She was so pleased that she put down the MSS. and leaned toward him with both hands clasped together.
"You are very, very kind," she said, impressively.
"No, merely truthful," he replied. "With your permission I want to retain that last quality in all my conversations with you. When you ask me a question I wish to be perfectly free to answer according to my honest convictions."
"It is what I especially desire," she said, brightening. "No one able to judge has heard anything of this story except your friend, Mr. Gouger. I know it is bold, sometimes I think it is brazen. I can conceive that there are excellent people who would say it never should have been written. To my mind, the moral I have drawn more than justifies the plainness of my speech. You can tell better than I where I have overstepped the proper bounds, if there be such places. You are, of course, a man of the world—"
The protesting expression on the face of her companion arrested her at this point.
"That depends on what you mean by 'a man of the world?'"
"It is a common expression."
"And has many definitions. Before I plead guilty to it, I want to know just how much you intend by it."
Miss Fern put down the page she had taken up and a puzzled look crossed her pretty face.
"You make it hard for me to explain myself," she said. "I suppose I meant—"