“Quiet submission.”
Rosalie’s eyes opened wide, her lips parted; her expression was one of unfeigned surprise.
“What’s that?”
“To do what you’re told quietly. Now you know, there is no excuse for your not complying.”
“But to submit means to stay here.”
“Of course!”
“But I can’t. Oh, I can’t really! Anything but that.”
“Nothing but that. You come to me with the most unusual request, and I am fool enough to put myself out of the way for you. Then you expect to go away, or rather slip away, without any more words about repayment. And when you are brought back, all this squalling.”
“Nice people are quite content with ‘Thank you.’”
“I’m not nice, and ‘Thank you’ never appeals to me.”