There was Joynson; they had nothingto say to each
other. The Duchess of Lambourne waited his pleasure;the Duchess of Lambourne,
daughter of a hundred Earls.
And again he was a little boy inthe alley where
they sold dogs on Sunday. There were the black rabbits and the red; there were
theenemy rabbits and the friendly. There they lay in the glow of the peach-blossom
taffeta.
Its because youre like a rabbit, Ernest, she
said.
His nose twitched veryslightly when he ate. For, he
murmured, laying the palms of his hands together, it is to bea long week-end. Ernest
looked completely blank for a moment.
She would waitfor ten minutes on a chair at the
counter. Noone guessed that there was such a place, and that of course made it
allthe more amusing. All the same, their territories touched; they wereKing and
Queen. So she tried Bunny next; but that wasworse.
At lastshe turned on the light and looked at Ernest
lying beside her. Peeping between thechrysanthemums she saw Ernests nose
twitch.
In the middle of the night she woke, feeling as
ifsomething strange had happened to her. And she held out her handwhich came through
the slit of her white glove. Sheunbolted the door of the game room as Wing, the
keeper, drove the cartover the cobbles. She felt as if her body had shrunk; it had
grown small, and black andhard. Rosalind had still to get usedto the fact that she
was Mrs.
He was not a tame rabbit,whatever he
was.
There were the black rabbits and the red; there
were theenemy rabbits and the friendly.
The leathery eyelids were creased greylyover their
eyes. He paused; struck a match, and twitchedagain.
She felt as if her body had shrunk; it had grown
small, and black andhard. And who, said Miss Antonia, looking at the flakes on the
carpet,whos to pay? Then the butler drew thedecanter towards Miss Antonia, and
paused for a moment with his headbent. All the same, their territories touched; they
wereKing and Queen.