"Oh!"
"Miss Reid, I am going to ask you a favor—a great favor."
"Yes?"
"You have known me now almost a year."
"Yes."
"And, yet, to be exact, you do not know me at all."
She did not answer, but looked at him steadily.
"And that, in a way," he continued, "makes it easy for me to ask the favor; that is, if you feel that you can trust me ever so little—trust me, I mean, to the extent of believing me sincere."
"I know that you are sincere, Patches," she answered, gravely.
"Thank you," he returned. Then he said gently, "I want you to let me talk to you about what is most emphatically none of my business. I want you to let me ask you impertinent questions. I want you to talk to me about"—he hesitated; then finished with meaning—"about your career."