’DoyouthinkthatIwouldtellyouafalsehoodaboutit？WhatImeantwasthatitisakindofthingthatonedoesn’tliketalkingabout，merelybecausestoriesarebandiedabout。Peoplearesofondofsayingthatthismanisengagedtothatwoman，andofmakinguptales；anditseemssofoolishtocontradictsuchthings。’
’Butyouknowthatyouusedtobeveryfondofher。’
Hehadtakenuphishatwhenhehadrisenfromthesofa，andwasstillstandingwithitreadyinhishand。Hewasevennowhalf—mindedtoescape；andthenameofLilyDaleinMissDemoline’smouthwassodistastefultohimthathewouldhavedoneso——hewouldhavegoneinsheerdisgust，hadshenotstoodinhisway，sothathecouldnotescapewithoutmovingher，orgoingroundbehindthesofa。Shedidnotstirtomakewayforhim，anditmaybethatsheunderstoodthathewasherprisoner，inspiteofherlatecommandtohimtogo。Itmaybe，also，thatsheunderstoodhisvexationandthecauseofit，andthatshesawtheexpediencyofleavingLilyDalealoneforthepresent。Atanyrate，shepressedhimnomoreuponthematter。’Arewetobefriendsagain？’
shesaid。
’Ihopeso，’saidJohnny。