‘If,’ she said presently, ‘you had told him the truth, if you had said to him, look, you are old and short and fat, and though I like you the only reason I am really here is to get a ride on your boat –’ she began to laugh, fanning her face with the menu ‘– if you had said those things to him, you understand, you would have heard some truths in return. If you had been frank you would have elicited frankness.’