"Rudeness!"
"Yes!"
She spoke with a certain tone of defiance; her anger blinding her to the fitness of things—he was really but an acquaintance; continued:
"I think so. Tell me, what did you read?"
His silence incensed her more. Tapping her foot impatiently at his manifest reluctance to answer, she went on:
"What does it matter? You say you read the exact opposite of the truth."
"If you insist——"
She was in buckram in a moment; pride stiffened her. Drawing herself up, she interrupted him; spoke with an imperious little gesture:
"Oh, no! I have no right to do that. I merely asked."
Miss Mivvins rose to her feet: a woman's way of terminating an interview. In his sorrow—disappointment—once more he touched her hand restrainingly.