"He admires the idea greatly; he thinks it very original. He says that my strongest point is originality," she answered, with her confident frankness.
"He means—ah—originality of subject?"
"Oh yes; my execution is not much yet. But that will come in time. Of course, the subject, the idea, is the important thing; the execution is secondary." Here she paused; something seemed to come into her mind. "I know you do not think so," she added, thoughtfully, "because, you know, you said"—and here she quoted a page from one of his art articles with her clear accuracy. "I have never understood what you meant by that, Mr. Noel; or why you wrote it."
She looked at him questioningly. He did not reply; his eyes were upon one of the sketches.
"It would be dreadful for me if you were right!" she added, with slow conviction.
"I thought you believed that I was always right," he said, smiling, as he placed the sketches on the table.
But she remained very serious.
"You are—in everything but that."
He made some unimportant reply, and turned the conversation. But she came back to it.
"It would be dreadful," she repeated, earnestly, with the utmost gravity in her gray eyes.