"The Matilda saw a whale, or something and shied"
Afterward I learned she had liked me from the first, too, and was afraid I mightn't turn out well. Lucky for me I didn't try to show off!
"I wouldn't think it a compliment to compare you to anything on earth!" says I, meaning every word of it.
She laughed out, hearty as a boy. "Royal!" she said, and held out her hand.
"And the hand is the hand of—?" she asked.
"Bill Saunders," said I, thinking to take off my hat.