It did not turn away Marion's wrath. 'So I see,' she snapped.
I kicked her gently under the table. 'Marion, dear,' I remonstrated.
'Nothing in the world will ever improve me,' continued William.
'I'm sure of it,' replied Marion, 'it's in your system.'
She seemed in a most contrary mood that evening. For instance, William had remarked quite nicely and affably that he considered smoking pernicious for women. He said his mother had always declared it was, and he thought they were better without it. Whereupon Marion, who dislikes the weed as a general rule, immediately got up, took a cigarette from the box on the table and asked William for a light.
'I suppose I'm shocking you terribly,' she remarked to him.
[Illustration: 'I suppose I'm shocking you terribly.']
'I don't think there's anything you could do that would shock me now,' he replied. It was rather a peculiar retort, especially as he laid a faint accent on the 'you.' Evidently he wished to have his revenge for what she had said to him at dinner.