Presently Hunt's mind shifted to Larry Brainard, whom Barney Palmer and Old Jimmie Carlisle had come here to see.

Hunt had a mind curious about every thing and every one; and blustering, bullying creature though he was, he had the gift, possessed by but few, of audaciously thrusting himself into other people's affairs without arousing their resentment.
He was keen to learn Maggie's attitude toward Larry; and he spoke not so much to gain knowledge of Larry as to draw her out.
"This Larry--what sort of chap is he, Maggie ?" As with most artists, talking did not interfere with Hunt's painting.
Warm color slowly tinted Maggie's cheeks.

"He's clever," she said positively.

"You already know that.

But I was only a girl when he was sent away." Hunt smiled at her idea of her present maturity, implied by her last sentence.