She took her stand upon her right to defeat his purpose by every possible means--to perplex, elude, deceive him--in plain English, to make a fool of him.

This was the construction which for several days Bernard put upon her deportment, at the same time that he thought it immensely clever of her to have guessed what had been going on in his mind.

She made him feel very much ashamed of his critical attitude, and he did everything he could think of to put her off her guard and persuade her that for the moment he had ceased to be an observer.

His position at moments seemed to him an odious one, for he was firmly resolved that between him and the woman to whom his friend had proposed there should be nothing in the way of a vulgar flirtation.

Under the circumstances, it savoured both of flirtation and of vulgarity that they should even fall out with each other--a consummation which appeared to be more or less definitely impending.