“You must always talk to your neighbours at dinner,” insisted Barres, still immensely amused. “Esmé 140 is a very popular man with fashionable women, Dulcie,—a painter in much demand and much adored.... Why do you smile?”
Dulcie smiled again, deliciously.
“Anyway,” continued Barres, “you must now give the signal for us to rise by standing up. I’m so proud of you, Dulcie, darling!” he added impulsively; “—and everybody is mad about you!”
“You made me—” she laughed mischievously, “—out of a rag and a bone and a hank of hair!”
“You made yourself out of nothing, child! And everybody thinks you delightful.”
“Do you?”
“You dear girl!—of course I do. Does it make such a difference to you, Dulcie—my affection for you?”
“Is it—affection?”
“It certainly is. Didn’t you know it?”
“I didn’t—know—what it was.”