"Aha! now you are afraid of me, aren't you?" And she had hit the truth, for the young officer really felt abashed in her presence.
"Miss Edith," said he, "I beg you to pardon me; but why do they let you wander about alone in the evening, where you are sure to meet so many people?"
"Oh, they all know me," she answered, "and I had an errand to do. You took me for a maid-servant, didn't you?"
"That is, indeed, my only excuse," he replied.
"Well, don't you think maid-servants have any rights that others are bound to respect?" asked the girl.
The question was a hard one for Richard to answer; he could find nothing to say.
"Now tell me what to give you," said Edith, "and then go back to the dancing-hall, where they are waiting for you."
The young man refused all the offered refreshments, but asked the girl to reach him the tip of her little finger in sign of forgiveness for his offence.
"No, no!" she cried, "I won't shake hands with you. Your hand has been wicked."
"If you call my hand wicked," he returned, "I will go to-morrow and fight a duel and have it cut off. Do you really want my poor hand to be chopped off for offending you? If you do, just as surely as I stand here you shall see me day after to-morrow with only one hand."