“I can’t possibly go.”
“If you don’t,” he said, “I’m going to sit in the cutter in front of the gate, wherever you’re visiting, all afternoon, and if you try to go out with anybody else he’s got to whip me before he gets you.” And as she laughed—though she blushed a little, too—he continued, seriously: “If you think I’m not in earnest you’re at liberty to make quite a big experiment!”
She laughed again. “I don’t think I’ve often had so large a compliment as that,” she said, “especially on such short notice—and yet, I don’t think I’ll go with you.
“You be ready at ten minutes after two.”
“No, I won’t.”
“Yes, you will!”
“Yes,” she said, “I will!” And her partner for the next dance arrived, breathless with searching.
“Don’t forget I’ve got the third from now,” George called after her.
“I won’t.”
“And every third one after that.”