'May I ask if you still think seriously of leaving me?' he asked sarcastically.
'I haven't settled anything yet.'
'Why is that? Won't Anne go with you?'
She avoided answering, but said, 'I've been thinking things over, Cecil, and assuming that what you told me yesterday was true—that you met that woman for the first time again yesterday—I will not—go away. We will remain outwardly as we have been. But as long as I believe, as I do, that you are in love with her, I intend to be merely a friend to you.'
'A friend? What utter nonsense! I refuse to consent to anything so absurd. I won't stand it!'
'I shall not,' continued Hyacinth, taking no notice, 'interfere with your freedom at all. I don't ask you not to see her. You can go there when you like. I couldn't bear the idea that I was putting a restraint on your liberty, so that even if you offered—which you haven't—to give up seeing her at all—I wouldn't accept such a sacrifice!'
Cecil laughed impatiently.
'Considering I've avoided her till yesterday—'
'Ah, you admit it! That shows—that proves you care for her.'
'Don't you own yourself you were probably wrong—that you misunderstood about the drive?' he asked.