"Was that one of my childish customs?" he asked. "I'd forgotten."
"I nearly stood up and shook hands."
"I'm glad you didn't."
"I thought you'd feel like that. I remembered that you had been rather a touchy little boy——"
"I was thinking of your friends. Howard, for instance."
"Why, do you know Howard?"
"By sight."
"If you've never even spoken to him you can't, of course, tell what he would have felt. Do you mind walking home with me? I don't live far from here, and we can talk better."
He held his ground, obstinate and defiant. It was unjust that anyone, knowing himself to be brilliantly clever, should yet be made an oaf by an incident so trivial.
"I'm sorry. I don't see what we can have to talk about. I'm not keen on childish recollections. I haven't time for them. And it's fairly obvious we don't move in the same set and are not likely to meet again." He burst out rudely. "I suppose you were just curious——"