderment at finding her so fair and fragile; but he was a kindly gentleman with the English instinct for fair play, and the girl was very fair and sweet to look upon, so he only shook his head at her with friendly reproach.
“The retort is just,” he said, “but you are a very formidable young person, very formidable indeed, and I see that it is not such as I, but a younger generation that must do battle with you.”
He made a bow and left her.
49
