"I confess," said Berry, "that the idea of having a few chairs about in which you can sit continuously for ten minutes, not so much in comfort as without fear of contracting a bed-sore or necrosis of the coccyx, appeals to me. Compared with most of the 'sitzplatz' in this here villa, an ordinary church pew is almost voluptuous. The beastly things seem designed to promote myalgia." "Yet they do know," said I. "The French, I mean. Look at their beds." "Exactly," replied my brother-in-law. "That's the maddening part of it. Every French bed is an idyll--a poem of repose. The upholsterer puts his soul into its creation. A born genius, he expresses himself in beds. The rest of the junk he turns out..." He broke off and glanced about the room. His eye lighted upon a couch, lozenge-shaped, hog-backed, featuring the Greek-Key pattern in brown upon a brick-red ground and surrounded on three sides by a white balustrade some three inches high. "Just consider that throne. Does it or does it not suggest collusion between a private-school workshop, a bricklayer's labourer, and the Berlin branch of the Y.W.C.A.?" "If," said Daphne, "it was only the chairs, I wouldn't mind. But it's everything. The sideboard, for instance----" "Ah," said her husband, "my favourite piece. The idea of a double cabin-washstand is very beautifully carried out. I'm always expecting Falcon to press something and a couple of basins to appear. Then we can wash directly after the asparagus." "The truth is," said Adèle, "these villas are furnished to be let. And when you've said that, you've said everything." "I agree," said I. "And if we liked Pau enough to come back next autumn, the best thing to do is to have a villa of our own. I'm quite ready to face another three winters here, and, if everyone else is, it 'ld be worth while. As for furniture, we can easily pick out enough from Cholmondely Street and White Ladies." There was a moment's silence. Then-- "I'm on," said Jonah, who had caught three splendid salmon in the last two days. "This place suits me." "And me," said Adèle warmly. My sister turned to her husband. "What d'you think, old chap?" Berry smiled beatifically. A far-away look came into his eyes. "I shall personally superintend," he announced, "the removal and destruction of the geyser." Amid some excitement the matter was then and there decided. The more we thought upon it, the sounder seemed the idea. The place suited us all. To have our things about us would be wholly delightful. Provided we meant for the future to winter abroad, we should save money. Pleasedly we proceeded to lunch. Throughout the meal we discussed what manner of house ours must be, situation, dimensions, aspect. We argued amiably about its garden and curtilage. We determined to insist upon two bathrooms. By the time the cheese was served, we had selected most of the furniture and were bickering good-temperedly about the style of the wall-papers.