“It isn't polite to speak of waist-measures to middle-aged persons like your mother and the colonel,” she said placidly. “You like it very much out here?”
“Fascinating! Never had such a good time in my whole life.”
“And you like the West altogether? Would you like to live here?”
“Oh, if it came to living, I should want to be sure there was a way out.”
“There generally is a way out of most things. But it costs something.” Mrs. Bogardus was so concise in her speech as at times to be almost oracular.
“Army people are sure of their way out,” said Christine, “and I guess they find it costs something.”
“Why do they buy so many books, I wonder? If I moved as often as they do, I'd have only paper covers and leave them behind.”
“You are not a reader, mummy. You're a business woman. You look at everything from the practical side.”
“And if I didn't, who would?” Mrs. Bogardus spoke with earnestness. “We can't all be dreamers like Paul or privileged persons like you. There has to be one in every family to say the things no one likes to hear and do the things nobody likes to do.”
“We are the rich repiners and you are the household drudge!” Christine shouted, laughing at her own wit.