Elliot, "a great many people were. I always
pity the poor women so! We've got a lot to complain of!" She shook her
head. Her eyes wandered about the table, and she remarked irrelevantly,
"The poor little Queen of Holland! Newspaper reporters practically, one
may say, at her bedroom door!"
"Were you talking of the Queen of Holland?" said the pleasant voice of
Miss Allan, who was searching for the thick pages of _The_ _Times_ among
a litter of thin foreign sheets.
"I always envy any one who lives in such an excessively flat country,"
she remarked.
"How very strange!" said Mrs. Elliot. "I find a flat country so
depressing."
"I'm afraid you can't be very happy here then, Miss Allan," said Susan.
"On the contrary," said Miss Allan, "I am exceedingly fond of
mountains." Perceiving _The_ _Times_ at some distance, she moved off to
secure it.
"Well, I must find my husband," said Mrs. Elliot, fidgeting away.
"And I must go to my aunt," said Miss Warrington, and taking up the
duties of the day they moved away.
Whether the flimsiness of foreign sheets and the coarseness of their
type is any proof of frivolity and ignorance, there is no doubt that
English people scarce consider news read there as news, any more than a
programme bought from a man in the street inspires confidence in what it
says. A very respectable elderly pair, having inspected the long tables
of newspapers, did not think it worth their while to read more than the
headlines.
Pages:
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160