Dick seated himself afresh just as he had been sitting before, arranged his looks very emphatically, and cleared his throat.
“Really, anybody would think you had met me on business and were just going to commence,” said the lady intractably.
“Yes, they would.”
“Why, you never have, to be sure!”
This was a shaky beginning. He chopped round, and said cheerily, as a man who had resolved never to spoil his jollity by loving one of womankind—
“Well, how are you getting on, Miss Day, at the present time? Gaily, I don’t doubt for a moment.”
“I am not gay, Dick; you know that.”
“Gaily doesn’t mean decked in gay dresses.”
“I didn’t suppose gaily was gaily dressed. Mighty me, what a scholar you’ve grown!”
“Lots of things have happened to you this spring, I see.”