"
Thorpe told them about Gafferson, in that forlorn
environment on the Belize road, and his success in
making them laugh drew him on to other pictures of the
droll side of life among the misfits of adventure.
The ladies visibly dallied over their tea-cups to listen
to him; the charm of having them all to himself,
and of holding them in interested entertainment by his
discourse--these ladies of supremely refined associations
and position--seemed to provide an inspiration of its own.
He could hear that his voice was automatically modulating
itself to their critical ears. His language was producing
itself with as much delicacy of selection as if it came
out of a book--and yet preserving the savour of quaint,
outlandish idiom which his listeners clearly liked.
Upon the instant when Lady Plowden's gathering of skirts,
and glance across the table, warned him that they were
to rise, he said deliberately to himself that this had
been the most enjoyable episode of his whole life.
There were cigar boxes on the fine old oak mantel,
out in the hall, and Winnie indicated them to him with
the obvious suggestion that he was expected to smoke.
He looked her over as he lit his cigar--where she
stood spreading her hands above the blaze of the logs,
and concluded that she was much nicer upon acquaintance
than he had thought.
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