'I don't know if you have the least idea what you're talking about,' she answered, raising her eyebrows. 'I'm sure I haven't.'
'I was merely asking you in a rather well-turned phrase to name the day. The lamb shall be ready for the slaughter.'
'Is that a proposal of marriage?' she asked gaily.
'If not it must be its twin brother,' he returned.
'I'm so glad you've told me, because if I'd met it in the street I should never have recognised it, and I should simply have cut it dead.'
'You show as little inclination to answer a question as a cabinet minister in the House of Commons.'
'Couldn't you infuse a little romance into it? You see, I'm American, and I have a certain taste for sentiment in affairs of the heart.'
'I should be charmed, only you must remember that I have no experience in these matters.'
'That is visible to the naked eye,' she retorted. 'But I would suggest that it is only decent to go down on your bended knees.'
'That sounds a perilous feat to perform in a hansom cab, and it would certainly attract an amount of attention from passing bus-drivers which would be embarrassing.'