“Well, then, I don’t like overhearing them.”
“That,” said she, “is unavoidable. Believe me, you are doing me a kindness by sharing my table. If you didn’t sit there somebody else would—and I trust you. Really, you are doing me a great kindness.”
“Very well, then. If that is the case, I don’t mind—or, at all events, I shall try to mind as little as possible.”
Presently, Lovelace brought our entrées.
“Where is my answer?” she asked.
Without a moment’s pause, he replied:
“The answer, Madame, is ‘No.’”
“But,” said she firmly, as though stating an incontrovertible fact, “but you will change your mind.”
When he had left our table, she turned to me with a smile.
“Have you ever been in love?” she asked.