Katrine was silent a moment, examining with an appearance of the greatest interest the ground at her feet.
"How queer you are this evening," she said at length.
"Am I?" he retorted. "Well, I suppose if I'm only amusing into the bargain that's all that's necessary."
Another brief interval of silence intervened, and then he remarked blunderingly:—
"I suppose it makes very little difference to you whether you see any one while you're here."
"What an atrocious reflection on my efforts to be entertaining," she laughed.
"Oh," he said savagely, "that's a nice meaning to twist out of my words! You know I don't mean that."
"You seem to have some difficulty in saying what you do mean this evening," Katrine commented mockingly.
Jack laughed uneasily, with that absurdly tragic air possible only to a young man much in love.
"See here," he asked explosively, "why do you think I came over here?"