'That's right!' said Mrs. Ashton Portway. 'A lot of people have gone, and now that we shall be a little bit more intimate, I want to try that new game. I don't think it's ever been played in London anywhere yet. I saw it in the New York Herald. Of course, nobody who isn't just a little clever could play at it.'
'Oh yes!' Geraldine smiled. 'You mean "Characters." I remember you told me about it.'
And Mrs. Ashton Portway said that she did mean 'Characters.'
In the drawing-room she explained that in playing the game of 'Characters' you chose a subject for discussion, and then each player secretly thought of a character in fiction, and spoke in the discussion as he imagined that character would have spoken. At the end of the game you tried to guess the characters chosen.
'I think it ought to be classical fiction only,' she said.
Sundry guests declined to play, on the ground that they lacked the needful brilliance. Henry declined utterly, but he had the wit not to give his reasons. It was he who suggested that the non-players should form a jury. At last seven players were recruited, including Mr. Ashton Portway, Miss Marchrose, Geraldine, Mr. Dolbiac, and three others. Mrs. Ashton Portway sat down by Henry as a jurywoman.
'And now what are you going to discuss?' said she.
No one could find a topic.
'Let us discuss love,' Miss Marchrose ventured.
'Yes,' said Mr. Dolbiac, 'let's. There's nothing like leather.'