Why will you not tell us the rest now?
My uncle has heard nothing of it, and I know Lord Steepleton is fond of novels." Isaacs hesitated long, but as every one pressed him in turn, he yielded at last.

And he told it well.

It was exactly the narrative he had given me, in every detail of fact, but the whole effect was different.

I saw how true a mastery he had of the English language, for he knew his audience thoroughly, and by a little colour here and an altered expression there he made it graphic and striking, not without humour, and altogether free of a certain mystical tinge he had imparted to it when we were alone.

He talked easily, with no more constraint than on other occasions, and his narrative was a small social success.