“Very well—I want to work too. But you’ll come again, won’t you?”

“If I may.”

“ ’Course you may. You must. You’re an easy person—easier than I’d have thought possible—you sort of—don’t bother me. Take a Walter Pater with you. Better for you than Meredith. Treat it gently, though; I starved a whole week to buy that book.”

She took the white-vellum bound volume, nodded, and tucked it under her arm.

“Good-night.”

“ ’Night. You are rather an admirable person.”

“Am I?”

“Yes. A girl is generally frightened to be in a man’s rooms in the middle of the night.”

“It wouldn’t occur to me to be frightened of you,” said Eve.

“Why not?”