“Yes?”
He hesitated. To talk to Natalie about business meant reducing it to its most elemental form.
“Have you ever thought that this war of ours means more than merely raising armies?”
“I haven't thought about this war at all. It's too absurd. A lot of politicians?” She shrugged her shoulders.
“It means a great deal of money.”
“'Well, the country is rich, isn't it?”
“The country? That means the people.”
“I knew we'd get to money sooner or later,” she observed, resignedly. “All right. We'll be taxed, so we'll cut down on the country house—go on. I can say it before you do. But don't say we'll have to do without the greenhouses, because we can't.”
“We may have to go without more than greenhouses.”
His tone made her sit bolt upright. Then she laughed a little.