Page:Small Souls (1919).djvu/171

Rh “Exactly, that’s what I say: Adolphine does the same thing, just as though she could afford it.”

“That’s because all of those Van Lowes are eaten up with pride and conceit.”

“Yes, since the father became governor-general, they have always acted like megalomaniacs.”

“The old lady is a regular peacock.”

“And Bertha, with her smart acquaintances!”

“And then that Mrs. van der Welcke: she’s got a nice past to look back upon! And she behaves as though she were the Queen!”

“They’re quite an ordinary family, the Van Lowes.”

“Yes, they’re nobodies: the grandfather was a grocer.”

“No!”

“Yes, I assure you!”

“And that mad Ernst, who’s always studying the family-papers to discover if they are not of noble descent!”

“Oh, he’s mad, if you like!”

“In fact, they’re all a little bit mad.”

“Yes, there’s a strain of it in all of them.”

“A strain? Something more than a strain I call it! And it’s continued in the Van Naghels.”

“Adolphine’s the best of the lot.”

“She’s a megalomaniac, though, for all that.”

“I say, this Mrs. van der Welcke: what has she come here for?”

“Well, she thinks the whole thing has blown over.