“You said you loved dancing,” he suggested.
“Not now,” said Emmy. “It’s getting late. If you don’t mind, I’d like to go home.”
“Just as you please,” replied Kirby.
They finished the dinner in silence. Kirby paid the preposterous bill, and they went out to the taxi.
“You needn’t bother to come with me,” said Emmy politely.
“No bother at all,” returned Kirby, equally polite. “I’ll see you safely to the station.”
“I’m going to a friend’s house in the city.”
He got in beside her. He sat as far from her as he could, and neither of them spoke one word during all that long drive. In his heart he felt a great remorse and regret, but he would not let her know that.
But when the cab stopped at the address she had given him, and he helped her out, he could no longer maintain that stubborn, miserable silence.
“I’m sorry,” he told her. “I didn’t mean it to be like this.”