He slowed down.
"I don't mind you."
"That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me," he remarked.
"Do you want me to say nice things to you?"
"I haven't any objection to it," he smiled.
"Tell me about your day."
"I came to tell you about it, before the banquet, and you'd flown."
"You said you wouldn't be back. I've read all the extras up to this."
She displayed the paper, and he smiled and put it in his pocket. He related the day's events; he even repeated the main points he had made in his speech, led on by her interest.
"They're a bit afraid of me, even my friends. They think I've got the reform bug, that I'll go in for a lot of things that they think unessential."