"Oh!"
"I have admired men; liked a few immensely," she admitted, frankly. "But the mysterious glow which comes—it has never enveloped me," she ended abruptly. "Since we are getting so personal, how about yourself?"
"I——" he hesitated.
"You needn't finish!" Winifred nodded, laughing. "Other men swear by the little god that they have never loved—never—until——" Once more Winifred found her facile tongue had led her into difficulties.
"Other men lie—I do not; yet you evidently do not believe me."
"Yes, I do! That is what I so like about you. People believe you, trust you, know where you are to be found."
"I know no other way," replied the Senator. "It is no merit. I simply find it awkward and inconvenient to prevaricate."
"You are to be congratulated," murmured the girl, ransacking her memory for another man who could say as much.
An eddy of the flowing stream of guests brought Mrs. Burroughs towards them. Mrs. Latimer, too, came into the deep window space, the ladies talking animatedly.
"Am I not right, Winnie?" appealed Mrs. Latimer, after the felicitations of the day had been exchanged. "I say that a woman has never had a love affair worthy of the name who hasn't had a lover called 'Jack.' Jack—the care-free; Jack—the debonair; Jack—the dare-devil! It's all in the name, Jack."