“How soon?”
“As fast as I can get there.”
He heard her laughing. Then: “I’ll be perfectly delighted to see you,” she said. “I was actually thinking of taking to my bed out of sheer boredom. Are you coming in a taxi?”
“Why?”
He heard her laughing again.
“Nothing,” she answered, “––only I thought that might be the quickest way––” Her laughter interrupted her, “––to bring me the evening papers. I haven’t a thing to read.”
“That’s why you want me to take a taxi!”
“It is. News is a necessity to me, and I’m famishing.... What other reason could there be for a taxi? Did you suppose I was in a hurry to see you?”
He listened to her laughter for a moment:
“All right,” he said, “I’ll take a taxi and bring a book for myself.”