Then he crushed it under his arm (where the broken spring behaved like an unlatched jack-in-the-box) and led the way to the Killigrew limousine.
"I am sorry, Mr.Webb," said Kitty, biting her lips.
"Now, now! Honestly, don't you know, I hated the thing.

I knew something would happen.

I never realized till this moment that it is an art all by itself to wear a high hat without feeling and looking like a silly ass." He laughed, honestly and heartily; and Kitty laughed, and so did her mother.

Subtle barriers were swept away, and all three of them became what they had not yet been, friends.

It was worth many opera-hats.
"Kitty, I'm beginning to like Thomas," said her mother, later.