‘Did you expect to meet me, may I ask?’ said he.
‘You saw, at least, that I courted the presentation,’ said I.
‘And you were not afraid?’ said Chevenix.
‘I was perfectly at ease. I knew I was dealing with a gentleman. Be that your epitaph.’
‘Well, there are some other people looking for you,’ he said, ‘who will make no bones about the point of honour. The police, my dear sir, are simply agog about you.’
‘And I think that that was coarse,’ said I.
‘You have seen Miss Gilchrist?’ he inquired, changing the subject.
‘With whom, I am led to understand, we are on a footing of rivalry?’ I asked. ‘Yes, I have seen her.’
‘And I was just seeking her,’ he replied.
I was conscious of a certain thrill of temper; so, I suppose, was he. We looked each other up and down.