And I came away all up in the air. There was something about
you--the tone of your voice, the way your proud little head is set on
your shoulders, your make-up in general--that sent me away with a
large-sized grouch at myself, at Cariboo Meadows, and at you for coming
in my way."
"Why?" she asked in wonder.
"Because you'd have believed what they told you, and Cariboo Meadows
can't tell anything about me that isn't bad," he said quietly. "My
record there makes me entirely unfit to associate with--that would have
been your conclusion. And I wanted to be with you, to talk to you, to
take you by storm and make you like me as I felt I could care for you.
You can't have grown up, little person, without realizing that you do
attract men very strongly. All women do, but some far more than
others."
"Perhaps," she admitted coldly. "Men have annoyed me with their
unwelcome attentions. But none of them ever dared go the length of
carrying me away against my will. You can't explain or excuse that."
"I'm not attempting excuses," Bill made answer. "There are two things
I never do--apologize or bully. I dare say that's one reason the
Meadows gives me such a black eye.
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