"Go away, you precocious imp, and don't talk nonsense."
"There's many a true word spoke in nonsense, as mother says, sir. She's great on proverbs, is mother!" and with this parting shot Bottles rapidly disappeared, grinning amiably and very much excited. Hench wondered at the boy's mysterious hints and could not for the life of him see how they could have anything to do with his own affairs. However, thinking that Bottles was merely drawing on his imagination, he dismissed the matter from his mind.
And, indeed, for the next few days, and until the return of the absent, the young man found his hands full enough. Zara being alone, with neither her mother nor Bracken at her elbow, Hench thought that he might as well take advantage of the opportunity to carry on an uninterrupted wooing. He escorted Zara to the music-hall and escorted her home again. He took her sundry walks, gave her sundry meals in restaurants, and provided her with cheap amusements in the form of cinematograph entertainments. Zara, who really liked Hench, was very grateful for his attentions, but she resolutely refused to allow him to make love to her. With the dexterity of a woman she managed to keep him at arm's length; but one evening while he conducted her to business the young man managed to get nearer to his divinity. Certainly the crowded streets, flaring with gas-lights, were unfit surroundings for love-making. But Hench had to carry on his romance as best he could, since Zara was so clever in throwing obstacles in his way. On this occasion, however, he broke through them.
"You are very cruel to me," he remarked, after many minutes of desultory conversation, and seizing the opportunity when the pair turned down into a quiet side street, "very cruel indeed."
The handsome girl was silent for a moment or so. "It's no use my pretending to misunderstand you, Mr. Hench," she said at length. "What's the time?"
Rather surprised by the irrelevance of the question, Hench looked at his very cheap watch. "Eight o'clock."
"Well, I'm not on until a quarter to nine, and although I do take a long time to dress, I can give you ten minutes."
"Oh, thank you, Zara. You are----"
"Don't make any mistake, Mr. Hench. I won't have those ten minutes spent in love-making, which would bore me and waste your time."
"No time spent upon you is wasted, Zara."