“I want you to understand this,” he said, and his voice had softened, a rare variation, nor was it steady. “I have not let myself go because you proposed that compact. I am quite willing to forget it.”
“But I am not. I expect you to remember it.”
“Very well, we can settle that later. Meanwhile, for this week, we will be happy. Have you ever let any man kiss you before?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know? What a thing to say!”
“Some one may have found me napping, you know.”
“You are very fond of being enigmatical. Why can’t you give a straight answer to a straight question?”
“Well—what I meant was that you should not ask impertinent questions. But, if you insist,—as far as I know, only two men have kissed me,—you and my father.”
He drew a quick breath. The ugliest fear that had haunted him took flight. He believed her to be truthful.