ItwasthefirstopportunityErskinehadeverenjoyedofspeakingtoGertrudeatleisureandalone。Yettheirconversationhadneverbeensocommonplace。She,likingthegame,playedverywellandchattedindifferently;heplayedbadly,andbroachedtrivialtopicsinspiteofhimself。Afteranhour—and—a—half\'splay,Gertrudehadannouncedthatthisgamemustbetheirlast。Hethoughtdesperatelythatifheweretomissmanymorestrokesthegamemustpresentlyend,andanopportunitywhichmightneverrecurpassbeyondrecall。Hedeterminedtotellherwithoutprefacethatheadoredher,butwhenheopenedhislipsaquestioncameforthofitsownaccordrelatingtothePersianwayofplayingbilliards。GertrudehadneverbeeninPersia,buthadseensomeEasternbilliardcuesintheIndiamuseum。WerenottheHindooswonderfulpeopleforfiligreework,andcarpets,andsuchthings？Didhenotthinkthccrookednessoftheircarpetpatternsablemish？Somepeoplepretendedtoadmirethem,butwasnotthatallnonsense？Wasnotthemodernpolishedfloor,witharuginthemiddle,muchsuperiortotheoldcarpetfittedintothecornersoftheroom？Yes。Enormouslysuperior。Immensely——
\"Why,whatareyouthinkingofto—day,Mr。Erskine？Youhaveplayedwithmyball。\"
\"Iamthinkingofyou。\"
\"Whatdidyousay？\"saidGertrude,notcatchingtheseriousturnhehadgiventotheconversation,andpoisinghercueforastroke。\"Oh！Iamasbadasyou;thatwastheworststrokeIevermade,Ithink。Ibegyourpardon;yousaidsomethingjustnow。\"
\"Iforget。Nothingofanyconsequence。\"Andhegroanedathisowncowardice。