"He is a capital host," Wingate assented.
"I am so fond of really interesting conversation," the young lady further confided. "I love to have a man who really amounts to something tell me about his life and work."
"Mr. Peter Phipps, for instance?" he suggested. "Didn't I see you lunching here with him the other day?"
She looked across the table, towards where Phipps was sitting hand in hand with a young lady in blue, and apparently being very entertaining. Miss Flossie caught a glimpse of Wingate's expression.
"You don't like Mr. Phipps," she said. "You don't think I ought to lunch with him."
"I shouldn't if I were a young lady like you, whose choice must be unlimited," Wingate replied.
"How do you know that it is unlimited?" she demanded. "Perhaps just the people whom I would like to lunch with don't ask me."
"They need encouragement," he suggested.
She laughed into his eyes.
"Do you know anything about the men who need encouragement?" she asked demurely.