“You know that my vanity is touched to the quick. But will you tell me why you are doing all you can to turn my head, if you don’t want me to make love to you?”
“I do want you to.”
Clive laid down his pipe.
“No! It would be a pity to let it go out, and it might set my forest on fire. Do let me finish. Women are not like men. A man is fascinated by a woman, and his one impulse is to get at her, and without loss of time; a woman may have the same impulse, but the dislike of being won too quickly, the desire to be sure of herself, above all, the wish to make the man more serious—all these things hold her back. So I don’t want you to make love to me to-night.”
“Which means that I may later?”
“I don’t know. That will depend on a good many things, one of which is whether I break my engagement with Schuyler Van Rhuys or not. I have some slight sense of honor.”
Clive colored hotly, and for the moment his ardor left him.
“Are you thinking of breaking it off?”
“Somewhat.”
“Is it true that you have been engaged fifteen times?”