“How do you happen to be here?” he asked shortly.
“Dr. Kemp took me to see a poor patient of his.”
“Dr. Kemp?” surprise raised his eyebrows half an inch.
“Yes.”
“Indeed! Then,” he continued in cool, biting words, “why didn’t he carry his charity a little farther and take you home again?”
“Because I did not choose to go with him,” she returned, rearing her head and looking calmly at him as they walked along.
“Bah! What had your wishing or not wishing to do with it? The man knew where he had taken you even if you did not know. This quarter is occupied by nothing but negroes and foreign loafers. It was decidedly ungentlemanly to leave you to return alone at this time of the evening.”
“Probably he gave me credit for being able to take care of myself in broad daylight.”
“Probably he never gave it a second’s thought one way or the other. Hereafter you had better consult your natural protectors before starting out on Quixotic excursions with indifferent strangers.”
“Louis!”