“We’ll not discuss that, if you please.”
“I AM more interested in this one,” he agreed.
“Isn’t it about time to begin on Tucson?”
“Not to-day, ma’am. There are going to be a lot of to-morrows for you and me, and Tucson will have to wait till then.”
“Didn’t I give you an answer last week?”
“You did, but I didn’t take it. Now I’m ready for your sure-enough answer.”
She flashed a look at him that mocked his confidence. “I’ve heard about the vanity of girls, but never in my experience have I met any so colossal as this masculine vanity now on exhibit. Do you really think, Mr. Collins, that all you have to do to win a woman is to look impressive and tell her that you have decided to marry her?”
“Do I look as if I thought that?” he asked her.
“It is perfectly ridiculous—your absurd attitude of taking everything for granted. Well, it may be the Tucson custom, but where I come from it is not in vogue.”
“No, I reckon not. Back there a boy persuades girl he loves her by ruining her digestion with candy and all sorts of ice arrangements from soda-fountain. But I’m uncivilized enough to assume you’re a woman of sense and not a spoiled schoolgirl.”