'Yes; he's all right. And now give me a detailed description of your children.'
'I can't. I never could talk about them.'
'I see…. I should like to see them…. I saw you speak to Vincy. Dear little fellow, isn't he?'
'He's a great friend of mine.'
'I'm tremendously devoted to him, too. He's what used to be called an exquisite. And he is exquisite; he has an exquisite mind. But, of course, you know what a good sort he is.'
'Rather.'
'He seems rather to look at life than to act in it, doesn't he?' continued Aylmer. 'He's a brilliant sort of spectator. Vincy thinks that all the world's a stage, but he's always in the front row of the stalls. I never could be like that … I always want to be right in the thick of it, on in every scene, and always performing!'
'To an audience?' said Edith.
He smiled and went on.
'What's so jolly about him is that though he's so quiet, yet he's genial; not chilly and reserved. He's frank, I mean—and confiding. Without ever saying much. He expresses himself in his own way.'