Malipieri looked at her in surprise. An experienced flirt of thirty could not have uttered the single word more effectively.
"I wonder whether you will ever like me better than you do now," he said, by way of answer.
She was wondering, too, but it was not likely that she would admit it.
"I am very fickle," she replied, with a perfectly self-possessed little laugh.
"So am I," Malipieri answered, following her lead. "My most desperate love affairs have never lasted more than a month or two."
"You have had a great many, I daresay," Sabina observed, with no show of interest. She was amazed and delighted to find how easy it was to act her new part.
"And you," he asked, laughing, "how often have you been in love already?"
"Let me see!"
She turned her eyes to his, without turning her head, and letting the book lie in her lap she pretended to count on her fingers. He watched her gravely, and nodded as she touched each finger, as if he were counting with her. Suddenly she dropped both hands and laughed gaily.
"How childish you are!" she exclaimed.