"A regular chaperone, ain't you?"
Tom did not reply though it roiled him. He thought about the remark at length but the thing which interested him was that Hepburn had used the same word that McKee had used.... Was that, he asked himself, mere chance?
They had ridden far to the eastward one afternoon and returning long after dark Jane made a meal herself and they ate together at her table. Beck was noticeably restrained and when finished hastened to leave.
"Can't you sit and talk with me a while?" she asked.
"I could, ma'am, but is it necessary?"
"Not necessary to the business, perhaps, but it might mean a pleasant evening for me."
He gave her steady gaze for steady gaze and then said:
"Anybody would think you were courtin' me, ma'am."
She laughed easily, yet her gaze wavered. She asked:
"And what if I should be?"