"Miss Merriwayne and I were boy and girl friends together," observed Bretton with unruffled blandness. "But for the moment it is not personal reminiscence that concerns me most." Towering, dominant, absolutely relentless, but still serene, he 186 blocked Miss Merriwayne's exit. "Just—what, Clytie," he asked, "were you calling my little girl?"
"You heard what I called her, Mr. Bretton!" said Miss Merriwayne. "I called her a wanton!"
Above the flare of a fresh match and a fresh cigarette Jaffrey Bretton restudied her face.
"And—do—you—find it convenient now to retract it?" he asked.
"I am not in the habit of retracting my statements," said Miss Merriwayne.
"S—o?" mused Jaffrey Bretton. As though by pure accident, his eyes strayed to the blue prints on the table. "What have we here?" he smiled, "building plans?"
Sardonically from his own particular silence Sheridan Kaire's laugh rang out.
"Those are the plans for the new library," he confided, "that your daughter and I are considering giving to her—to her Alma Mater!"
Humor for humor Jaffrey Bretton's laugh answered his. "Good stuff!" he said, "the one bright thought!"
"And you?" he addressed one stranger, "are the—the possible 187 architect?"