"By all means, if you prefer it."
They reversed their course, and moved along for some time in silence. "I think you must understand," Pauline suddenly said, lifting her eyes to Kindelon's face.
"I understand," he replied, with hurt seriousness, "that I was having one of the pleasantest hours I have ever spent, until that man accosted us like a grim fate."
"You must not call my cousin Courtlandt 'that man.' I don't like it."
"I am sorry," he said curtly, and a little doggedly. "I might have spoken more ill of him, but I didn't."
Pauline was biting her lips. "You have no right to speak ill of him," she retorted. "He is my cousin."
"That is just the reason why I held my tongue."
"You don't like him, then?"
"I do not."
"I can readily comprehend it."