Guy and Hugo were not at Yearsly that week-end; they were sorry
they could not come, Cousin Delia said.
She welcomed Walter, giving him both her hands, and looked at
him hard, as his mother had looked at me; but she did not ask
him questions. Some people said that Cousin Delia was hard to
talk to, for she never asked you the ordinary things; she did
not ask people how their relations were, as some women always
do. She took people as they were, and left them alone; and she
talked, when she did talk, about anything that was in her mind,
or yours, at the moment.
She showed Walter some gems, Greek gems, in the library; he told
her about them, their dates, and where they were made. He did
not say they were decadent, or ‘too late,’ as I expected. He
was polite to Cousin Delia, and treated her with respect.
He said:
‘She is not at all like her sons.’