"It is. You have pre-empted this claim."
"Suppose I am a little non-committal, and should say, You may spend the evening, you may stay till to-morrow; would you be content?"
"No, indeed, but I would have to submit."
"Well, this is rich. Who ever heard of an editor—and the shrewd, alert, night editor at that—in such a dilemma! Do you realize what an unwise step you have taken? Mr. Yocomb justly complimented your shrewdness in getting Mrs. Yocomb on your side, and having won her over you were safe, and might have remained in this Eden as long as you chose. Now you place it within the power—the caprice even—of an utter stranger to send you out into the wilderness again."
I said, with a smile, "I am satisfied that you differ from your mother
Eve in one respect."
"Ah! in what respect?"
"You are not the kind of woman that causes banishment from Eden."
"You know very little about me, Mr. Morton."
"I know that."
She smiled and looked pleased in spite of herself.