He looked at her inquisitively.
"Well, Armitage is not as outlandish a name as Amadis de Jocelyn," he said—"You will hardly find two of ME!—and I expect I shall hardly find two of YOU!" and he smiled—"especially if what I have heard is anything more than rumour!"
Her eyes filled with an eager light.
"What do you mean?"
He laughed,—yet in himself was conscious of a certain embarrassment.
"Well!—that a certain 'Innocent' young lady is a great author!" he said—"There! You have it! I'm loth to believe it, and hope the report isn't true, for I'm afraid of clever women! Indeed I avoid them whenever I can!"
A sudden sense of hopelessness and loss fell over her like a cloud—her lips quivered.
"Why should you do so?" she asked—"We do not avoid clever men!"
He smiled.
"Ah! That is different!"