"
"A complex being, man," I agreed. "We will call him X. Can you
imagine young X coming to you and saying: 'My dear Robina, you have
many excellent qualities. You can be amiable--so long as you are
having your own way in everything; but thwarted you can be just
horrid. You are very kind--to those who are willing for you to be
kind to them in your own way, which is not always their way. You can
be quite unselfish--when you happen to be in an unselfish mood, which
is far from frequent. You are capable and clever, but, like most
capable and clever people, impatient and domineering; highly
energetic when not feeling lazy; ready to forgive the moment your
temper is exhausted. You are generous and frank, but if your object
could only be gained through meanness or deceit you would not
hesitate a moment longer than was necessary to convince yourself that
the circumstances justified the means. You are sympathetic, tender-
hearted, and have a fine sense of justice; but I can see that tongue
of yours, if not carefully watched, wearing decidedly shrewish. You
have any amount of grit. A man might go tiger-hunting with you--with
no one better; but you are obstinate, conceited, and exacting. In
short, to sum you up, you have all the makings in you of an ideal
wife combined with faults sufficient to make a Socrates regret he'd
ever married you.'"
"Yes, I would!" said Robina, springing to her feet.
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