"
"Then how do you manage to make love?" Geoffrey asked.
"Well, a very little goes a long way in Spain. The manner of a bow,
the wave of a fan, the dropping of a glove or flower, the touch
of a hand in a crowded room -- each of these things go as far as
a month's open love making in Ireland."
"Then how did you manage with the duenna so as to be able to speak
to her in the gardens?"
"Well, in the first place, I made myself very attentive to the
duenna; in the second place, the old lady is devout, and you know
Ireland is the land of saints, and I presented her with an amulet
containing a paring of the nail of St. Patrick."
Geoffrey burst into a laugh, in which the Irishman joined.
"Well, if it was not really St. Patrick's," the latter went on,
"it came from Ireland anyhow, which is the next best thing. Then
in the third place, the old lady is very fond of Inez; and although
she is as strict as a dragon, Inez coaxed her into the belief that
there could not be any harm in our exchanging a few words when she
was close by all the time to hear what was said. Now, I think you
know as much as I do about the matter, Geoffrey. You will understand
that a few notes have been exchanged, and that Inez loves me.
Beyond that everything is vague and uncertain, and I have not the
slightest idea what will come of it.
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