We found,
also on the edge of the town, a very merry windmill; and we had lunch
at an inn window which commanded the harnessing of the many market
carts, into every one of which climbed a stolid farmer and a wife
brimming with gossip.
In the returning steam-tram from Tholen to Bergen-op-Zoom was a
Dutch maiden. So typical was she that she might have been a composite
portrait of all Dutch girls of eighteen--smooth fair features, a very
clear complexion, prim clothes. A friend getting in too, she talked;
or rather he talked, and she listened, and agreed or dissented very
quietly, and I had the pleasure of watching how admirably adapted
is the Dutch feminine countenance for the display of the nuances
of emotion, the enregistering of every thought. Expression after
expression flitted across her face and mouth like the alternate shadow
and sun in the Weald on a breezy April day. A French woman's many
vivacious and eloquent expressions seem to come from within; but the
Dutch present a placid sensitised surface on which their companions'
conversation records the most delicate tracery. This girl's little
reluctant smiles were very charming, and we were at Bergen-op-Zoom
again before I knew it.
Chapter XIX
Middelburg
The friendly Zeelanders--A Spanish heritage--Deceptive Dutch
towns--The Abbey Hotel--The Abbey of St.
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