“Well, I imagine you are a young lady who has been spoilt. I think probably you are rich, and have had a good deal of your own way in this world. In fact, I take it for granted that you have never met any one who frankly told you your faults. Even if such good fortune had been yours, I doubt if you would have profited by it. A snub would have been the reward of the courageous person who told Miss Sommerton her failings.”
“I presume you have courage enough to tell me my faults without the fear of a snub before your eyes.”
“I have the courage, yes. You see I have already received the snub three or four times, and it has lost its terrors for me.”
“In that case, will you be kind enough to tell me what you consider my faults?”
“If you wish me to.”
“I do wish it.”
“Well, then, one of them is inordinate pride.”
“Do you think pride a fault?”
“It is not usually reckoned one of the virtues.”
“In this country, Mr. Trenton, we consider that every person should have a certain amount of pride.”