In a modest way
it was splendour. My chambers were really a large double flat to the
tasteful furnishing of which I had devoted the thought and interest of
many years. She went with me through the rooms. The dining-room was all
Chippendale, each piece a long-coveted and hunted treasure; the library
old oak; the drawing-room a comfortable and cunning medley. There were
bits of old china, pieces of tapestry, some rare prints, my choice
collection of mezzotints, a picture or two of value--one a Lancret, a
very dear possession. And there were my books--once I had a passion
for rare bindings. Every thing had to me a personal significance, and I
hated the idea of surrender more than I dared to confess even to myself.
But I said to Lola:
"Vanity of vanities! All things expensive are vanity!"
Her eyes glistened and she slipped her arm through mine and patted the
back of my hand.
"If you talk like that I shall cry and make a fool of myself," she said
in a broken manner.
It is not so much the thing that is done or the thing that is said that
matters, but the way of doing or saying it.
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