For her presence at dinner he would endure the long bore of the Senator's talk afterwards, while Laura was off at some assembly, or excused herself on the plea of fatigue.

Now and then he accompanied her to some reception, and rarely, on off nights, he was blessed with her company in the parlor, when he sang, and was chatty and vivacious and performed a hundred little tricks of imitation and ventriloquism, and made himself as entertaining as a man could be.
It puzzled him not a little that all his fascinations seemed to go for so little with Laura; it was beyond his experience with women.

Sometimes Laura was exceedingly kind and petted him a little, and took the trouble to exert her powers of pleasing, and to entangle him deeper and deeper.
But this, it angered him afterwards to think, was in private; in public she was beyond his reach, and never gave occasion to the suspicion that she had any affair with him.

He was never permitted to achieve the dignity of a serious flirtation with her in public.
"Why do you treat me so ?" he once said, reproachfully.
"Treat you how ?" asked Laura in a sweet voice, lifting her eyebrows.
"You know well enough.

You let other fellows monopolize you in society, and you are as indifferent to me as if we were strangers." "Can I help it if they are attentive, can I be rude?
But we are such old friends, Mr.Brierly, that I didn't suppose you would be jealous." "I think I must be a very old friend, then, by your conduct towards me.
By the same rule I should judge that Col.