"Why do you always come at this time? If you drove over in the evening you would find Elcot at home."
She was genuinely provoked by her companion's smile. It so tactlessly implied that she did not mean what she had said. His signal lack of delicacy jarred on her now, though she remembered with faint wonder that she had on previous occasions found a relish in his conversation.
"Well," he answered, "for one reason, I generally call here when I'm going to the bluff. It's convenient to get there for supper."
Florence was annoyed at the opening words. The hint that there was a stronger reason which he had not mentioned was so crude that it savored of mere impertinence. Somehow she felt disappointed in the man. She had, as she realized at length, expected clever compliments from him, firmly finished, subtle boldness that would be just sufficiently apparent to convey a pleasurable thrill, and, with the latter exception, a wholly respectful homage. As to what he had expected she was far from clear, but that was a point of much less account. The polish, however, seemed suddenly to have been rubbed off him, and there was nothing into which she cared to look beneath. Even Elcot would have been capable of something more skilful than his too familiar inanities. What had brought about this change in the way she regarded him she did not know, but there was no doubt that she felt all at once disillusioned. She was in her caprices essentially variable.
"Your supper is evidently a matter of importance to you," she said.
Nevis looked at her sharply.
"Not more than it is to most other men. In return, I wonder if I might point out that you don't seem quite as amiable as usual to-day?"
Florence laughed.
"As a matter of fact, I'm not. Nobody could feel very pleasant at this temperature; and I'm disappointed—with several things." She leaned back languidly in her chair with an air of weariness. "When that happens it's a relief to be disagreeable to anybody who comes along. Besides, you're not in the least entertaining this afternoon."
There was something in her manner that stung the man, and he ventured upon an impertinence.