‘I am only too honoured; the last time I came you did not invite me to sit on the wall.’
‘I am sorry if I appeared inhospitable, but you came so unexpectedly, Mr. Hilliard.’
‘Why “Mr. Hilliard”? When you wrote you called me “dear Jerry.”’
‘That was a slip of the pen; I hope you will excuse it.’
‘When I wrote I called you “Miss Wilder”; that was a slip of the pen too. What I meant to say was, “dear Constance.”’
She let this pass without comment.
‘I have an apology to make.’
‘Yes?’
‘Once, a long time ago, I insulted you; I called you a kid. I take it back; I swallow the word. You were never a kid.’
‘Oh,’ she dimpled, and then, ‘I don’t believe you remember a thing about it?’