I suppose that the hat turned down at the precise point at which, according to Gorcum's canons of taste, it should have turned up.

Whatever it did was unpardonable, and we had to be informed of the solecism.

We were informed in various ways; the men whistled, the women sniggered, the girls laughed, the children shouted and ran beside us.

The same hat had been disregarded by the sweet-mannered friendly Middelburgians; it had raised no smile at Breda.

At Dordrecht, it is true, eyes had been opened wide; at Bergen-op-Zoom mouths had opened too; but such attention was nothing compared with Gorcum's pains to make two strangers uncomfortable.
As it happened, we had philosophy, and the discomfort was very slight.