Those cries were not addressed to me." He contested this observation, and became entangled in the dates and happenings and in the sequence of the notes.

She at length lost the thread of his remarks.

The situation was so ridiculous that both were silent.

Then she sat down and burst out laughing.
Her strident, shrill laugh, revealing magnificent, but short and pointed teeth, in a mocking mouth, vexed him.
"She has been playing with me," he said to himself, and dissatisfied with the turn the conversation had taken, and furious at seeing this woman so calm, so different from her burning letters, he asked, in a tone of irritation, "Am I to know why you laugh ?" "Pardon me.

It's a trick my nerves play on me, sometimes in public places.