If I were clever I suppose I could make myself over and begin to jump about and imitate the sort of animation I never had; but I'm not really clever, for I've tried and I can't do it.
It only makes me feel silly to pretend to be what I am not." Her confession struck him, while he listened to it, as the sweetest and most womanly one he had ever heard.
"I cannot imagine your pretending," he answered, and felt that the remark was as inane as if he had quoted it from a play.

After a moment, as she seemed to be waiting for something, he continued with greater assurance, "I dare say they have a quality that the older generation missed.

It isn't just commonness.

The modern spirit means, I suppose, a breathless vitality.

We are more intensely alive than our ancestors, perhaps, more restless, more inclined to take risks." The phrases he had used made him think suddenly of Gideon Vetch.