He looked at Helen with all the intimate humorous affection of old friendship. Then he turned, speaking gravely to Osmund:
'What you mean, sir, with all that business of affirming and denying I simply don't understand. I've been quite honest with you. I've attempted to conceal nothing. I do think the world a rotten place. I believe that we are a decadent race, that we have failed and shall shortly return to the air and water that have composed us. I find human beings mean, treacherous, weak and cowardly. But why that should irritate you I can't conceive. There's nothing personal about it, I assure you. You think differently. You're an optimist, although you don't look one. Well, I don't blame you for it. I like you the better. Why should we not agree to differ?'
Helen says that Osmund li
