Mrs. Somers: "About what?" Campbell: "My being a bore." Mrs. Somers: "I should think _you_ would know." Campbell: "No; that's the difficulty. Nobody would be a bore if he knew it." Mrs. Somers: "Oh, _some_ would, I think." Campbell: "Do you mean me?" Mrs. Somers: "Well, no, then. I don't believe you would be a bore, if you knew it. Is that enough? or do you expect me to say something more?" Campbell: "No, it's quite enough, thank you." He remains pensively silent. Mrs. Somers, after waiting for him to speak: "Bores for bores, don't you hate the silent ones most?" Campbell, desperately rousing himself: "Mrs. Somers, if you only knew how disagreeable I was going to make myself just before I concluded to hold my tongue!" Mrs. Somers: "Really? What were you going to say?" Campbell: "Do you actually wish to know?" Mrs. Somers: "Oh no; I only thought you wished to tell." Campbell: "Not at all. You complained of my being silent." Mrs. Somers: "Did I? I was wrong. I will never do so again." She laughs in her fan. Campbell: "And I complain of your delay. You can tell me now, just as well as two weeks hence, whether you love me enough to marry me or not." Mrs. Somers: "You promised not to recur to that subject without some hint from me. You have broken your promise." Campbell: "Well, you wouldn't give me any hint." Mrs. Somers: "How can I believe you care for me if you are false in this?" Campbell: "It seems to me that my falsehood is another proof of my affection." Mrs. Somers: "Very well, then; you can wait till I know my mind." Campbell: "I'd rather know your heart. But I'll wait." After a pause: "Why do you carry a fan on a day like this? I ask, to make general conversation." Mrs. Somers, spreading the fan in her lap, and looking at it curiously: "I don't know." After a moment: "Oh yes; for the same reason that I shall have ice-cream after dinner to-day." Campbell: "That's no reason at all." After a moment: "Are you going to have ice-cream to-day after dinner?" Mrs. Somers: "I might. If I had company." Campbell: "Oh, I couldn't stay after hinting. I'm too proud for that." He pulls his chair nearer and joins her in examining the fan in her lap. "What is so very strange about your fan?" Mrs. Somers: "Nothing. I was just seeing how a fan looked that was the subject of gratuitous criticism." Campbell: "I didn't criticise the _fan_." He regards it studiously. Mrs. Somers: "Oh! _Not_ the fan?" Campbell: "No; I think it's extremely pretty. I like big fans." Mrs. Somers: "So good of you! It's Spanish. That's why it's so large." Campbell: "It's hand-painted, too." Mrs. Somers, leaning back, and leaving him to the inspection of the fan: "You're a connoisseur, Mr. Campbell." Campbell: "Oh, I can tell hand-painting from machine-painting when I see it. 'Tisn't so good." Mrs. Somers: "Thank you."