"Why, that it was all over between you, broken off, you know."
"And you've come to me to know if it's true, is that it?"
"Well no, why should I? Of course it's true if she says so."
Rickman reflected for a moment; the situation, he perceived, was delicate in the extreme, delicate beyond his power to deal with it. But the god did not forsake his own, and inspiration came to him.
"You're right there, Spinky. Of course it's true if she says so."
"She seemed to think you wouldn't mind her telling me. She said you'd understand."
"Oh yes, I think I understand. Did she tell you she had broken it off?" (He was really anxious to know how she had put it.)
"Yes, but she was most awfully nice about it. I made out—I mean she gave me the impression—that she did it, well, partly because she thought you wanted it off. But that's just what I want to be sure about. Do you want it off, or don't you?"
"Is that what she wants to know?"
"No. It's what I want to know. What's more, Rickets, I think I've got a fair right to know it, too."