? You rarely mistake people.
Tell me frankly your opinion of him," said he, abruptly.

"He plays billiards far better than _you_," said she, dryly.

"I 'm not talking of his play, I 'm asking what you think of him."

"He's your master at whist, ecarte, and piquet. I _think_ he's a better
pistol shot; and he says he rides better."

"I defy him. He's a boastful, conceited fellow. Take his own account,
and you 'll not find his equal anywhere. But still, all this is no
answer to my question."

"Yes, but it is, though. When a man possesses a very wide range of small
accomplishments in a high degree of perfection, I always take it for
granted that he lives by them."

"Just what I thought,--exactly what I suspected," broke he in, angrily.
"I don't know how we ever came to admit him here, as we have. That
passion May has for opening the doors to every one has done it all."

"If people will have a menagerie, they must make up their mind to meet
troublesome animals now and then," said she, dryly.

"And then," resumed he, "the absurdity is, if I say one word, the reply
is, 'Oh, you are so jealous!'"

"Naturally enough!" was the cool remark.

"Naturally enough! And why naturally enough? Is it of such fellows as
Layton or O'Shea I should think of being jealous?"

"I think you might," said she, gravely. "They are, each of them, very
eager to succeed in that about which you show yourself sufficiently
indifferent; and although May is certainly bound by the terms of her
father's will, there are conditions by which she can purchase her
freedom."

"Purchase her freedom! And is that the way she regards her position?"
cried he, trembling with agitation.

"Can you doubt it? Need you do more than ask yourself, How do you look
on your own case? And yet you are not going to bestow a great fortune. I
'm certain that, do what you will, your heart tells you it is a slave's
bargain."

"Did May tell you so?" said he, in a voice thick with passion.

"No."

"Did she ever hint as much?"

"No."

"Do you believe that any one ever dared to say it?"

"As to that, I can't say; the world is very daring, and says a
great many naughty things without much troubling itself about their
correctness."

"It may spare its censure on the present occasion, then."

"Is it that you will not exact her compliance?"

"I will not."

"How well I read you," cried she, catching up his cold and still
reluctant hand between both her own; "how truly