"Mr. Lyttleton!"
"I want to believe you."
"You've no right not to!"
"But what, will you tell me, are you doing out here this time of night?"
"I came out because I wanted to--I was restless, couldn't sleep."
He reflected upon this doubtfully. "Funny freak," he remarked.
"You're impertinent!"
"I don't mean to be. Forgive me. I'm only puzzled--"
"So am I puzzled," she retorted with spirit. "Suppose you tell me what you're doing out here at this time of night--down on the beach--anxious to escape notice. If you ask me, I call that a funnier freak than mine!"
"Quite so," he agreed soberly; "and a very reasonable retort. Only I can't tell you. It's--er--a private matter."