When most women went shopping, men generally had no desire to go along, and little boys were the same. At least fathers could use getting a haircut or shave as an excuse to spend some time at the barbershop, either napping in the barber's chair or sitting quietly in the waiting area reading the newspaper. Little boys, meanwhile, were dragged along by the hand to "accompany" their mothers while they shopped.
"Why don't you bring my sister?" the little boy complained to his mother. His mother made him try on a girl's dress, then told him,
"Because you don't have a sister."
Goulding's account of ordinary Londoners' lives was novel to those from high society, though some merely smiled out of courtesy. The sight reminded Georgiana of the scene in Titanic between Rose's mother and Molly, the American nouveau riche who had struck gold. Then she remembered the last time she had gone to the market with Severus and eaten oysters, and her feelings became impossibly tangled.
She took a sip of wine and was about to leave when she spotted Stanley. He was watching her.
"Hi." She smiled and greeted him.
Stanley walked over. "You missed the interesting part."
"What interesting part?" She took a step back.
"We were discussing the formation of the African Trade Association, as well as an expedition to explore the Congo River," Stanley said.
"The Congo?"
"Suppose this is the Congo River." Stanley traced a line through the air, as though drawing a snake. "The two banks of the river belong to Portugal and France respectively."
"France has colonies in the Congo?" Georgiana said in surprise.
"The Portuguese were the first to discover the Congo River. When they reached its mouth, they found that the seawater's salinity had dropped, so they knew the river