Some Tame Gazelle
Dr. Parnell took up his own pamphlet and said that he was glad to find somebody who had cut its beautiful pages.
‘I’m afraid you’re hardly a best seller,’ said Mr. Mold jovially. ‘Not even as much ordered in the Library as Rochester’s poems,’ he added.
Belinda frowned and looked embarrassed when the curate asked, with his usual eager interest, what poems those were.
‘I am afraid they are rather naughty,’ said Dr. Parnell. ‘We have had to lock them away in a special place, together with other books of a similar nature. All the same, they are quite often asked for by our readers.’
‘Oh, well, I suppose people have to study them,’ said Belinda, handing round cigarettes and wondering how she could change the subject.
‘We should not like to think that they ordered them for any other reason,’ said Dr. Parnell, chuckling and rubbing his hands in front of the fire.
Профессор W. как-то спросил, не косятся ли на меня в библиотеке. Не замечала, говорю, но я вообще рассеянная. «А во времена моей молодости у тебя бы за спиной перешептывались: она читает неприличную книжку!» - вздохнул профессор.