''
``I never am. Haven't you noticed that women with a
really perfect profile like mine are seldom even moderately
agreeable?''
``I don't think your profile is so perfect as all that,''
said the Baroness.
``It would be surprising if it wasn't. My mother was one
of the most noted classical beauties of her day.''
``These things sometimes skip a generation, you know,''
put in the Baroness, with the breathless haste of one to
whom repartee comes as rarely as the finding of a
gold-handled umbrella.
``My dear Sophie,'' said the Gr
fin sweetly, ``that
isn't in the least bit clever; but you do try so hard that I
suppose I oughtn't to discourage you. Tell me something:
has it ever occurred to you that Elsa would do very well for
Wratislav? It's time he married somebody, and why not
Elsa?''
``Elsa marry that dreadful boy!'' gasped the Baroness.
``Beggars can't be choosers,'' observed the Grfin.
``Elsa isn't a beggar!''
``Not financially, or I shouldn't have suggested the
match. But she's getting on, you know, and has no
pretensions to brains or looks or anything of that sort.''
``You seem to forget that she's my daughter.
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