"How did you come here?"
"How? Why, by walking over the soft grass, of course."
"Alone?"
"Alone! Why not? Whom should I have brought with me, I should like to know? I suppose I may come to a neighbour's garden unattended?"
It was quite true that our gardens were only about a hundred feet apart, lying one on each side of the common path, which ran right through the island.
"You don't seem to give me a very hearty reception," pouted she, as she entered my hut.
My head began to swim.
"On the contrary, I am overjoyed at the honour you do me, and I'll gather for you at once some of our princely plums."
Nobody else had such plums then, and it was a good excuse, besides, for quitting the hut.
"I did not come for the sake of your princely plums; I filch them long before you ever taste them. I have come now to see how you make up your romance."