"I merely asked to be sure of the weight you gave it. Go on."
"In a practical way, as I was saying. Long ago I suspected that you had most of those qualities."
"I'm overwhelmed, Humphrey," she cried, with her eyes dancing. "But—do you think I could cultivate the rest?"
"Oh, well," said Mr. Crewe, I put it that way because no woman is perfect, and I dislike superlatives."
"I should think superlatives would be very hard to live with," she reflected. "But—dreadful thought!—suppose I should lack an essential?"
"What—for instance?"
"Love—for instance. But then you did not put it first. It was I who mentioned it, and you who took it for granted."
"Affection seems to be a more sensible term for it," he said. "Affection is the lasting and sensible thing. You mentioned a partnership, a word that singularly fits into my notion of marriage. I want to be honest with you, and understate my feelings on that subject."
Victoria, who had been regarding him with a curious look that puzzled him, laughed again.
"I have been hoping you haven't exaggerated them," she replied.