Her eyes dwelt on him momentarily and then returned to the horizon.
"You are a great deal alone," he commented on the far end of the bench.
"It's because I choose to be," she answered sharply.
An expression of displeasure was audible in his reply, "You should have no trouble."
"I ought to explain," she continued, her slim hands clasped on shapely knees; "I mean that I can't get what I want."
"So you prefer nothing?"
She nodded.
"That's different," August Turnbull declared. "Anybody could see you're particular. Still, it's strange you haven't met—well, one that suited you."
"What good would it do me—a school-teacher, and now a companion!"
"You might be admired for those very things."
"Yes, by old ladies, male and female. Not men. There's just one attraction for them."
"Well"
She turned now and faced him with a suppressed bitter energy. "Clothes," she said.
"That's nonsense!" he replied emphatically. "Dress is only incidental."
"When did you first notice me?" she demanded. "In bathing. That bathing suit cost more than any two of my dresses. It is absolutely right." August was confused by the keenness of her perception. It wasn't proper for a woman to understand such facts. He was at a loss for a reply. "Seven men spoke to me in it on one
