“See here!” George stepped close to her. “Are you glad to see me?”
“You needn’t be so fierce about it!” Lucy protested, laughing at his dramatic intensity. “Of course I am! How long have I been looking forward to it?”
“I don’t know,” he said sharply, abating nothing of his fierceness. “How long have you?”
“Why—ever since you went away!”
“Is that true? Lucy, is that true?”
“You are funny!” she said. “Of course it’s true. Do tell me what’s the matter with you, George!”
“I will!” he exclaimed. “I was a boy when I saw you last. I see that now, though I didn’t then. Well, I’m not a boy any longer. I’m a man, and a man has a right to demand a totally different treatment.”
“Why has he?”
“What?”
“I don’t seem to be able to understand you at all, George. Why shouldn’t a boy be treated just as well as a man?”