Peter laughed unrestrainedly.
“Linda, you’re simply delicious,” he said. “It seems to me that I have seen young ladies in like case reach round and gather the sash to one side and smooth out the skirt as they sit.”
“Thank you, Peter, of course that would be the way,” said Linda. “This being my first, I’m lacking in experience.”
And thereupon she sat according to direction; while Peter sat opposite her.
“Now finish. Just one word more about Henry Anderson,” he said. “Are you perfectly sure there is nothing I need do for you in that connection?”
“Oh, perfectly,” said Linda lightly. “I didn’t mean to alarm you. He merely carried that bug-catcher nonsense a trifle too far. I wouldn’t have minded humouring him and fooling about it a little. But, Peter, do you know him quite well? Are you very sure of him?”
“No,” said Peter, “I don’t know him well at all. The only thing I am sure about him is that he is doing well in his profession. I chose him because he was an ambitious youngster and I thought I could get more careful attention from him than I could from some of the older fellows who had made their reputation. You see, there are such a lot of things I want to know about in this building proposition, and the last four years haven’t been a time for any man to be careful about saving his money.”
“Then,” said Linda, “he is all right, of course. He must be. But I think I’m like a cat. I’m very complacent with certain people, but when I begin to get goose flesh and hair prickles my head a bit, I realize that there is something antagonistic around, something for me to beware of. I guess it’s because I am such a wild creature.”
“Do you mean to say,” said Peter, “that these are the sensations that Henry gives you?”
Linda nodded.