he exclaimed

"I feel as though we were exactly the same age. Moreover--"here he hesitated, but took courage from a glance at her face,"I feel as if I could talk quite plainly to you as one does to a man--about the relations between the sexes, about . . . and . . ."In spite of his certainty a slight redness came into his face as hespoke the last two words. 　　She reassured him at once by the laugh with which she exclaimed,"I should hope so!"He looked at her with real cordiality, and the lines which weredrawn about his nose and lips slackened for the first time. 　　"Thank God!" he exclaimed. "Now we can behave like civilisedhuman beings."Certainly a barrier which usually stands fast had fallen, and itwas possible to speak of matters which are generally only alludedto between men and women when doctors are present, or the shadowof death. In five minutes he was telling her the history of his life. 　　It was long, for it was full of extremely elaborate incidents,which led on to a discussion of the principles on which moralityis founded, and thus to several very interesting matters,which even in this ballroom had to be discussed in a whisper,lest one of the pouter pigeon ladies or resplendent merchants shouldoverhear them, and proceed to demand that they should leave the place. 　　When they had come to an end, or, to speak more accurately,when Helen intimated by a slight slackening of her attention thatthey had sat there long enough, Hirst rose, exclaiming, "So there'sno reason whatever for all this mystery!""None, except that we are English people," she answered. She took hisarm and they crossed the ball-room, making their way with difficultybetween the spinning couples, who were now perceptibly dishevelled,and certainly to a critical eye by no means lovely in their shapes.