“He died a bachelor,” said the other, “and left me a great deal of money. So you see—that is——”
“He’d had to be a cynic!” laughed the girl. And van Tuiver laughed with her—more humanly than she had ever thought possible.
She considered for a moment, and then suddenly asked, “Mr. van Tuiver, has it never occurred to you that I might be making love to you?”
She could not see his face, but she knew that he was staring at her in dismay. “Oh, surely not, Miss Castleman!” he exclaimed.
“But how can you be sure?” she asked. “Where is your training?”
“Miss Castleman,” he said, “please take me seriously.”
“I’m quite serious. In fact, I think I ought to tell you, I have been making love to you.”
“Surely not!” he said.
“I mean it, quite literally. I’ve been doing it from the first moment I met you—doing it in spite of all my resolutions to the contrary!”
“But why?”