“But you don’t believe what I say!”
He hesitated.
“What does that matter?” he asked at last.
She stopped short and faced him, but there was no longer any pretense at fierceness in her tone. She was argumentative, and she was charming.
“I don’t like to be disbelieved,” she said; “and I’m not used to it. I resent it, indeed; for you can’t respect a person whom you don’t believe.”
“Oh yes, you can. I don’t quite believe something you told me half an hour ago, but I respect and admire you more than any woman I ever met.”
“But that’s inconsistent!”
“Very likely.”
“You can’t really respect a woman whom you believe to be incapable of speaking the truth.”
“Of course one couldn’t. But I don’t think anything of the kind about you. I think that you have told me what is not true, but I take it that you had your own reasons for doing so, and you are in no way bound to tell me anything but what you please.”