Only, I'd not admit it....

The finest-lookin' man I ever saw in my life is a damned Isbel! Was that what I come out heah for ?" She lowered herself once more and, folding her arms under her breast, she reclined comfortably on them, and searched out a smaller peephole from which she could spy upon Isbel.

And as she watched him the new and perplexing side of her mind waxed busier.

Why had he come back?
What did he want of her?
Acquaintance, friendship, was impossible for them.

He had been respectful, deferential toward her, in a way that had strangely pleased, until the surprising moment when he had kissed her.