"And those—shall I call them unusual?—characteristics in a woman interest you?"
"Amazingly!"
"Why?"
She put the question with a little nervousness, bred of that eagerness of his.
"Because—well, let me say by sheer force of contrast. In those respects, Heaven be thanked, you are not as other women."
The amused look had not left her face. It lingered in the upward curve of the corners of her eyes.
"So you prefer eccentric women, then?"
She could not resist just a trace of mischief in the tone of her query. He answered:
"Heaven forefend! I see nothing eccentric in the attributes I have allotted to you. They are refreshingly good to a thirsty soul."
The amusement and mischief tones left her voice. She asked demurely: