"So are you," she murmured, with a languorous look through her lashes.
It was exactly the wrong thing for her to say; but Miriam persistently misread Jack. So long as she defied him and abused him he was profoundly stirred; he longed to seize and tame her. But when she displayed a disposition to woo him, he suddenly chilled and drew back. He did not let her see it of course. To create a diversion he jumped up to attend to the coffee machine.
"Silly for us to quarrel," she said, when he returned to the table.
"Yes, isn't it?" said Jack.
"Our real interests lie together. If we go on fighting each other, we'll spoil both our games."
It just suited Jack to play up to this idea of their respective positions. "You're right," he said.
"I offered before to join with you," she said.
"But you have me at a disadvantage," objected Jack. "If you marry Bobo you'll have a legal hold over him. Where will I and my job be then? You as good as told me you'd kick me out."
"That was when I was angry," she said blandly. "What a woman says when she's angry doesn't count."
"But you might get angry again," suggested Jack dryly.