He held up the silver knife and smiled.
"I do not understand," she said, affecting a look of surprise.
"I was going to ask your permission to take your hand."
"Indeed? Why? There it is." She held it out frankly.
He took the beautiful fingers in his and looked at them for a moment. Then he quietly raised them to his lips.
"That was not included in the permission," she said, with a little laugh and drawing back. "Now you ought to go away at once."
"Why?"
"Because that little ceremony can belong only to the beginning or the end of a visit."
"I have only just come."
"Ah? How long the time has seemed! I fancied you had been here half an hour."