"I take you for an adept," she said—"as one well qualified to advise on the subject."
"Then, abandon it—throw it overboard. A woman should be an optimist—cynicism repels."
"Yet you are a cynic."
"All men are cynical; they must be to get on with one another—and with the women."
"Another burden for us to bear!" she laughed. "Is Miss Marbury a cynic or an optimist?"
"I should judge her to be very much the optimist."
"And hence the easier to understand, and the easier to hoodwink."
He looked at her, with a bit of a smile. "And for just that reason, less liable to be hoodwinked. Sincerity begets sincerity, if the man be really a man."
"And cynicism begets cynicism?"