She followed the bobbing end of his line a second. He allowed it to sink below the water.
“I can’t make out what you have chosen,” she persisted, squinting her eyes.
“It’s a secret,” he affirmed mysteriously.
“Oh, pardon me,” she apologized, with some pique.
“Willingly,” he murmured politely.
She seemed disposed to allow both subjects to drop but he with discomforting insistence reaffirmed,
“Which leaves you and Carl and myself.”
“But you had a talk with Carl?”
“Yes.”
“And though he seems hurt, it is straightened out as well as it can be, isn’t it?”