'Well?' he said.
'I shan't,' she answered.
'Then I shall continue to be a brother to you.'
She got up and curtsied.
'Mr. Lomas, I am a widow, twenty-nine years of age, and extremely eligible. My maid is a treasure, and my dressmaker is charming. I'm clever enough to laugh at your jokes and not so learned as to know where they come from.'
'Really you're very long winded. I said it all in four words.'
'You evidently put it too briefly, since you were refused,' she smiled.
She stretched out her hands, and he took them.
'I think I'll do it by post,' she said. 'It'll sound so much more becoming.'
'You'd better get it over now.'