half-ingratiating

Updated: June 17, 2025

She looked at Blondin, who was watching her with a half-sulky, half-ingratiating air. "My dear girl, that was merely an idle remark!" he said. "Well, I hope so," Harriet said, going on, "anyway, she's a child!" "You weren't quite a child, at eighteen," he reminded her. The colour flooded her transparent dusky skin. "That's exactly what I was!" she said, drily.

Kathleen Thompson Norris - Harriet and the Piper