"She told me so, ever so long ago." "She told you so?" Vanbrugh's tone betrayed his annoyance. "Yes. Why are you angry? I am her best friend. Was it not natural that she should tell me?" "I hardly know." A pause followed, during which Stubbs entered the room, bringing tea. When he was gone and Dolly had filled Vanbrugh's cup she took up the conversation again. "Are you thinking about it?" she asked, with a smile. "About what?" Vanbrugh looked up quickly over his cup. "Whether it was natural or not?" "No, I was wondering whether you would still believe it." "Why should I?" asked Dolly. "You might. In spite of what I tell you. You know very little of my life." "Oh, I know a great deal," said the young girl with much conviction. "I know all about you. You are successful, and rich and popular and happy, and lots of things." "Am I?" asked Vanbrugh rather sadly. "Yes. Everybody knows you are." "You are quite sure that I am happy?" "Unless you tell me that you are not." "How oddly people judge us," exclaimed Vanbrugh. "Because a man behaves like a human being, and is not cross at every turn, and puts his shoulder to the wheel, to talk and be agreeable in society, everybody thinks he is happy." "Of course." Dolly smiled. "If you were unhappy you would go and sit in corners by yourself and mope and be disagreeable. But you do not, you see. You are always 'on hand' as they call it, always ready to make things pleasant for everybody." "That is because I am so good-natured." "What is good nature?" "A combination of laziness and vulgarity," Vanbrugh answered promptly. "Oh!" "Yes," said Vanbrugh. "The vulgarity that wishes to please everybody, and the laziness that cannot say no." "You are not a lawyer for nothing. But you are not lazy and you are not vulgar. If you were I should not like you." "Do you like me?" asked Vanbrugh quickly. "Very much," she answered with a little laugh. "You just made me define good nature, Miss Maylands. How do you define liking?" "Oh, it is very vague," said Dolly in an airy tone. "It is a sort of uncly, auntly thing." "Oh. I see." "Do you?" "Uncles and aunts sometimes marry, do they not?" "What an idea? They are always brothers and sisters." "Unless they are uncles and aunts of different people," suggested Vanbrugh.