greeably?"

"I do not know. Are you vain?"

"As a peacock!" replied Orsino quickly.

"Ah--then what I am thinking would not interest you."

"Why not?"

"Because if it is not flattering it would wound you, and if it is
flattering it would disappoint you--by falling short of your ideal of
yourself."

"Yet I confess that I would like to know what you think of me, though I
would much rather hear what you think of yourself."

"On one condition, I will tell you."

"What is that?"

"That you will give me your word to give me your own opinion of me
afterwards."

"The adjectives are ready, Madame, I give you my word."

"You give it so easily! How can I believe you?"

"It is so easy to give in such a case, when one has nothing disagreeable
to say."

"Then you think me agreeable?"

"Eminently!"

"And charming?"

"Perfectly!"

"And beautiful?"

"How can you doubt it?"

"And in all other respects exactly like all the women in society to whom
you repeat the same commonplaces every day of your life?"

The feint had been dexterous and the thrust was sudden, straight and
unexpected.

"Madame!" exclaimed Orsino in the deprecatory tone of a man taken by
surprise.

"You see--you have nothing to say!" She laughed a little bitterly.

"You take too much for granted," he said, recovering himself. "You
suppose that because I agree with you upon one point after another, I
agree with you in the conclusion. You do not even wait to hear my
answer, and you tell me that I am checkmated when I have a dozen moves
from which to choose. Besides, you have directly infringed the
conditions. You have fired before the signal and an arbitration would go
against you. You have done fifty things contrary to agreement, and you
accuse me of being dumb in my own defence. There is not much justice in
that. You promise to tell me a certain secret on condition that I will
tell you another. Then, without saying a word on your own part you
stone me with quick questions and cry victory because I protest. You
begin before I have had so much as--"

"For heaven's sake stop!" cried Maria Consuelo, interrupting a speech
which threatened to go on for twenty minutes. "You talk of chess,
duelling and stoning to death, in one sentence--I am utterly confused!
You upset all my ideas!"

"Considering how you have disturbed mine, it is a fair revenge. And
since we both admit that we have disturbed that balance upon which alone
depends all possibili