- And I asked you not to fool yourself about cooking. You didn't listen.

“Touchet,” remarks Miss Lewis, and laughs in amazement.

When I thank the hostess, I simply cannot call the girl otherwise now, she smiles shyly and looks at me with such an open and happy look that I give myself a mental kick in the ass three times for the earlier rudeness. Without noticing it, I begin to tell how the day went, I ask what my secretary did, and we just chat on abstract topics. I drive away annoying thoughts that this is wrong and not at all necessary, justifying my behavior by the fact that...