"
"So did mine!" she nodded. "But you have friends?"
"Yes."
"Many?"
"Three," I answered. "To be particular, one aunt and two uncles."
"Rich folk, ain't they?"
"Well, yes, I suppose they are. And allow me to point out that the
word 'ain't' is becoming obsolete in polite conversation, giving place
to 'are not' or to 'is not' as the case may be. Now, returning to our
grammar--" And forthwith I began to decline for her benefit verbs
regular and irregular, together with their tenses; I parsed and
analysed simple sentences, explaining the just relation of Subject,
Object and Predicate, while she watched me grave-eyed and listened to
my grammatical _dicta_ with an attention that I found highly
gratifying. Thus I dilated upon the beauties of our language, its
wealth of metaphor and adjectival possibilities, its intricacies and
pitfalls, until the sun was high and my throat parched.
"There, Diana," I concluded, "here endeth our first lesson for the
present. I trust you have not found me too discursive?"
"Well," said she, knitting her black brows thoughtfully, "I'm not
sure. It all sounds very--wonderful, but I don't understand a word of
it."
"Great heaven!" I ejaculated. "Why could you not say so before?"
"I didn't like to interrupt you."
"Here I have been talking for a good hour--"
"Two hours," she nodded; "indeed, you're a wonderful talker!"
"But all to no purpose it seems!" said I ruefully.
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