Page:The Redemption of Anthony (1911).djvu/8

 He rolled an armchair toward the fire, and when she was comfortably ensconced he turned off the electric lights and came and stood before her in the firelight, looking down at her.

"Well?" said she, looking up at him.

"Well," he replied, lighting a cigar.

"Aren't you going to say anything pleasant, Tony?"

"It was a great success."

"Oh, the dinner—yes; but—"

"But what?"

"Tony, you're so unsatisfactory! Why can't you say that I never looked better in my life; that I made an exceptionally difficult dinner go by sheer force of will; that you think I'm the eighth wonder of the world, and a few comfy things like that?"

He blew smoke leisurely before he answered. "What's the use? I think it, and you know it, so what's the use of babbling about it?"

"How like a man! It's the babbling that counts; not the truth."