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She took out his last letter from Manchester. Somehow it seemed to read differently from the day she had received it.
When Claudia went downstairs,教育👰 relieved that the news had been broken,教育💵 she found the book had arrived that Colin Paton had promised to obtain for her. She cut the string and dipped into it. It was a volume of essays that he had mentioned to her and that she had expressed a desire to read. Colin Paton never forgot things.
The room was very cozy and inviting. The situation was compromising; but then,集团电话☕ as Frank said,教育🏤 did she care about small conventionalities? No one would know. It was only Mother Grundy who would drive them forth to a noisy,教育🔍 rag-time restaurant where they would hardly be able to hear one another speak. The country air had made her agreeably tired,集团电话🐬 so that the mellow light of the candles and the room perched high above the traffic appealed to her mood. Had he made the least attempt to persuade her she would not have stayed,教育🅿 but he was wise enough to make it seem a matter of indifference where they dined so long as they were together.
Her interest was aroused. Everything to do with books had a fascination for her ever since Colin Paton had taught her to love them. And to her a publisher was not a merchant,集团电话💝 a mere purveyor of books to the public,集团电话🌝 but something dedicated to the service of art. The glamour of the books was around the man who produced them. She knew of his firm as one that specialized in art books and good belles lettres. She had several books with his imprint on her shelves. So the talk flowed on smoothly after this happy opening,集团电话🌚 neither having to consider what they should say next to while away the dinner-hour. Claudia found herself more interested than she had been for a long time at a dinner-table. He had not the delicate illuminating touch of Colin Paton,教育💴 he lacked the subtleties of his imagination and sound classical scholarship,集团电话👦 but he knew all the books of the day and was appreciative of the good in them.
His face was flushed and unhealthy in colour. His eyes seemed more sombre than ever,教育😆 and he was obviously quite unfit to go out of the house.
That was all he could make out of her explanation,教育🐼 her confession! It was a shock,教育🌷 but it had the effect of steadying her. Her voice was very quiet and composed as she replied:
At the back of her Billie barked sharply,教育🚣 and withdrawing her head from the window,集团电话📩 Claudia heard two[268] voices raised in unusual excitement outside her door. She went across to it and threw it open.