"Well, then! Am I or am I not to stop the taxi and get out?"
"Wait," Marise temporised. "You must please understand that I'm not going to live with you as your wife."
"I haven't asked you to do so, although you did ask me to become your husband. After last Sunday, I would never have started the subject, or even have tried to meet you again. Please, on your part, understand that."
The girl's breath was caught away for the dozenth time. She spoke more quietly. "I know you haven't asked me, in so many words," she admitted. "But you spoke of a suite."
"Certainly I spoke of a suite. I thought you and your mother were anxious to keep up conventions. Though I'm not Severance's sort of gentleman—perhaps because I'm not—you can trust me not to behave like a brute, even though you're thinking that I speak like one. Or, if you can't trust me as far as that, you ought never to have run the risk you have run."
"But can I trust you—to keep to the bargain?"
"I've told you that owing to your own act, there is no bargain. Haven't you solved that 'puzzle' yet?"
"I have not."
"You will soon. Do I stop here?"
"Bargain or no bargain then, can I trust you?"