At last she spoke.
"Is the little plot finished?" she asked.
"Very nearly," he replied
"And is it decorous in episode, cheerful in tone, and forcible in moral tendency?"
"All these it is, and more."
"Then—please, sir, I have a question to ask."
"Ask, maiden," said Dick.
"I want to know why you keep that filthy cloth in your pocket."
"And why this sudden curiosity about a trifle?" His hand felt the thing as if he had forgotten it.
"Because," said Amaryllis, "I can't possibly sit closer to you if you don't throw it away."