"It isn't tumultuous exactly," said Reggie's mother, "but it's very thorough. Still waters do run deep, you know, in spite of the proverb."
"But the stillness is not a proof of their depth."
"No; but when a stream is in the rapids, so to speak, it is. The rapids, I mean, which come just after the waterfall, the plunge into love."
"Oh, but Reggie's always falling in love."
"So I gathered; though, of course, the boy wouldn't tell me about that. But I don't think that's against his present engagement."
Percy was silent, and Mrs. Davenport adjusted her bracelet before she added,—
"I believe it's a healthy thing for a young man to be in a chronic state of devotion. The vague adoration is all sucked into the particular adoration when that comes."
"But is falling in love with a series of particular girls to be called a vague adoration?"
"Yes, certainly, just as a circle is an infinite number of straight lines. He falls in love with womanliness in many forms."