"A kiss is nothing, Manella!" he said--"We kiss children as I kiss you! You are a child,--a child-woman. Physically you are a Juno,--mentally you are an infant! By and by you will grow up,--and you will be glad I did no more than kiss you! It's getting late,--you must go home."
He released her and put her gently away from him. Then, as he saw her eyes still uplifted questioningly to his face, he laughed.
"Upon my word!" he exclaimed--"I am making a nice fool of myself! Actually wasting time on a woman. Go home, Manella, go home! If you are wise you won't stop here another minute! See now! You are full of curiosity--all women are! You want to know why I stay up here in this hill cabin by myself instead of staying at the 'Plaza.' You think I'm a rich Englishman. I'm not. No Englishman is ever rich,--not up to his own desires. He wants the earth and all that therein is--does the Englishman, and of course he can't have it. He rather grudges America her large slice of rich plum-pudding territory, forgetting that he could have had it himself for the price of tea. But I don't grudge anybody anything--America is welcome to the whole bulk as far as I'm concerned--Britain ditto,--let them both eat and be filled. All I want is to be left alone. Do you hear that, Manella? To be left alone! Particularly by women. That's one reason why I came here. This cabin is supposed to be a sort of tuberculosis 'shelter,' where a patient in hopeless condition comes with a special nurse to die. I don't want a nurse, and I'm not going to die. Tubercles don't touch me--they don't flourish on my soil. So this solitude just suits me. If I were at the 'Plaza' I should have to meet a lot of women--"
"No, you wouldn't," interrupted Manella, suddenly and sharply--"only one woman."
"Only one? You?"
She sighed, and moved impatiently.
"Oh, no! Not me. A stranger."
He looked at her with a touch of inquisitiveness.
"An invalid?"
"She may be. I don't know. She has golden hair."
He gave a gesture of dislike.
"Dreadful! That's enough! I can imagine her,--a die-away creature with a cough and a straw-coloured wig. Yes!--that will do, Manella! You'd better go and wait upon her. I've got all I want for a couple of days at least." He seated himself and took up his note-book. She turned away.