“Perhaps.” He spoke slowly, as if trying to keep his voice steady. “But sometimes it is almost as hard not to say them. It isn’t always necessary to put them into words, you know. They say themselves in a thousand ways--in a look, a tone of the voice, in the lightest touch of the hand.” Helen sat suddenly upright. “You are in a very sentimental mood to-night, aren’t you, Mr. West? I’m prepared to receive all kinds of confidences.” Her assumption of gayety was betrayed by the expression of her eyes. “I was going to tell you something,” West acknowledged. “I think I will tell you. I’m in love. I’m in love with the most fascinating woman in Washington.” “We all know who that is,” said Helen, smiling. “But aren’t you afraid of the Senator? They say he’s a wonderful shot.” West looked injured. “You’re laughing at me now, aren’t you?” “It’s very hard to take you seriously sometimes, Mr. West.” West apparently did not notice the suggestion of satire in Helen’s voice. He did show impatience, however, at the interruption that took place as soon as Helen had spoken. “Here she is! Everybody is looking for you, Auntie! Uncle Douglas is out on the terrace with Mr. Stone, and there’s a whole raft of people waiting to say good-night in the drawing-room and in the hall.” Fanny Wallace made a pretty picture as she stood half-hidden by the foliage. Her faithful attendant waited in the background. Helen rose and turned to West, who offered his arm. “Shall we go? I’m afraid I’m behaving very badly to-night,” she said. VI In the drawing-room Douglas Briggs found Stone standing disconsolate in a corner. The Boss was plainly out of his element. The politicians who stood near him either had no personal acquaintance with him or belonged to the opposition party. One of these, indeed, the white-haired Senator from Virginia, had recently made a bitter attack on him in a magazine article. It was the first attack that had persuaded Stone to break silence under censure, and the bitterness of his reply showed how deeply he had been hurt. He seemed now to be ostentatiously unconscious of his enemy’s presence; but when the host appeared his face assumed a look of intense relief. “I’ve been looking all over the place for you,” said Briggs, fibbing, as he often did, to cover a momentary embarrassment. The presence of Jim Stone in his house on so conspicuous an occasion, had caused him considerable perturbation. He knew, however, that the Boss had come out of personal friendliness and as a mark of special favor. Stone had no small-talk, and stood in silence waiting for Briggs to make a statement that might lead up to a discussion of their mutual interests. “Have you seen my wife?” Briggs asked, glancing vaguely about the room, though he knew perfectly well she had gone back to the conservatory with West. A few moments before Helen had mentioned that Stone had shaken hands with her, without, however, entering into conversation.