Robert looked at her in genuine surprise and burst into a laugh. "What's that?" he demanded, bending incredulously forward.
Fritzie tossed her head. "I don't care!"
"Spirituality?" echoed Kimberly, with a quiet malice. His laugh annoyed Fritzie, but she stuck to her guns: "Spirits, then; or gayety, or life!" she cried. "I don't care what you call it. Anything besides everlastingly piling up money. Oh, these almighty dollars!"
"You tire of them so quickly, is it, Fritzie? Or is it that they don't feel on familiar terms enough to stay long with you?" he asked, while Alice was smiling at the encounter.
Fritzie summoned her dignity and pointed every word with a nod. "I simply don't want to see all of my friends--ossify! Should you?" she demanded, turning to Alice for approval.
"Certainly not," responded Alice.
"Bone black is very useful in our business," observed Kimberly.
Fritzie's eyes snapped. "Then buy it! Don't attempt to supply the demand out of your own bones!"
It would have been churlish to refuse her her laugh. Kimberly and Alice for the first time laughed together and found it pleasant.
Fritzie, following up her advantage, asked Doctor Hamilton whether he had heard Dora Morgan's latest joke. "She had a dispute," continued Fritzie, "with George Doane last night about Unitarians and Universalists----"