“Vain boy!”
“So I am, and vain of being vain. I believe in being as conceited as possible, conceited enough to make one's conceit good.”
She smiled indulgently, knowing that, as he was talking nonsense, he felt happy.
Farraday appeared in a few minutes, and they settled in a group round the fire with coffee and cigarettes. Stefan offered Mary one. She shook her head.
“I'm not smoking now, you know.”
“Did Dr. Hillyard say so?” he asked quickly.
“No, but—”
“Then don't be poky, dearest.” He lit the cigarette and held it out to her, but she waved it back.
“Don't tease, dear,” she murmured, noticing that Farraday was watching them. Stefan with a shrug retained the cigarette in his left hand, and smoked it ostentatiously for some minutes, alternately with his own. Mary, hoping he was not going to be naughty, embarked on the Long Island topic.
“We want to be within an hour of the city,” she explained, “but in pretty country. We want to keep house, but not to pay too much. We should like to be near the sea. Does that sound wildly impossible?”