Page:An orchard princess (IA orchardprincess00barbiala).pdf/81

 Tell me how you like Maple Green. Is it your first visit here?"

"Yes, my first," he answered. "I like it very much. I especially like the outskirts of it—this spot, for instance."

"Have you met the—the inhabitants?"

"Some; the Misses Ruggles I have had the pleasure of meeting."

She smiled above her brush.

"Aren't they delightful?" she asked.

"Terrifying, I call them. Hunter took me around there the other day for afternoon tea. They asked me what I thought of Wagner's 'The Simple Life.' I said I didn't remember of having heard it, but didn't care for Wagner—pronouncing it with a waggish W for politeness—very much. I thought they looked pained and sur