"Indeed!"
"Yes. Why, I might really have known you all my life, and still not
have known you as well as I do this very minute,--and less than a dozen
hours between this and our first meeting. You are as brave as a
paladin, wise as a serpent, cool, witty--and beautiful!"
"Shall I ask the driver to let me out?" Then she laughed, a
rollicking, joyous laugh.
"What is so funny?"
"I was thinking of that coal-bin."
"Well, I didn't permit a lonely potato to frighten me," I retorted.
"No, you were brave enough--among the potatoes."
"You are beautiful!"
"I am hungry."
"You are the most beautiful girl--"
"I want something to eat."
"--I ever saw! Do you think it possible for a man to fall in love at
first sight?"
"Oh, nothing is impossible on Tom Fool's night. Positive, fool;
comparative, fooler; superlative, foolest. You are marching on with
your degrees, Mr. Comstalk."
"You might call me Dicky," I said in an aggrieved tone.
"Dicky? Never! I should always be thinking of paper collars."
"I wish I were witty like that!"
She snuggled down beneath the robes.
An artist's model, thought I. Never in this world. I now understood
the drift of her uncle's remark about her earning capacity. The Alice
Hawthorne miniatures brought fabulous prices. And here I was, sitting
so close to her that our shoulders touched: and she a girl who knew
intimately emperors and princesses and dukes, not to mention the
worldly-rich. I admit that for a moment I was touched with awe. And
it was beginning to get serious. This girl interested me marvelously.
I summoned up all my courage.
"Are--are you married?"
"No-o."
"Nor engaged to be married?"
"No-o. But you mustn't ask all these questions."
"How would you like to ride around in a first-class motor-car the rest
of your days?"
She laughed merrily. Possibly it was funny.
"Are you always amusing like this?"
"Supposing I were serious?"
"In that case I should say you had not yet slipped off your fool's
motley."
This directness was discouraging.
"I wonder if the ten of hearts is lucky, after all," I mused.
"We are not in jail. I consider that the best of good fortune."
"Give me your card," said I.
She gave me the card, and I put it with mine.