of the
table her
husband
was saying
about the
square
root of
one
thousand
two
hundred
and
fifty-three。That
was the
number，it
seemed，on
his watch。
What did
it all
mean？To
this day
she had no
notion。A
square
root？What
was
that？Her
sons
knew。She
leant on
them；on
cubes and
square
roots；that
was what
they were
talking
about
now；on
Voltaire
and Madame
de
Stael；on
the
character
of
Napoleon；on
the French
system of
land
