Page 486 - of-human-bondage-

Philip, but he clenched his teeth to prevent himself from ut-
tering a syllable.
Philip went to the Tivoli and saw Mildred with her com-
panion, a smooth-faced young man with sleek hair and the
spruce look of a commercial traveller, sitting in the second
row of the stalls. Mildred wore a black picture hat with os-
trich feathers in it, which became her well. She was listening
to her host with that quiet smile which Philip knew; she
had no vivacity of expression, and it required broad farce to
excite her laughter; but Philip could see that she was inter-
ested and amused. He thought to himself bitterly that her
companion, flashy and jovial, exactly suited her. Her slug-
gish temperament made her appreciate noisy people. Philip
had a passion for discussion, but no talent for small-talk. He
admired the easy drollery of which some of his friends were
masters, Lawson for instance, and his sense of inferiority
made him shy and awkward. The things which interested
him bored Mildred. She expected men to talk about foot-
ball and racing, and he knew nothing of either. He did not
know the catchwords which only need be said to excite a
laugh.
Printed matter had always been a fetish to Philip, and
now, in order to make himself more interesting, he read in-
dustriously The Sporting Times.