She stated it to propitiate her brother, as it might have done but for the veracious picture of Patrick in the word 'eager,' which pricked the scepticism of a practical man.

He locked his mouth, looking at her with a twinkle she refused to notice.

'Determined to master details' he could have accepted.

One may be determined to find a needle in a dust-heap; one does not with any stiffness of purpose go at a dust-heap eagerly.

Hungry men have eaten husks; they have not betrayed eagerness for such dry stuff.