"Marcia!" said Jerry, it seemed a trifle harshly. "What are you doing here?"
With my vision obstructed, the soft tones of her voice seemed to take an added significance.
"I came," she purred, "because, Jerry, I couldn't stay away."
And then, after a pause, her voice even more silken, "You don't seem very glad to see me."
"But now that the surprise is over--_are_ you glad to see me?" she asked.
"I didn't suppose that--after yesterday _you_ would want to see _me_."
"Yesterday," she sighed, "twenty-four hours--an age! The surest proof that I wanted to see you is that I'm here, that I ran away from a house full of people, just to tell you--"
"Is Channing Lloyd still there?" he broke in harshly.
"Yes, Jerry, he is. But doesn't it mean anything to you that I left him, to come to you?"
"You broke your promise--to give him up--"
"Why, Jerry, I _had_ to invite him to my dance. It would have been a slight."
"But I've known him for ages, Jerry. I can't be impolite."
"He's not polite to you, to me, or anybody. I told you I wanted you to give him up."
"You're fearfully exacting," she said, modulating her voice softly.
"He's a cad. I can't understand your inviting him. His very look is an insult, his touch a desecration. I don't like the way he paws you."
"Of course, he--he means nothing by it," she said soothingly. "It's only his way."
"But I don't like his way and I don't like him. I've told you so a good many times."
"You make it very difficult for me. It would have been insulting not to have asked him. We've been very good friends until you came."
"It's a pity I came, then. You've got to choose between us. I've told you that before."
"Why, Jerry, I _have_ chosen," she said, her voice softening suspiciously. "How could I ever think of anybody else now that I have you? It's so _absurd_ of you to be jealous of Chan. He's not like you, of course, and his manner is a little rough, but he really isn't _nearly_ so terrible a person as you think he is." She sighed. "But if you insist, I suppose I shall have to give him up."
She laughed. "You silly boy, of course not. I _will_ give him up. There! Does that settle that matter?"
"I don't see how you could want to be with a man I don't like--"
"I don't care for him, Jerry, really I don't. Won't you believe me?"