‘There’s nothing to spare,’ said Catherine. ‘I assure you I don’t mind telling you what happened.’
‘You should blush,’ said Stephen, leaning forward on his knuckles. ‘You should blush.’
‘Blush?’ she repeated.
‘Do you not know that you are fatally compromised?’
‘My dear Stephen——’
He longed to forbid her to call him by that name.
‘Fatally,’ he said.
‘My dear Stephen, don’t be ridiculous. I know it was most unfortunate that I shouldn’t get back till this morning——’
‘Unfortunate!’
‘But who will ever hear about it? And I couldn’t help it. You don’t suppose I liked it?’