"'I could be.' Oh dear, I believe this worm is out after all."
"This is most interesting. I don't mean about the worm. Terry's in luck for once."
"But he thinks me a little girl."
"Little girls can be fascinating. Besides, I'll make it my business to remind him that little girls don't take long to grow up."
"Will you really? But you won't let him know about this talk?"
"Sooner would I be torn in two by wild motor-cars. These confidences are sacred."
"I'll say nice things about you to Maida," I volunteered.
He stared for a minute, and then laughed. "I should tell you not to if I weren't certain that all the nice things in the world might be said on that subject with no more effect upon Miss Destrey than a shower of rain has on my duck's back. You must try and help me not to fall in love with her."
"Why?" I asked.
"Because, for one reason, she'd never fall in love with me; and for another, I couldn't in any event afford to love her, any more than can my friend Terry Barrymore."