I happen to have been born with a good deal of pride, and, when I began to think about myself--it was only a few years ago--I found it necessary to ask what I really had to be proud of.

There was nothing very obvious--no wealth, no rank, no achievements.

It grew clear to me that I had better be proud of _being_ proud, and a good way to that end was to let people know I cared nothing for their opinion.

One gets a good deal of satisfaction out of it." Lashmar listened in a puzzled and uneasy frame of mind.

Theoretically, it should have pleased him to hear a woman talking thus, but the actual effect upon him was repellent.