A dark, red flush creeps up to his temples at her air of condescending patronage.
"Excuse me, I must decline," he answers.
"You decline—surely not!" says the proud beauty, with incredulous surprise.
"Why should I not decline?" Vane Charteris asks, with a certain haughtiness, before which Maud lowers her proud tone of patronage visibly.
"I thought you could not afford to decline," she falters. "Are you not—not poor?"
"Granted," he answers, with a slight, cold smile. "I am not yet poor enough to barter my self-respect. For the rest, you know, Miss Langton—
"'Man wants but little here below,
Nor wants that little long.'"
Maud, who has come bustling with pretty patronage and self-importance, is visibly disconcerted. She takes a new tone.
"You are harsh and cruel to me, Vane," she says, petulantly. "I came with the best intentions. I only meant kindness."