"When I came here to live with you," said Queed, "I understood, of course, that you would be contributing several times as much toward our joint expenses as I. To a certain degree, you would be supporting me. Naturally, I did not altogether like that. But you constantly assured me, you may remember, that you would rather put your savings into a home than anything else, that you could not manage it without my assistance, and that you considered my companionship as fully offsetting the difference in the money we paid. So I became satisfied that the arrangement was honorable to us both."
Surface spoke with fine courtesy. "All this is so true, your contribution toward making our house a home has been so much greater than my own, that I feel certain nothing can have happened to disturb your satisfaction."
"Yes," said Queed. "I have assumed all the time that the money you were spending here was your own."
There was a silence. Queed looked at the table-cloth. He had just become aware that his task was hateful to him. The one thing to do was to get it over as swiftly and decisively as possible.
"I am at a loss," said the old man, dryly, "to understand where the assumption comes in, in view of the fact that I have stated, more than once—"
"I am forced to tell you that I cannot accept these statements."
For a moment the brilliant eyes looked dangerous. "Are you aware that your language is exceedingly offensive?"
"Yes. I'm very sorry. Nevertheless, this tooth must come out. It has suddenly become apparent to me that you must be spending here the income on hardly less than seventy-five thousand dollars. Do you seriously ask me to believe, now that I directly bring up the matter, that you amassed this by a few years of school-teaching?"
Surface lit a cigarette, and, taking a slow puff, looked unwinkingly into the young man's eyes, which looked as steadily back into his own. "You are mistaken in assuming," he said sternly, "that, in giving you my affection, I have given you any right to cross-examine me in—"
"Yes, you gave it to me when you invited me to your house as, in part, your guest—"