第303章 AT THE SIGN OF THE BALSAM BOUGH(18)

"Have you ever thought," said Greygown, in a contented tone of voice, "that this is the only period of our existence when we attain to the luxury of a French cook?""And one with the grand manner, too," I replied, "for he never fails to ask what it is that madame desires to eat to-day, as if the larder of Lucullus were at his disposal, though he knows well enough that the only choice lies between broiled fish and fried fish, or bacon with eggs and a rice omelet. But I like the fiction of a lordly ordering of the repast. How much better it is than having to eat what is flung before you at a summer boarding-house by a scornful waitress!""Another thing that pleases me," continued my lady, "is the unbreakableness of the dishes. There are no nicks in the edges of the best plates here; and, oh! it is a happy thing to have a home without bric-a-brac. There is nothing here that needs to be dusted.""And no engagements for to-morrow," I ejaculated. "Dishes that can't be broken, and plans that can--that's the ideal of housekeeping.""And then," added my philosopher in skirts, "it is certainly refreshing to get away from all one's relations for a little while.""But how do you make that out?" I asked, in mild surprise. "What are you going to do with me?""Oh," said she, with a fine air of independence, "I don't count you. You are not a relation, only a connection by marriage.""Well, my dear," I answered, between the meditative puffs of my pipe, "it is good to consider the advantages of our present situation. We shall soon come into the frame of mind of the Sultan of Morocco when he camped in the Vale of Rabat. The place pleased him so well that he staid until the very pegs of his tent took root and grew up into a grove of trees around his pavilion."