I was not a fool, nor a failure, and I could not bear to have her conceive me as a mere blundering block-head, a subject for subsequent laughter.

The silence in which she drove stirred me to revolt.

Apparently she felt no overwhelming curiosity as to whom I was, no special desire to exchange further speech.

The flapping of the loosened curtain was annoying, and I leaned over and fastened it down securely into place.

She merely glanced aside to observe what I was doing, without even opening her lips.
"This is a miserably gloomy road," I ventured desperately.