And this I cannot believe to be other than gracious of influence upon the intricate muddle of human association.
Miss Kate was finely the woman at those times when she deigned for a ten minutes to overlook my playing of the game.

Before I had half finished, on the first occasion, she had mastered its simple mechanism; and before I had quite finished she sought to practise upon it those methods of the world woman in games of solitaire.

She would calmly have placed a black nine on a black ten.
"But the colors must alternate," I protested, thinking she had forgotten this important rule.
"Of course--I know that perfectly well--but look what a fine lot of cards that would give you.

There's a deuce of hearts you could play up and a three of spades, and then you could go back to crossing the colors again, right away, you know, and you'd have that whole line running up to the king ready to put into that space." I looked at her, as she would have glided brazenly over that false play to rejoice in the true plays it permitted.

But I did not speak.