"Why?" she asked, immediately up in arms.
He wished to avoid a dispute—he was sometimes more reasonable than she—and he merely said:
"Well, they're rather rough."
"It would be a miracle," she at once began to cavil, "if you ever saw anything good in the Van Saetzemas' house."
He looked at her with wide eyes, his fine, young, blue eyes:
"But, Constance...."
"Yes, you're always crabbing Adolphine, her husband, her house, her children...."
"But, Constance, I never mention them...."
"That's not true!"
"I assure you!"