"Yes," with a frank nod. "And"--she paused, and looking round saw Luke going away in the opposite direction with Mrs. Harrington--"and will you take me to have some coffee now? I am engaged for this dance, but no matter." Fitz gave her his arm and turned to hitch his sword higher. He made sure that the blade was well home, shutting in the little red spot of gathering rust--a tear. When they had at length passed through the eager crowd and found a resting-place in a smaller room, Agatha looked up at Fitz as he handed her her coffee, and did not pretend to hide the admiration with which she regarded him. "You know," she said, "you are a great favourite with Mrs. Harrington." "She is always very kind to me." Fitz was a difficult person to gossip with by reason of his quiet directness of manner. He had a way of abruptly finishing his speech without the usual lowering of the voice. And it is just that small drop of half a tone that invites further confidence. In such small matters as these lies the secret of conversational success, and by such trivial tricks of the tongue we are daily and hourly deceived. The man or the woman who lowers the tone at the end of speech defers to the listener's opinion, and usually receives it. The manner with which Fitz broke off led his listener to believe that he was not attending to the conversation. Agatha therefore baited her hook more heavily. "Like many women, she thinks that sailors are superior to the rest of mankind," she said, with just enough lightness of tone to be converted into a screen if necessary. But she heaved a little sigh before she drank her coffee. Fitz had not decided whether all this referred to himself or to Luke. He hoped that Agatha had, so to speak, brought her guns to bear upon him, because of himself he was sure, of Luke he was doubtful. As a matter of curiosity he pursued the conversation. "And you," he said, "look upon such mistaken persons with the mingled pity and contempt that they deserve?" "No," she answered, with audacious calmness, as she rose and passed before him; "for I think the same." She cleverly deprived him of the opportunity of answering, and pushed her way through the crowd alone, allowing him to follow. Before she danced with him again, she danced with Luke, and her humour seemed to have undergone a change.