Sylvia looked at the speaker wistfully. "Do you admire it in him?" she asked.
Edna smiled. "Well, I like it at all events. The result is so agreeable. You'll see him sail this boat home while Benny chaperons him with all the pride of a doting guardian."
"It makes him very fascinating to people, I suppose," said Sylvia.
"Oh, yes. John has all sorts of equipment for that purpose."
"And does he—does he think right?" asked Sylvia timidly.
"I believe he doesn't look at things from our standpoint exactly, but his nature is fine. I used to consider that it was his vanity that demanded approval of everybody he had dealings with, but it seems to me now more like an instinctive desire to create a right atmosphere. Why should he care to win Benny Merritt?"
"Perhaps he wants to borrow his boat," replied Sylvia naïvely.
Edna's clear laugh rang out.
"I see you won't let me make a hero of him," she said.
"Oh, I will, I will!" exclaimed Sylvia earnestly, coloring. "Only you were speaking of his having his own way, and I wondered if—if he was just as charming to people when he wasn't trying to get it."