"You discourage me. I was going to give a dinner."
"Go ahead. A few remarks from me won't stop the course of your hospitality. Neither would a few orations. Neither would a few deliberative bodies assembled for a month of sessions, with every member talking from nine till six."
"You think I indulge in too many?"
"Too many what? Festivals? Puns?"
Medora paused, a bit puzzled.
"Puns? Why, I never, never—— Oh, I see!"
"Too many dinners? No. Who could?"
"This one was to be a young people's dinner. I
was going to invite you."
"Thanks. Thanks. Thanks."
"Still, if you think my girls are noisy . . ."
"I was speaking of girls in numbers."
"Well, Bertram Cope didn't find them so."
"Why not?"
"Why not, indeed? They collected in a silent little group behind my sofa . . ."
"Puzzled? Awed?"
"Fudge! Well, save Thursday."
"Is he coming?"
"I trust so."
"Then they do need a constabulary to keep them quiet?"
"Oh, hush!"
"How many are you expecting to have? You know I don't enjoy large parties."
"Could you stand ten?"
"I think so."
