Page:The Siege of London, The Pension Beaurepas, and The Point of View (Boston, James R. Osgood & Co., 1883).djvu/105

Rh any favors? I should like to hear him tell me that I 'm in want of assistance!"

"I don't see why he should n't—at the pace you go yourself. You say it to every one."

"To every one? I say it to you, and to George Littlemore—when I 'm nervous. I say it to you because I like you, and to him because I 'm afraid of him. I 'm not in the least afraid of you, by the way. I 'm all alone—I have n't got any one. I must have some comfort, must n't I? Sir Arthur scolded me for putting you off last night—he noticed it; and that was what made me guess his idea."

"I 'm much obliged to him," said Waterville, rather bewildered.

"So mind you answer for me. Don't you want to give me your arm, to go in?"

"You 're a most extraordinary combination," he murmured, as she stood smiling at him.

"Oh, come, don't you fall in love with me!" she cried, with a laugh; and, without taking his arm, passed in before him.

That evening, before he went to dress for dinner, Waterville wandered into the library, where he felt sure that he should find some superior bindings. There was no one in the room, and he spent a happy half-hour among the treasures of literature and the triumphs of old morocco. He had a great esteem for good literature; he held that it should have handsome covers. The daylight had begun to