“Well, then, I know nothing whatever of you.”
“That is the second evasion. I am taking it for granted that we each know something of the other.”
“I should think it would depend entirely on how the knowledge influenced each party in the case. It is such a purely supposititious state of things that I cannot see how I can answer your question. I suppose you have heard the adage about not crossing a bridge until you come to it.”
“I thought it was a stream.”
“Well, a stream then. The principle is the same.”’
“I was afraid I would not be able to put the question in a way to make you understand it. I shall now fall back on my bluntness again, and with this question, are you betrothed?”
“We generally call it engaged in this country.”
“Then I shall translate my question into the language of the country, and ask if—”
“Oh, don’t ask it, please. I shall answer before you do ask it by saying, No. I do not know why I should countenance your bluntness, as you call it, by giving you an answer to such a question; but I do so on condition that the question is the last.”
“But the second question cannot be the last. There is always the third reading of a bill. The auctioneer usually cries, ‘Third and last time,’ not ‘Second and last time,’ and the banns of approaching marriage are called out three times. So, you see, I have the right to ask you one more question.”