"But, my girl, don't be angry with me, who have done nothing. If I admire you, it is just because you are so hot-tempered. I don't like women who are milk-and-watery."
"Because you are so yourself," she replied, now calm and smiling.
"Don't believe it. I am not so milk-and-watery as you think. When I am angry, I am so indeed."
"Bah! Once a year!"
"Well, as I am so, I ought to like quiet, sweet-tempered women."
"You make a mistake; one always likes one's contrast. Fair people like dark people, thin people fat, tall people short. Don't I suit you because you are so tall and I so small?"
"Not only for that," he said, laughing and drawing her toward him.
"Why, then?" she asked, giving him a mocking glance.
"Don't you know? Shall I whisper it to you?"
"Why?" she insisted, keeping her eyes upon him.