"Even such an ungentlemanly gentleman as I cannot be so pigheaded as to persevere in arguing with a lady, much as I do enjoy a heated debate. I will take your correction with as much grace as I can muster, and I do offer my keenest thanks for your magnanimity."

The sensation of her hand on his arm is not unwelcome; perhaps she enjoys playing at this flirtation as much as he does. (Though there is, if he allows himself to look close enough, something in her suggesting earnest interest... Never mind about that. Nothing to worry over, nothing that will last.)

"It must at least be admitted that we create a most curious picture. We might very well shock those Parisian denizens of delicate aesthetic sensibilities; why, their world will seem an uproar in an instant!"