"Many ladies, at such times, prefer some quiet nook either in the country or at the seaside."
"Yes, prefer to bury themselves alive, in fact. But that would not suit me, however much I might like my husband. In such a case, I am quite certain that by the end of the first week I should begin to think him a great stupid, and I am equally sure that he would already have discovered with what a shallow-pated individual he had mated himself for life. The experiment would be far too dangerous a one for me."
"A very neatly-framed excuse for preferring Paris to Bognor or Bowness," said Van Duren, with a smile.
"How cleverly you unravel my motives! But I think I told you before that I was shallow. Be warned in time!"
"I have never heeded warnings all my life. I have always preferred keeping my own headstrong course."
"In other words, you are obstinate."
"Some of my friends call me pig-headed--but that is sheer malice."
"How beautiful the river looks this afternoon!" said Miriam, a moment or two later. "I never look on an outward-bound ship without feeling a sort of vague longing to be on board her, sailing away into that strange world of which I know so little."
"The chances are that before you had been on board a dozen hours you would wish with all your heart that you were on shore again--especially if there happened to be a capful of wind."
"Oh, I quite believe that. Being a woman, it only stands to reason that I should be both ill and frightened. Men are never either one or the other." Then, in a little while, she added: "Still, nonsense apart, I believe that I should very much like to go a long voyage."