“Well, why not marry, dearie? Why shouldn’t you marry when the time comes? Girls as young as you are not supposed to have temperaments.”

But instead of answering Page put another question:

“Laura, do you think I am womanly?”

“I think sometimes, Page, that you take your books and your reading too seriously. You’ve not been out of the house for three days, and I never see you without your notebooks and textbooks in your hand. You are at it, dear, from morning till night. Studies are all very well⁠—”

“Oh, studies!” exclaimed Page. “I hate them. Laura, what is it to be womanly?”

“To be womanly?” repeated Laura. “Why, I don’t know, honey. It’s to be kind and well-bred and gentle mostly, and never to be bold or conspicuous⁠—and to love one’s home and to take care of it, and to love and believe in one’s husband, or parents, or children⁠—or even one’s sister⁠—above anyone else in the world.”