"Cold?" he said. "Let's walk on."
Ann's sense of humour reasserted itself. It was not often that it remained dormant for so long. She laughed.
"I know exactly what you are thinking," she said. "You believe that I am posing, that those aren't my real opinions."
"They can't be. But I don't think you are posing. It's getting on for dinner-time, and you've got that wan, sinking feeling that makes you look upon the world and find it a hollow fraud. The bugle will be blowing in a few minutes, and half an hour after that you will be yourself again."
"I'm myself now. I suppose you can't realise that a pretty girl can hold such views."
Jimmy took her arm.
"Let me help you," he said. "There's a knothole in the deck. Watch your step. Now, listen to me. I'm glad you've brought up this subject—I mean the subject of your being the prettiest girl in the known world—"
"I never said that."
"Your modesty prevented you. But it's a fact, nevertheless. I'm glad, I say, because I have been thinking a lot along those lines myself, and I have been anxious to discuss the point with you. You have the most glorious hair I have ever seen!"
"Do you like red hair?"