"Why are you so bashful? We are only two women together."
Very low, she answered him:
"I am betrothed to the son of P'ei, the druggist, and already they are urging that the ceremony should take place. Happily nothing is yet decided."
"You are not very eager, then?"
She pushed his head gently away, saying:
"It is not nice of you to take hold of my words in this way, and to make fun of me. If I am not eager, you do not seem to be any more so than I."
"And how do you know that, maiden? In any case, how could I be so when we are two women."
"You speak to me as if you were my mother," the other laughed.
"Considering my age, I should rather be your husband," he thoughtlessly said.
She burst out laughing: