“It’s no use asking me,” she said to Mauregard, “whether I’ve been to Monte Carlo or Madagascar or Madame Tussaud’s, for I haven’t. I haven’t been anywhere. I’ve somehow existed at the back of Nowhere, and to-night I’ve come to life.” “But where did you come from? The sea foam? Venus Anadyomene?” “No, I’m of the other kind. I come from far inland. I believe they call it Shropshire. That oughtn’t to convey anything to you.” “Indeed it does!” cried Mauregard. “Was I not at school at Shrewsbury?” “No?” “But yes. Three years. So I’m Shropshire, too.” “That’s delightful,” she remarked; “but it does away with my little mystery of Nowhere.” “No, no,” he protested, with a laugh. He was a fair, bright-eyed boy with a little curled-up moustache which gave him the air of a cherub playfully disguised. “It is the county of mystery. Doesn’t your poet say: ‘Once in the wind of morning I ranged the thymy wold; The world-wide air was azure And all the brooks ran gold.’” “That’s from _A Shropshire Lad_,” cried Olivia. “Of course. So why shouldn’t you have come from the wind of morning, the azure world-wide air or the golden brook?” “That’s beautiful of you,” said Olivia. “Well, why shouldn’t I? It’s more romantic and imaginative than the commonplace old sea. The sea has been overdone. I used to look at it once a year, and, now I come to think of it, it always seemed to be self-conscious, trying to live up to its reputation. But ‘the wind of the morning——’ Anyhow, here I am.” “Blown to London by the wind of a Shropshire morning.” Olivia’s spirit danced in the talk. With his national touch on the lighter emotions, Mauregard drew from her an exposition of the Dryad’s sensations on sudden confrontation with modern life. To talk well is a great gift; to compel others to talk well is a greater; and the latter gift was Mauregard’s. Olivia put food into her mouth, but whether it was fish or flesh or fowl she knew not. When her host broke the spell by an announcement in her ear that he had a couple of boxes for “Jazz-Jazz,” she became aware that she was eating partridge.