"Do you mean me?"
"You, Karen, matchless enchantress, sorceress incomparable who has touched with her wand the old-familiar world and made of it a paradise."
"Because I said I loved you—a little—has it become a paradise? You know I only said 'a little.'"
"I remember."
"Of course," she added with a slight sigh, "it has become more, now, since I first said that to you. I shouldn't call it 'a little,' now; I should call it——" She hesitated.
"Much?"
She seemed doubtful. "Yes, I think it is becoming 'much'—little by little."
"May I kiss—your hand?"
"Yes, please."
"And clasp your waist—very lightly—this way?"