“But you are; you can’t help being. You only did it purely and simply to annoy me. You knew I did not want to dance with you, so you thought you would make me, just for an amusement for yourself—because it’s a new experience to have an unwilling partner, or something equally silly. It was only on a par with most of your actions.”
Lawrence slowly knocked some ash off his cigarette.
“I can’t understand Miss Carew helping you,” Paddy ran on. “If she is going to marry you, it is no reason why she should encourage you in annoying other people.”
Lawrence raised his eyebrows slightly.
“What makes you think Miss Carew is going to marry me?” he asked.
“Well, when people are engaged to each other, don’t they usually marry!”
There was a faint gleam of amusement in his eyes, but he managed to hide it by studying the end of his cigarette.
“And what makes you think Miss Carew and I are engaged to each other?”
Paddy shook herself with an irritable movement.
“Because you are, of course! I have known it a long time.”