He looked sheepish for a moment, but soon recovered his assertiveness.
“True!--and quite unconsciously I hit upon a fact,” he said. “For now, by your own admission, your tastes lead you in the direction of mere frippery. Frocks! Jewels! Good heavens! Two frocks a year--a simple brooch of unadorned gold, and a couple of plain hats, suffice for any reasonable woman whose thoughts are trained and fixed--” he paused--then repeated, “whose thoughts are trained and fixed--” He paused again.
“Yes?” she queried. “Whose thoughts are trained and fixed?--on what?”
“On the simple ideals of life,” he said. “On domestic economies--the chemistry of the kitchen--the various useful arts by which a woman can make herself indispensable to man--”
“_I_ know!” And she had such a dancing sparkle of mirth and mischief in her blue eyes that he could not meet her glances. “The chief art of all is to give him a good dinner! Sometimes--not always--that is why a man gets married--that he may have a cook-housekeeper on the premises!” She laughed merrily,--the Philosopher surveyed her with a kind of ironic compassion.
“You think that funny!” he observed. “But it isn’t! Your worldly wisdom is by no means profound--”
“Of course it isn’t!” she agreed. “It’s shallow--shallow as a running brook!--but quite pleasant! I should hate to be profound,--and--stagnant! And if I ever _do_ get married, I shall try to marry a rich man, who would be kind to me and take pleasure in giving me all sorts of lovely things--and I should not be mercenary, only I should like _him_ to do things for _me_, and not want me to wait upon _him_! I think it such a pity that our men always expect to be attended to first! Americans are _quite_ different!--they always look after women in such a courteous, friendly way! After all, kindness is the true chivalry.”
He dropped lazily into an armchair and began his favourite pastime of puffing smoke-rings into the air, with the usual ugly distortions of face which accompanied that effort.
“You are quite eloquent!” he observed, sardonically. “I notice you have a special predilection for Americans. Why, I can’t imagine! Perhaps you are looking out for an American millionaire?”
She nodded her fair little head mischievously.