The widow sat up straight.
"But you didn't do it, Billy Travers!"
"Of course I did. It seemed almost an insult not to. And what did she do? She jerked it away, flung herself from me, rose like an outraged queen, turned on me with that 'I-thought-you-were-a-gentleman' air and said——"
The widow lay back in her chair and laughed.
"Oh, mercy!" she said, wiping the tears from her eyes when she was able. "Excuse me but—but—how did she look when she did it?"
"Well," confessed the bachelor, "she did look rather stunning."
"That's why she did it," explained the widow between laughs. "A woman's reason for doing most things is because she thinks she will look well doing them."
"Or because she thinks you will look surprised if she does them."
"Or because she wants to attract your attention."
"Or to make you feel uncomfortable."