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possibly eat anything more - unless they had some of those giant
asparasgus. It would be a pity to leave Paris without eating some of
them.”
My heart sank. I had seen them in the shops and knew that they
were horribly expensive. My mouth had often watered at the sight of
them.
”Madame wants to know if you have any of those giant
asparagus,” I asked the waiter.
I tried with all my might to make him say no. A happy smile
spread over his face and he assured me that they had some so large, so
splendid, so tender, that it was a marvel. I odered them.
”I'm in the least hungry but I don't mind having some asparagus,”
my guest said.
I ordered them.
”Aren't you going to have any?”
”No, I never eat asparagus.”
"I know there are people who don't like them.”
We waited for the asparagus to be cooked. Panic seized me. I
knew exactly how much money I had and if the bill came to more I
decided that I would put my hand in my pocket and with a dramatic cry
get up and say my money had been stolen. If she had not money enough
to pay the bill, then the only thing to do would be to leave my watch and
say I would come back and pay later.
The asparagus appeared. They were enormous and appetizing. The
smell tickled my nose. I watched her thrust them into her mouth and in
my polite way I spoke on the condition of the drama in the Balkans.
At last she finished.
”Coffee?” I asked her some minutes later.
”Yes, just an ice-cream and coffee,” she answered.
”You know, there's one thing I believe in,” she said, as she ate the
ice-cream.
”One should always get up from a meal feeling one could eat a
little more.”
”Are you still hungry?” I asked.
”Oh, no, I am not hungry, you see, I don't eat luncheon. I have a
cup of coffee in the morning, and then dinner. But if I must have
luncheon, I never eat more than one thing.”
Then a terrible thing happened. The head waiter came up to us
with a large basket full of peaches. They were not in season then, God
knew what they cost. I knew too - a little later, for my guest, going on
her conversation, absent-mindedly took one.

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