"I shouldn't have taken leave this year, though, if it hadn't been for you."
"You've always been kind and helpful to me ... I hope it hasn't been very ... inconvenient."
Peter laughed, and stopped in the middle of the road.
"I'm fond of fencing," he said lightly, "and free play's all very well and pretty; but I've always thought that the real thing, with the buttons off the foils, must have been a lot more sport than anything we get now."
Again Jan was silent.
"You've fenced with me, Jan," he said slowly, "ever since I turned up that day unexpectedly. Now, I want a straight answer. Do you care at all, or have you only friendship for me? Look at me; tell me the truth."
"It's all so complicated and difficult," she faltered, and her eyes fell beneath Peter's.
"What is?"
"This caring—when you aren't a free agent."
"Free fiddlestick! You either care or you don't—which is it?"