“You were not consulted, either.”
“I was consulted before lunch,” he replied.
“You mean—?”
“I mean that I wanted you,” he said. She had known it, of course. The submarine bell had told her. And he could have found no woman in Newport who would have brought more enthusiasm to his aid than Elsie Shorter.
“And you usually—get what you want,” she retorted with a spark of rebellion.
“Yes,” he admitted. “Only hitherto I haven't wanted very desirable things.”
She laughed, but her curiosity got the better of her.
“Hitherto,” she said, “you have just taken what you desired.”
From the smouldering fires in his eyes darted an arrowpoint of flame.
“What kind of a man are you?” she asked, throwing the impersonal to the winds. “Somebody called you a Viking once.”