"Now, isn't that nice of you! Do you want to talk, too, or shall I do it all and give you a complete rest?"
"You do it all," said Patty, indolently. "It will be like going to a monologue entertainment."
"At your orders. What subject would you like?"
"Yourself."
"Oh, wise beyond your years! You know the subject that most interests a man."
"That isn't pretty!" And Patty frowned at him. "There ought to be another subject more interesting to you than that!"
"There is; but I don't dare trust myself with HER!"
Mr. Bell's manner and voice were so exactly the right mixture of deferential homage and burlesque that Patty laughed in delight.
"You are the DEAREST man!" she cried.
He looked at her reproachfully. "You said I might do all the talking, and now you're doing it yourself."