"You certainly knocked me over, girlie!" he says, cautiously touching a bump on his head that looked painful. "The minute I saw you I fell for you—right on the asphalt!"
Well, Royal proved to be even more entertaining at dinner than he was as a motor companion and we had a nice time, really, in spite of the fact that I pulled one terrible fox pass right after we sat down to the nourishment.
"Have you read any recent novels—'My Wife's Husband,' for instance?" he asked me over the hearts of artichoke.
That was like asking Willie Hoppe if he ever saw a billiard table.
"Yes," I says Promptly, "and I think it's terrible, don't you?"
He gave me an odd look. "Why, no—I wouldn't exactly call it terrible," he says, with a faint smile, "but then I imagine I'm a bit prejudiced in its favor. You see, I wrote it!"
Good night! A wonderful start for a pleasant evening, what? I rallied gamely and threw him a dazzling smile.
"You're easily kidded, aren't you?" I asked him. "I knew you wrote it, of course; I just wanted to get a rise out of you. As a matter of fact, I enjoyed the book immensely!"
