There were figs, apricots and small green grapes.
The two Russians took no notice of her, as they were tipping the vodka down their throats in the way that the Russians always drink.
Then one of them looked at the Earl and said,
“I suppose you’d like a sip of this if you had half the chance?”
“No, no,” the old woman cried. “My son say vodka for the Russians, not that riff-raff.”
She said the word ‘riff-raff’ in English.
She was speaking in such a thick nasal voice that it might have been Greek or any other language.
It made the Earl gaze at her in astonishment.
How was it possible that that woman straight from the fields should know an English word?
Then, as he looked at her and went on looking, his eyes widened.
It could not be possible!
How could what he was thinking be true?
