Striver stared at me and his eyes were as hard as a piece of jade. "I love her," he said defiantly.
I was taken aback by this statement, and flushed in my turn, making the not very polite reply, "Nonsense!"
"And why nonsense," shouted Striver, who had by this time completely lost his temper, "how dare you say that? Even though I am a gardener I have the feelings of a human being."
"But your difference in rank," I exclaimed hotly.
"Love levels all ranks."
"Indeed. Then I take it that Miss Monk favors your suit?"
"Mind your own business, Mr. Vance."
"I intend to make it my business," I snapped, now as angry as he was, for it did seem ridiculous that this Claud Melnotte, handsome as he was, should aspire to the apple on the topmost bough.
"You're talking damned rot and damned insolence. If you have never seen Miss Monk, you can't possibly be in love with her," he raged furiously.
"I said nothing about love. But that photograph took my fancy, and I wish to buy it if possible."