“I think that’s just an attitude,” she said, looking at him shrewdly.
“Oh well, you’ll see—if you don’t cast me off.”
She impulsively slipped her hand through his arm. “Oh, Wilfred, I do want you for a friend!” she said. “I have nobody to talk to but you.”
Wilfred was very happy. He thought without bitterness: I suppose I am a poor-spirited creature. Thankful for small favors. He said: “Why not? That thing is cleared away now. There are no bars between us. That’s why I spoke.”
“You have already given me three different reasons for speaking,” she remarked acutely.
Wilfred laughed. “All true! Life is not so simple!”
“You’re a funny man!”
“You know nothing about men,” said Wilfred. “You only recognize one quality in men. You want me for your friend, yet you despise me because I am willing to come in on that basis.”
“Not despise!” she said quickly.
“Well, supply your own word.”