Good food, good wine, and a companion like Captain Quinn, gladden the heart, and the little party was very merry when Ginty deposited coffee and cigarettes and finally departed.
In Miss Goold's house it was not the custom for the ladies to desert the dinner-table by themselves.

Very often the hostess was the only lady present, and she had the greatest dislike to leaving a conversation just when it was likely to become really interesting.

Moreover, Miss Goold smoked, not because it was a smart or emancipated thing to do, but because she liked it, and--a curious note of femininity about her--she objected to her drawing-room smelling of tobacco.
When Ginty had disappeared, and the serious business of enjoying the food was completed, the talk of the party turned on the South African campaign and the prospects of the Irish volunteers.

Captain Quinn displayed a considerable knowledge of the operations both of the Boers and the British Generals.

For the latter he expressed what appeared to Hyacinth to be an exaggerated contempt, but the two ladies listened to it with evident enjoyment.