Sixteen Year Old – Portia Quayne
‘Do you skate?’ Mrs Heccomb said suddenly.
‘I’m afraid I don’t know how to.’
Mrs Heccomb relieved, said: ‘Perhaps that is just as well. You need not go to the rink. Are you fond of reading?’
‘Sometimes.’
‘You are quite right,’ said Mrs Heccomb, ‘there is plenty of time to read when you are older, like I am. At one time, Anna read too much. Fortunately she loved gaiety, too: she always had so many invitations. In fact, she still enjoys herself like a young girl. How old are you, Portia, if I may ask?’
‘Sixteen.’
‘That makes such a difference,’ said Mrs Heccomb. ‘I mean, it’s not as though you were eighteen.’
‘I do quite enjoy myself, even now.’
‘Oh yes, I’m sure you do,’ said Mrs Heccomb.
