“Good God! I thought you said he didn’t even touch you. What right had he to take such a liberty? He must be a clownish Village character of some sort. I wish I could get my hands on him.”
“Aren’t you being a little absurd, darling? The man was emotionally upset. It was a crazy thing to do, but I wasn’t offended. Everybody who lives in the Village does things like that occasionally. It was just a spur-of-the-moment, completely impulsive substitution for old-fashioned gallantry.”
“You think so? I don’t. What did he do then?”
“He just turned without saying another word and walked straight out of the door. He opened the door and walked out, and I could hear his footsteps dying away on the stairs. He didn’t come back.”
Loring let out his breath in a long sigh of relief. Then he seemed to r
