"It’s only because I hate to fry my own eggs. I never could learn to play on the cook-stove." "My dear, you’ll never have to do that," said Clytie. "No man would be brute enough to endanger such a complexion as you have!" Fancy rubbed her cheek. "Good enough to raise a blush on. Has it worn off yet? I wish you could make me do it again; I’d rather wear a good No. 5 blush than a silk-lined skirt." The third lady at the table was thin and dark, a piquante, sharp-featured girl, with a dancing devil in her eyes. She had been watching Fancy with an amused smile. "I thought I’d seen you before," she said. "Now I remember. You’re the young lady at Granthope’s, aren’t you?" "Yes, that’s my tag. I suppose I am entered for a regular blue-ribbon freak. But I’ve seen you, too, Miss Dean, once or twice, haven’t I?" Miss Dean hastened to say, "Mr. Granthope’s a wonderful palmist, isn’t he? He has told me some extraordinary things about myself." She held out her hand. "Do tell me what you think about my palm, please!" But Fancy refused. "Oh, I don’t want to make enemies, just as we’ve begun to break the ice. Every one would be jealous of the other, if I told you what I saw. Besides, I ought to be drumming up more trade for Mr. Granthope." "How long have you been with him?" Cayley asked. "Oh, about five years." Clytie bit her lip. Granthope himself had said two. "He has been fortunate to have such an able assistant as you," she said. "Oh, Frank’s been mighty good to me. I owe him everything." Fancy said it almost aggressively. Cayley caught Clytie’s eye, and he smiled. "Well, Blanchard," she said, disregarding his hint, "am I in your list of Improbabilities now?" "You’re easily first! You certainly have surprised me." Heretofore Mrs. Maxwell, as chaperon of the party, had been the star, but now Clytie, with her intuitive grip on this human complication, established Fancy as the guest of honor. She drank Fancy’s health, and Fancy’s smile became more opulent and irresistible. She kept Fancy’s quick retorts going like fire-crackers, she manipulated the conversation so that it came back to Fancy at each digression. She put Fancy Gray in the center of the stage and kept her there in the calcium till her buoyant spirits soared.