terms with each other -- that's the chief thing.'

'There has never been a dream of anything else. We are on good terms as
a matter of course. It's part of the order of the universe.'

'I'm very sorry, dear, that I threatened the universe with catastrophe;
but I won't do it again -- indeed I won't. I will watch your face, and
be on my guard. And really, you know, under ordinary circumstances, I am
good-tempered enough.'

'What's all this about?' cried Harvey. For she seemed to be in earnest,
and spoke with a soft humility, such as might have become the least
original of wives. 'Watch my face, and be on your guard? Since when have
I desired you to be a simpleton?'

'I'm quite serious. It isn't foolish at all. I want to please you;
that's all I mean, dear.'

He gazed at her, wondering, inclined to laugh, yet withheld from it by
an uneasy feeling.

'This kind of talk means defective circulation, lost appetite, and so
on,' was his half-joking answer. 'The way to please me is to get some
colour into your cheeks again, and snub me for my ignorance of music,
and be your own arrogant self. But listen. You're quite mistaken in
thinking I want to stay here till Hugh and his wife come. It won't do.
You're getting far too sweet and docile, and everything detestable. I
had no idea of marrying an angel; it's too bad if you turn seraphic upon
my hands. I wonder, now, whether, by way of pleasing me, you would
answer a plain question?'