Marjolaine eyed him haughtily from head to foot. She had read somewhere that this is what a well-bred young woman should do under similar circumstances.
"Why?" said she, raising her eyebrows.
"Oh, I'm so glad you said 'Why?'" cried Jack, with evident relief.
Marjolaine had not expected this. She was genuinely puzzled and a little off her guard. She could only repeat, but this time quite naturally, "Why?"
"Well," said Jack, very volubly, "if you'd said, 'There's no occasion,' or if you hadn't said anything, our conversation would have been finished, you know."
Marjolaine could have stamped with vexation. Of course she ought to have said nothing. And here she was entrapped into what this very bold young man described as a "conversation"!
"The conversation is finished," she said, trying to pass him.
But he held up his hand. "No. It's my turn to ask you a question!"
"Hein?" she cried, more than ever on her dignity. He had the impudence to accuse her of asking him a question!
Jack remembered his manners. With a low bow he presented himself. "I 'm Jack Sayle, at your service. I 'm a lieutenant in the Navy; and I 've just rowed down from Richmond—three miles. I 'm home on leave; and I 'm looking for an old friend."