'Do you think he will marry her?' he asked.
'Yes; certainly, I hope so. If he marries at all, he must marry money.'
'And Nature clearly designed Miss Palmer to be a peeress. In fact, the match was made in heaven.'
'I hope it will be ratified on earth,' she said. 'Why are you cynical about it?'
'I am never cynical; what makes you think that?'
'Well, simple, direct; it comes to the same thing. To tell the truth is often the most cynical thing you can do.'
'Not if it is a pleasant truth. And it will be very pleasant to Miss Palmer to be an English peeress. And, as you said yourself, it is only possible for Lord Keynes to marry money. And he is fortunate in his money-bag,' he added.
She frowned a little; there was something in this speech which, with all her admiration for his countrymen, struck her as both characteristic and disagreeable. He saw it.
'Ah, that offends you,' he said quickly. 'I apologize. I wish you would teach me better. You know there is a something, an inherent coarseness, about us, which I have seen get, ever so slightly, on to your nerves fifty times a day.'
She laughed.