"Besides, it is all very improper," she added.
"The shoe?" I cried.
"No; the shoe is proper enough."
"You admit it, then!"—joyfully.
"I refer to the dialogue between two persons who have not been introduced."
"Convention! Formality! Detestable things, always setting Romance at arm's length, and making Truth desire to wear fashionable clothes."
"Nevertheless, this is improper," she repeated.
"Why, it doesn't matter at all," I said negligently. "We both have been invited to this house to dance; that is to say, our hostess would not invite any objectionable persons. What you mean to say is, unconventional. And I hate convention and formality."
"Are you a poet, then?"—with good-natured derision.
"Oh, no; I have an earning capacity and a pleasant income."