"He seemed to me quite normal," she said, "because I had no idea of
anything else. But now that I know the truth, of course I realise at
once that he was not so. And, oh, Dr. Dick, I had a terrible scene with
Ronnie!"
Dick stood up.
"Tell me," he said.
"I told Ronnie that he was utterly, preposterously, and altogether
selfish, and that I was ashamed of him."
"Whew! You certainly did not mince matters," said Dr. Dick. "What had
poor old Ronnie done?"
"He had talked, from the moment of his return, of very little save the
'cello he has brought home. He had suggested that it might amuse me to
put it into a bassinet. Then when at last tea was over, he proposed, as
the most delightful proceeding possible, that we should adjourn to the
studio, and that I should sit and listen while he made a first attempt
to play his 'cello--which, by the way, he calls, the 'Infant of Prague,'
explaining to me that it is the nicest infant that ever was."
"Oh, that confounded Infant!" exclaimed Dr. Dick. "I have hated it from
the first! But really, Mrs. West "--he looked puzzled--"all this was no
doubt enthusiasm misplaced. But then Ronnie always is a perfect infant
himself, where new toys are concerned. You can hardly realise how much
he has looked forward to showing you that 'cello. His behaviour also
proved a decided tendency to self-absorption; but there the artistic
temperament comes in, which always creates a world of its own in which
it dwells content, often at the expense of duties and obligations
connected with outer surroundings.
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