"
The wondering look deepened in Cyprian's eyes as he followed his aunt; he
belonged to a generation that is supposed to be over-fond of the role of
mere spectator, but looking at napkins that one did not mean to buy was a
pleasure beyond his comprehension. Mrs. Chemping held one or two napkins
up to the light and stared fixedly at them, as though she half expected
to find some revolutionary cypher written on them in scarcely visible
ink; then she suddenly broke away in the direction of the glassware
department.
"Millicent asked me to get her a couple of decanters if there were any
going really cheap," she explained on the way, "and I really do want a
salad bowl. I can come back to the napkins later on."
She handled and scrutinised a large number of decanters and a long series
of salad bowls, and finally bought seven chrysanthemum vases.
"No one uses that kind of vase nowadays," she informed Cyprian, "but they
will do for presents next Christmas."
Two sunshades that were marked down to a price that Mrs. Chemping
considered absurdly cheap were added to her purchases.
"One of them will do for Ruth Colson; she is going out to the Malay
States, and a sunshade will always be useful there. And I must get her
some thin writing paper. It takes up no room in one's baggage."
Mrs. Chemping bought stacks of writing paper; it was so cheap, and it
went so flat in a trunk or portmanteau. She also bought a few
envelopes--envelopes somehow seemed rather an extragavance compared with
notepaper.
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