He was taken aback, and not for the first time, either. She had startled and discomposed him several times in the course of their brief acquaintance; and he always resented it, priding himself in private, as he did, upon his coolness and immobility. He could not think of the right thing to say just now, so he was silent for a second. "Tell me the truth," she persisted. "I shall not care--much." "I do not think you would care at all." "Well, perhaps I shouldn't. Go on. Do you think I am fast?" "I am happy to say I do not find you slow." She fixed her eyes on him, smiling faintly. "That means I am fast," she said. "Well, no matter. Will you ask Lady Theobald what I want you to ask her?" "I should not say you were fast at all," he said rather stiffly. "You have not been educated as--as Lady Theobald has educated Miss Gaston, for instance." "I should rather think not," she replied. Then she added, very deliberately, "She has had what you might call very superior advantages, I suppose." Her expression was totally incomprehensible to him. She spoke with the utmost seriousness, and looked down at the table. "That is derision, I suppose," he remarked restively. She glanced up again. "At all events," she said, "there is nothing to laugh at in Lucia Gaston. Will you ask Lady Theobald? I want you to ask her to let Lucia Gaston come and play croquet with us on Tuesday. She is to play with you against Mr. Poppleton and me." "Who is Mr. Poppleton?" he asked, with some reserve. He did not exactly fancy sharing his entertainment with any ordinary outsider. After all, there was no knowing what this little American might do. "He is the curate of the church," she replied, undisturbed. "He is very nice, and little, and neat, and blushes all over to the toes of his boots. He came to see aunt Belinda, and I asked him to come and be taught to play." "Who is to teach him?" "I am. I have taught at least twenty men in New York and San Francisco." "I hope he appreciates your kindness." "I mean to try if I can make him forget to be frightened," she said, with a gay laugh. It was certainly nettling to find his air of reserve and displeasure met with such inconsequent lightness. She never seemed to recognize the subtle changes of temperature expressed in his manner. Only his sense of what was due to himself prevented his being very chilly indeed; but as she went on with her gay chat, in utter ignorance of his mood, and indulged in some very pretty airy nonsense, he soon recovered himself, and almost forgot his private grievance. Before going away, he promised to ask Lady Theobald's indulgence in the matter of Lucia's joining them in their game. One speech of Octavia's, connected with the subject, he had thought very pretty, as well as kind.