"Will you let me walk home with you?" he said.
"I—think—not, this evening."
"Were you going anywhere?"
She paused, her gloved hand on the knob, and he came up to her, slowly.
"Were you?" he repeated.
"No."
"Then—don't you care to let me walk with you?"
She seemed to be thinking; her head was a trifle lowered.
He said: "Before you go there is something I wanted to tell you"—she made an involuntary movement and the door opened and hung ajar letting in the lively music of a street-organ. Then he leaned over and quietly closed the door.
"I'm afraid," he said, "that I'm taking an unwarrantable liberty by interfering in your affairs without consulting you."