'I'm not in love with any one,' said Lushington sharply.
'Then something you have heard about me has changed you in spite of what you say, and I have a right to know what it is, because I've done nothing I'm ashamed of.'
'I've not heard a word against you,' he answered, almost angrily. 'Why do you imagine such things?'
'Because I'm honest enough to own that your friendship has meant a great deal to me, even at a distance; and as I see that it has broken its neck at some fence or other, I'm natural enough to ask what the jump was like!'
He would not answer. He only looked at her suddenly for an instant, with a slight pinching of the lids, and his blue eyes glittered a little; then he turned away with a displeased air.
'Am I just or not?' Margaret asked, almost sternly.
'Yes, you are just,' he said, for it was impossible not to reply.
'And do you think it is just to me to change your manner altogether, without giving me a reason? I don't!'
'You will force me to say something I would rather not say.'
'That is what I am trying to do,' Margaret retorted.