"Tell me then, Miss Mercy, is there anything you love very much? I don't say any PERSON, but any THING."
"I love some animals."
"An animal is not a thing. It is possible to love animals and not the nature of which we are speaking. You might love a dog dearly, and never care to see the sun rise!—Tell me, did any flower ever make you cry?
"No," answered Mercy, with a puzzled laugh; "how could it?"
"Did any flower ever make you a moment later in going to bed, or a moment earlier in getting out of it?"
"No, certainly!"
"In that direction, then, I am foiled!"
"You would not really have me cry over a flower, Mr. Ian? Did ever a flower make you cry yourself? Of course not! it is only silly women that cry for nothing!"
"I would rather not bring myself in at present," answered Ian smiling. "Do you know how Chaucer felt about flowers?"
"I never read a word of Chaucer."