"Old pig! He wouldn't. Mean. Scotch. We might have thought of that. If Daniel had a beard he would be just the same."
"It may surprise you to learn," Rupert remarked, "that Daniel takes a great interest in his appearance lately."
"That's me again," Miriam said complacently.
"Ugly people are rather like that," Helen said. "But he wears terrible boots."
"He's still at the collar-and-tie stage," Rupert said. "We'll get to boots later. He needs encouragement—and control. A great deal of control. He had a bright blue tie on yesterday."
"Ha!" Miriam shouted in a strangled laugh, and thrust her face into the cushion. "That's me, too!" she cried. "I told him blue would suit him."
Rupert wagged his head. "I can't see the fun in that kind of thing, making a fool of the poor beggar."
"Well," she flashed, "he shouldn't ask me to marry him!"
"You'd complain if he didn't."
"Of course I should—of course! I'm so dull that I'm really grateful to him, but I'm so dull that I have to tease him, too. It's only clutching at straws, and Daniel likes it."