“Oh, well, that’s nothing!”
“Oh, but it is a great deal! What is the matter? I can see that you are not happy.”
“Oh, pshaw, John! I am as happy as I ought to be, I dare say; there isn’t much the matter with me, only a little blue, and I don’t feel quite strong.”
“You don’t feel strong! I’ve noticed it, Lillie.”
“Well, you see, John, the fact is, that I never have got through this month without going to the sea-side. Mamma always took me. The doctors told her that my constitution was such that I couldn’t get along without it; but I dare say I shall do well enough in time, you know.”
“But, Lillie,” said John, “if you do need sea-air, you must go. I can’t leave my business; that’s the trouble.”
“Oh, no, John! don’t think of it. I ought to make an effort to get along. You see, it’s very foolish in me, but places affect my spirits so. It’s perfectly absurd how I am affected.”
“Well, Lillie, I hope this place doesn’t affect you unpleasantly,” said John.
“It’s a nice, darling place, John, and it’s very silly in me; but it is a fact that this house somehow has a depressing effect on my spirits. You know it’s not like the houses I’ve been used to. It has a sort of old look; and I can’t help feeling that it puts me in mind of those who are dead and gone; and then I think I shall be dead and gone too, some day, and it makes me cry so. Isn’t it silly of me, John?”