Humorous stories; Love stories; Pau (France) -- Fiction
"Satisfactorily," said Berry, restoring his napkin to his knees, "to
consume oxtail, one should be stripped to the waist."
"That'll do," said Daphne.
"As a rule," said her husband, "it will. Of course, for a really
careless feeder, still further divestment may be desirable. Afterwards
he can be hosed. And now about Spain. Of course, without Piers to
talk for us, we shall be mocked, misled, and generally stung to glory.
But there you are. If you're landed with half a kingdom, I guess it's
up to you to take possession."
"As at present arranged," said Jonah, "we start the day after
to-morrow, spend one night at Pampeluna, two at San Sebastian, and get
back on Saturday."
"One clear day," murmured Daphne. "I suppose that'll give us time."
"What's there to do," said Adèle, "besides packing?"
"Not much," said Jonah. "The passports have been visa-ed, and that's
the main thing. We must get some money at the bank--Spanish money, I
mean--book rooms, run over the cars... I can't think of anything else."
"We'd better take some insecticide," said Berry. "Spain's very
conservative."
"Nonsense," said Daphne.
"All right," said her husband. "Only, on the command 'Ter-rot,' don't
wake me to inspect the bodyguard. Have we any castanets? And what
about some sombreros? I mean, I want to do the thing properly."
"Thanks," said his wife. "But if you're going in fancy dress, I'd
rather remain at Pau. I haven't forgotten our second Sunday here."
"I shall always maintain," was the reply, "that I was suitably dressed.
On the previous Sunday I had carefully studied the fashions upon the
Boulevard, and I flatter myself that, had I been permitted to appear in
public, my attire would have found immediate favour."
"If," said I, "I remember aright, it consisted of a white bowler, a
morning-coat, golf-breeches, blue silk stockings and cloth-topped
boots."
"That's right," said Berry. "And an alpenstock. I ought really to
have had my cuffs trimmed with skunk," he added wistfully, "but I
thought of it too late."
"I tell you what," said Adèle. "We must take some films."
"That's right," said Jill. "I promised Piers we'd send him some
snapshots."
Jonah groaned.
"Surely," he said, "our passport photographs are bad enough."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account