"What a mistake women make in being gloomy! How foolish it is. Shall I tell you the key of the whole situation between men and women?"
"Do."
"Well, dear, it's just—a smile. Never be dull, never be ill, never be depressed. Be gay—always gay. That's what men like—that's the one thing that they go out for and come in for—a smile."
"Your ideal of a woman seems to be a Cheshire cat," she answered, looking rather amused. "Your motto is, like the man in The Arcadians: Always Merry and Bright. Well, I'm sure there's a good deal in it. But I'm not usually accused of being a dreary person."
"Of course you're not; you're charming, lively, amusing, sympathetic. That's your great attraction, Val. But the last few days you seem rather to have lost it."
"You can hardly resent my feeling a little down, Harry. One or two little things that have happened lately have made me anxious."
"Never be anxious. You ought to trust, trust—always trust."
"Oh, that's all very well! That wire...."
"Are we going to have that all over again? I thought I'd explained." He assumed the air of a patient martyr.
"I know you explained all right. Well, I won't think about it any more. Don't be horrid, Harry.... Have you seen this week's Punch? There's something in it simply too heavenly—such a joke! Let me read it to you."