"That's not consistent, for sociological problems can hardly be solved without the aid of—"
"Oh!" Her pent-up temper exploded. "I didn't come in here to—to listen to a dissertation on—" Rage choked her and she couldn't go on.
"I should be very much interested to learn what you did come in for."
"You're a beast!" she flashed at me.
"Come now, you don't mean that. As a matter of fact, I'm merely a mild-mannered person of studious instincts hired to carry out a most valuable experiment in comparative psychology."
"I have no interest in your experiments."
"Or the object of them?" I put in quickly. She found that difficult to answer.
"You must admit that my inquiry is natural," I went on suavely. "Since Jerry has just promised to give you his entire fortune, it seems to me only fair that his executors—"
"Will you be silent?" she cried, stopping suddenly. "It seems that I'm at your mercy. You will at least have the decency to let me go in peace."
She broke away, running aimlessly. I followed rapidly, my conscience hurting, but my purpose relentless.