QUEX.

[_Relaxing slightly._] It may be so, of course, without one's being
conscious of it.

SOPHY.

_May_ be so! ah, ha! not conscious of it! ho! [_Slapping his hand again,
soundly._] Artful!

QUEX.

[_Flattered and amused._] No, no, I assure you! ha, ha!

[_They laugh together. His constraint gradually diminishes. After
shaking some liquid soap from a bottle into the bowl, she places the
bowl beside him on the bench._

SOPHY.

[_While doing this._] My young ladies at a-hundred-and-eighty-five all
agree with me about you.

QUEX.

Do they?

SOPHY.