"Ah, you're always teasing me, Winnie."
"You've not been nearly enthusiastic enough about the house, you know. Make an effort."
"I'll be trying to say a few words on it after dinner. Will you be at dinner?"
"I shall. Tora has asked me, to entertain you."
"You can do that—and more when you've the mind to it."
"I must warn you at once that I take most of my meals, except breakfast, at the Patch—in brief intervals of relaxation from the Synopsis."
Dick had heard of the Synopsis. "You'll be learning a lot of nonsense," he remarked.
"Oh, I don't need the Synopsis to learn that. Just talking to people is quite enough."
"We won't have a telegraph; we'll have a telephone, Winnie. Then I'll hear your voice and admire your conversation." "And not see your face," he had very nearly added.
Winnie demurely surveyed the landscape again. "My chimneys are a pity, aren't they? They spoil the impression of solitude—of being alone with nature—don't they? But judging from Tora's voice—it sounds really aggrieved—I think it's time we went and umpired about the dustbin. When those two do quarrel, the contempt they express for one another's opinions is awful."