conventions?"

He rested on his oars, tingling all over with wrath and surprise.

"And now," she said quietly, "I think it time to go. The sun is almost
shining, you see, and the beauty of the scene is too obvious for even
you to miss."

"May I express an opinion before you depart?"

"If it is not a very long or very dissenting opinion."

"Then it's this: two normal and wholesome people--man and a woman, can
_not_ meet, either conventionally or unconventionally, without
expressing some atom of interest in one another as individuals. I say
two--perfectly--normal--people--"

"But it has just happened!" she insisted, preparing to rise.

"No, it has not happened."

"Really. You speak for yourself of course--"

"Yes, I do. I _am_ interested; I'd be stupid if I were not. Besides, I
understand conventions as well as you do--"

"You don't observe them--"

"I don't worship them!"