"Of course I should!" said Juliet.
"Of course!" he mocked. "I am such a peculiarly safe person, am I not?
Every member of your charming sex trusts me instinctively."
She turned and faced him. "Don't be ridiculous, Charles! You see, I happen to know you."
He looked at her with something of the air of a monkey that contemplates snatching some forbidden thing. "Why did you run away?" he said.
She hesitated. "That's a hard question, isn't it?"
"Oh, don't mind me!" he said. "I don't flatter myself I was the cause."
Her dark brows were slightly drawn. "No, you were not," she said. "It was just—it was Lady Jo herself, Charlie. No one else."
"Ah!" His goblin smile flashed out at her. "Poor erring Lady Jo! Don't be too hard on her! She has her points."
She laid her hand quickly on his arm. "Don't try to defend her! She is quite despicable. I have done with her."
His hand was instantly on hers. He laughed into her eyes. "I'll wager you have a lingering fellow-feeling for her even yet."