There was a longer silence than is often suffered by persons of the world. To attempt "carrying off" anything whatsoever was not in Marie-Aimée's moyens.
"Do you know why I have come, Miss Nevers?" Mrs. Bronson asked.
Marie-Aimée regarded her with eyes as steady as they were inwardly frightened. Her whole face expressed what one had never expected to see in it, something very near hostility; its like could be imagined in the look of a tame animal uncertain whether harm is meant to its young.
"I judge you have come here to find Mr. Bronson," she answered, "I expect him at any moment."
It was plain there would be no delicate fencing this afternoon.
Mrs. Bronson shook her head, and laughed in spite of herself at this unheard-of directness. "Oh, no! I scarcely think he will come to-day, I mentioned at lunch that I should call on you."
This was spoken without the hint of a sneer, yet Marie-Aimée flushed.
"You are quite mistaken if you think he makes love to me," she blurted out, her breath coming quick.
Mrs. Bronson lifted her hand in deprecation. "And you are mistaken, my dear Miss Nevers, if you think I have come to make a vulgar scene about him. I am here, and solely, because I like you!"