"Don't let us keep you if you have another appointment," she said, without looking at him.
He left after a few more words with the old man, who began at last to smell something wrong.
"What's the matter, Cly?" he asked.
She had sat down and was pretending to read. Now she looked up casually:
"Oh, nothing much, father, except that he was impertinent enough to question me about something that didn't concern him."
"H'm!" Mr. Payson took a seat with a grunt and unfolded his newspaper. "I'm sorry you two don't get on any better."
"We'd get on well enough if he'd only believe that when I say 'no' I mean it."
He stared at her, suddenly possessed by a new thought. "Is there anybody else in the field, Cly?"
"There are many other men that I prefer to Blanchard Cayley."
"What is this about your being with this palmist chap?"