"Oh, well," she said easily, "I suppose artists must amuse themselves, occasionally--the same as the rest of us." "I don't think that, '_amuse_' is exactly the word, Mrs.Taine," the other returned coldly.
"No?
Surely you don't meant to tell me that it is anything serious ?" "I don't mean to tell you anything about it," he retorted rather sharply.
She laughed.

"You don't need to.

Jim has already told me quite enough.

Mr.
King, himself, will tell me more." "Not unless he's a bigger fool than I think," growled the novelist.
Again, she laughed into his face, mockingly.

"You men are all more or less foolish when there's a woman in the case, aren't you ?" To which, the other answered tartly, "If we were not, there would be no woman in the case." As Conrad Lagrange spoke, Louise, exhausted by her efforts to achieve that sunset in the mountains with her limited supply of adjectives, floundered hopelessly into the expressive silence of clasped hands and heaving breast and ecstatically upturned eyes.