various parts of Paris, where Bobby invariably accompanied her in the car
he had engaged chiefly for her benefit, and he observed that she had a
considerable acquaintance among people whom she came across at the hotel
or in the various restaurants and theatres they frequented. But she
never seemed to do more than bow to them, and though it was evident that
her appearance aroused flattering notice, she discouraged attentions and
was smilingly evasive when approached. Nevertheless, she was full of
engagements. One day she would have an appointment at eleven in the
morning near the Arc de Triomphe, in the afternoon in the Boulevard
Malesherbes; the next day it would be near the Odeon in the morning and
at a turning out of the Place Pigalle in the afternoon. On such occasions
she would sweetly ask him to drop her at a certain place and to fetch her
at a certain time; then she would disappear and Bobby would be left to
spend the interval kicking his heels.

She dressed modestly in a taste that was quiet and restrained. Without
being beautiful, her features were clear-cut, almost strong, and there
was a radiancy about her smile and a gaiety in her brown eyes that Bobby
found perfectly entrancing. She was no longer quite young; she might have
been thirty; indeed, her hair, which was dark brown, was ever so slightly
touched with silver, but this seemed to add to her attractiveness, which
resided perhaps more in her complete naturalness than in any other
quality. Bobby noticed that, unlike nearly all the women he knew, she
used no colour on her lips, and only lightly dusted her face with powder,
but her cheeks seemed always to have a bloom upon them as on grapes from
a hothouse.

He found her a most delightful companion, always ready to talk about the
things that interested him most and to go anywhere he liked, provided
that it did not clash with any of her private engagements.