The butler served them unattended from the sideboard, but before luncheon was half way through they dispensed with his services.
"I suppose it has occurred to you by this time, Mr.Tallente," she said, as she watched the coffee in a glass machine by her side, "that I am a very unconventional person." "Whatever you are," he replied, "I am grateful for." "Cryptic, but with quite a nice sort of sound about it," she observed, smiling.

"Tell me honestly, though, aren't you surprised to find me living here quite alone ?" "It seems to me perfectly natural," he answered.
"I live without a chaperon," she went on, "because a chaperon called by that name would bore me terribly.

As a matter of fact, though, there is generally some one staying here.

I find it easy enough to persuade my friends and some of my relatives that a corner of Exmoor is not half a bad place in the spring and summer.

It is through the winter that I am generally avoided." "I have always had a fancy to spend a winter on Exmoor," he confided.
"It has its compensations," she agreed, "apart, of course, from the hunting." He felt the desire to speak of more vital things.