He stopped in front of her and she looked up at him. Her eyes rested long on his own; then she broke out: "Why do you hate me so?"
"Was it because you like me personally?" Nick pursued as if he hadn't heard her. "You may think that an odd or positively an odious question; but isn't it natural, my wanting to know?"
"Oh if you don't know!" Julia quite desperately sighed.
"It's a question of being sure."
"Well then if you're not sure——!"
"Was it done for me as a friend, as a man?"
"You're not a man—you're a child," his hostess declared with a face that was cold, though she had been smiling the moment before.
"After all I was a good candidate," Nick went on.
"What do I care for candidates?"
"You're the most delightful woman, Julia," he said as he sat down beside her, "and I can't imagine what you mean by my hating you."