'I know you do, and very likely I wouldn't have worried about marrying at all if you had been nicer to me—in other ways. You see, you brought it on yourself!'
'What do you mean? I am nice. Don't you come here whenever you like—or nearly? Didn't I dine with you once—a year or two ago? I forget, but I think I did.'
'You never did,' he answered sharply.
'Then it must have been with somebody else. Of course I didn't. I shouldn't dream of such a thing.'
'Someone else! Yes, of course; that's it. Well, I want you to marry me, Eugenia, because I want to get you away from everyone else. You see my point?'
She laughed. 'Oh, jealousy! That's the last straw. Do you know that you're a nuisance, Cecil?'
'Because I love you?' he said, trying to look into her sly Japanese eyes.
She avoided his glance.
'Because you keep on bothering. Always writing, always telephoning, always calling! As soon as I've disposed of one invitation or excuse to meet, you invent another. But this last idea is quite too exasperating.' She spoke more gently. 'Don't you know, Cecil, that I've been a widow for years? Would I be so ridiculous as to marry again? Why, the one thing I can't stand is being interfered with! I prefer, far prefer, being poor and alone to that. Now what I want you to do is to marry someone else. I have an idea who I should like it to be, but I won't talk about it now. It's the most charming girl in the world. I shan't tell you her name, that would be tactless. It's that lovely Miss Verney, of course. She's much too good for you—an heiress, a beauty, and an orphan! But she's wonderful; and she really deserves you.'
He stopped her.