"To the reader?"
"To her, too. Wouldn't it?"
"You know better than I."
"No, I don't know. A nice girl can not imagine herself being kissed—except under very extraordinary circumstances, and by a very extraordinary man.... Such a man as you have drawn in this book."
"Had you been that Balkan Princess, what would you have done?" he asked, rather pale.
"I?" she said, startled.
"Yes, you."
She sat considering, blue eyes lost in candid reverie. Then the faintest smile curved her lips; she looked up at Smith with winning simplicity.
"In your story, Mr. Smith, does the Balkan Princess return his kiss?"
"Not in that chapter."