"
"Indeed you may," said the Colonel. "Perhaps men ought not to
intrude on these occasions; but I have a preference for taking tea
in a pretty drawing-room, with a lot of agreeable women, rather
than in a club surrounded by old chaps growling over the latest job
at the War Office, and a younger brigade chattering about the
latest tape prices, and the weights for the spring handicaps."
"All these little imperfections go to prove that we are not a
nation of cooks," said Van der Roet. "We can't be everything.
Heine once said that the Romans would never have found time to
conquer the world if they had been obliged to learn the Latin
grammar; and it is the same with us. We can't expect to found an
empire all over the planet, and cook as well as the French, who--
perhaps wisely--never willingly emerge from the four corners of
their own land."
"There is energy enough left in us when we set about some purely
utilitarian task," said Mrs. Wilding, "but we never throw ourselves
into the arts with the enthusiasm of the Latin races.
Pages:
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106