"You give music lessons?"
"Yes, we do give music lessons--at least, I do."
"You? Oh!--You do?"
His tone implied--or seemed to imply--that her appearance was hardly consistent with that of a giver of music lessons. She drew herself a little up.
"I do give music lessons. Have you been recommended by one of my pupils?"
She cast her mind over the scanty list to ascertain which of them might be likely to give such a recommendation. His stumbling answer saved her further trouble on that score.
"No, I--I saw the plate on the gate, so I--I thought I'd just come in and ask you to give me one."
"Give you a music lesson?"
"Yes, if you wouldn't mind."
"But"--she paused, hardly knowing what to say. She had never contemplated giving lessons to pupils of this description. "I never have given lessons to a--gentleman. I supposed they always went to professors of their own sex."