"I am willing to be—amenable to reason. That's all you ought to expect." A fresh idea took root. "Can't we effect a compromise? A truce, or something of the sort? All I ask is that you explain your presence here. I will promise to be as generous as possible under the circumstances."
"Will you give me three days in which to think it over?" she asked, after a long pause.
"No."
"Well, two days?"
"I'll give you until to-morrow afternoon at five, when I shall expect you to receive me in person."
"That is quite impossible."
"But I demand the right to go wherever I please in my own castle. You—"
"If you knew just how circumspect I am obliged to be at present you wouldn't impose such terms, Mr. Smart."
"Oho! Circumspect! That puts a new light on the case. What have you been up to, madam?" I spoke very severely.
She very properly ignored the banality. "If I should write you a nice, agreeable letter, explaining as much as I can, won't you be satisfied?"