"Not a word. It is nothing."
Then he linked his arm in Howard's and led him into the billiard-room.
"Table all right, Stafford?"
"First-rate, sir," replied Stafford. "You and Mr. Howard play a hundred."
"No, no," said Sir Stephen. "You and Howard. I should enjoy looking on."
"We'll have a pool," said Stafford, taking the balls from the cabinet. Howard watched Sir Stephen as he played his first shot: his hand was perfectly steady, and he soon showed that he was a first-rate player.
"That was a good shot," said Stafford, with a touch of pride in his voice. "I don't know that I've seen a better. You play a good game, sir."
Sir Stephen's face flushed at his son's praise, as a girl's might have done; but he laughed it off.
"Only so, so, Staff. I don't play half as good a game as you and Mr. Howard. How should I?—Mr. Howard, there is the spirit-stand. You'll help yourself? Servants are a nuisance in a billiard-room."
Not once for the rest of the evening did he show any sign of the weakness which had so startled Howard, and as they went up the stairs he told them a story with admirable verve and with evident enjoyment.