LOLLY WILLOWES
thing in my power to be agreeable and reassuring . . . What more do you want?"
"That is exactly what I complain of. You are too lifelike to be natural; why, it might be Goethe's Conversations with Eckermann. No! if I am really a witch, treat me as such. Satisfy my curiosity. Tell me about yourself."
"Tell me first what you think," he answered.
"I think"—she began cautiously (while he hid his cards it would not do to show all hers)—"I think you are a kind of black knight, wandering about and succouring decayed gentlewomen."
"There are warlocks too, remember."
"I can't take warlocks so seriously, not as a class. It is we witches who count. We have more need of you. Women have such vivid imaginations, and lead such dull lives. Their pleasure in life is so soon over; they are so dependent upon others, and their dependence so soon becomes a nuisance. Do you understand?"
He was silent. She continued, slowly, knitting her brows in the effort to make clear to herself and him the thought that was in her mind:
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