Читать книгу The Plumed Serpent. Historical Novel - Life and Love after the Mexico Revolution онлайн

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Mrs Norris adjusted her pince-nez.

‘Fortunately,’ she said, ‘they don’t come out to Tlacolula, so we needn’t think about them. Mrs Henry, let me give you some more tea.’

‘Do you read SPANISH?’ the Judge spat out, at Owen. Owen, in his big shell spectacles, was evidently a red rag to his irritable fellow-countryman.

‘No!’ said Owen, round as a cannon-shot.

Mrs Norris once more adjusted her eye-glasses.

‘It’s such a relief to hear someone who is altogether innocent of Spanish, and altogether unashamed,’ she said. ‘My father had us all speaking four languages by the time we were twelve, and we have none of us ever quite recovered. My stockings were all dyed blue for me before I put my hair up. By the way! How have you been for walking, Judge? You heard of the time I had with my ankle?’

‘Of course we heard!’ cried Mrs Burlap, seeing dry land at last. I’ve been trying SO hard to get out to see you, to ask about it. We were so GRIEVED about it.’

‘What happened?’ said Kate.

‘Why I foolishly slipped on a piece of orange peel in town — just at the corner of San Juan de Latrán and Madero. And I fell right down. And of course, the first thing I did when I got up was to push the piece of orange peel into the gutter. And would you believe it, that lot of Mex — ’ she caught herself up — ‘that lot of fellows standing there at the corner laughed heartily at me, when they saw me doing it. They thought it an excellent joke.’