“You certainly don’t expect me to like seeing Arkroyd at your side all the time?”
“Oh!” she laughed contemptuously—“Arkroyd!” And she dismissed that gentleman with a fine sweeping gesture. “Can I help it if he happens to travel on the same ship?”
They halted at the top of the steps.
“Then it was accidental—?” he asked seriously.
“Staff!” The young woman made an impatient movement. “If I didn’t like you—you know how much—upon my word I’d snub you for that. You are a bear!”
“A moment ago I was a dear.”
“Oh, well, I’m fond of all sorts of animals.”
“Then I advise your future husband to keep you away from zoos.”
“Oh, Staff! But wouldn’t you want me to come to see you once in a while?”
He jerked up one hand with the gesture of a man touched in a fencing-bout. “You win,” he laughed. “I should’ve known better....”