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The naiveté of the remark and the voice, expressing the kind of pleasure one obtains from receiving a totally unexpected and totally welcome gift, set Geoffrey to laughing. "What did you expect?" he asked. |
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"How should I know what to expect?" Joanna responded reasonably. "To be told a thing is pleasant is a far cry from experiencing it oneself. Besides, pleasant is not the right word." |
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"No? What would you say?" Geoffrey teased. |
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"I would sayNo, I will say nothing. You are already too puffed up with pride," Joanna laughed. "If I praise you, you will become overweening and unbearable." |
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Geoffrey at once adopted a most false, crestfallen expression. "But if you do not praise me, likely I will think I have failed in my duty as a husband and fall into a melancholy. Then" |
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Joanna made a swift movement, as if to box Geoffrey's ear, and he caught her hand. In the playful wrestling, the covers were completely dislodged. Geoffrey grew still suddenly. |
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"How beautiful you are, Joanna," he breathed. |
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She was looking at him also, but with more consternation than pleasure. "Oh, Geoffrey," she cried, "look how I scratched you. I am so sorry." And the word "scratched" connected with its usual companion phrase "like a cat" in her mind. "The kitten!'' she exclaimed, "Have we killed it?" |
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They searched the bed and then under it only to find the little creature curled comfortably in a cushioned chair. When the violent movements of the larger inhabitants had made the bed uncomfortable, the kitten had removed itself, with all the self-possession of its older relatives, to a situation less subject to earthquakes. Joanna tickled its head and then turned to stroke Geoffrey's scratches, again murmuring her contrition. |
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He laughed ruefully. "Had I known you were going to claw the skin from my flesh I would not have bothered |
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