"And they shortened the name to Robinette?"
"I was christened properly enough," she answered. "It was the world that clipped my name's little wings; the world refuses to take me seriously; I can't think why, I'm sure; I never regarded _it_ as a joke."
"A joke," said Lavendar reflectively; "it's a sort of grim one at times; and yet it's funny too," he said, suddenly raising his eyes.
"Now that's the odd thing I was thinking as I looked at you just now," Robinette said frankly. "You seem so deadly solemn until you look up and laugh--and then you _do_ laugh, you know. That's the French grandmother again! It was nice in her to marry your grandfather! It helped a lot!"
He laughed then certainly, and so did she, and then pointed out to him that they were being slowly drifted out of their course, and that if he meant to get across to the landing-stage he must row a little harder.
"I have met American women casually;" he said, bending to his oars, "but I have never known one well."
"It's rather too bad to disturb the tranquillity of your impressions," returned Mrs. Loring composedly.
Lavendar looked up with another twinkle. She seemed to provoke twinkles; he did not realize he had so many in stock.
"You mean American women are not painted in quite the right colours?"
"Oh! I see your point of view!" and Lavendar twinkled again.
"I can tell you in five sentences exactly what you have heard about us. Will you say whether I am right? If you refuse I'll put you in the witness box and then you'll be forced to speak!"
"One: We are clever, good conversationalists, and as cold as icicles."
"Two: We dress beautifully and use extravagant means to compass our ends in this direction."
"Three: We keep our overworked husbands under strict discipline."
"Neither do I, but it's very much played,--"
"Four: We prefer hotels to home life and don't bring up our children well."
"Five: We interfere with the proper game laws by bagging English husbands instead of staying on our own preserves. That's about all, I think. Were not those rumours tolerably familiar to you in the ha'penny papers and their human counterparts?"
Lavendar was so amused by this direct storming of his opinion that he could hardly keep his laughter within bounds. "I've heard one other criticism," he said, "that you were all pretty and all had small feet and hands! I am now able to declare that to be a base calumny and to hope that all the others will prove just as false!" Then Robinette laughed too; eyes, lips, cheeks! When Lavendar looked at her he wished that his father would keep him at Stoke Revel for a month.