“Admired her! How can one help admiring them both? Only they are such a perfect match that one couldn’t love, honour, and obey—that’s it, isn’t it?—the one without loving, honouring, and obeying the other.”
“That’s an evasion,” said Ella, piercing him with her brown, bead-like eyes. She continued to look at him fixedly while she counted slowly on her fingers. “One—two—three—three weeks ago you were not in the same mind.”
Lauriston started and grew red, and the brown eyes twinkled.
“Three weeks ago, if my uncle had made you this suggestion, you would have taken it differently.”
“What do you mean?”
“That something has happened in the meantime to divert your admiration into another channel. Oh, I know. I am not a ‘silent member’ for nothing; when I am called upon to give my vote, my mind is a good deal clearer on the subject in hand than those of the active debaters.”
“Well, supposing I told you I wanted to marry you?”
“You would not dare to come to me with such a story.”
“Why not? You like me; you have always shown it. You are nicer to me than you are to almost anybody.”
“I like you certainly, though I think at present you’re rather a prig; but perhaps that is only because it is a case of sour grapes.”