"Who's the funny man with the red face talking to Miss Spragg?"
Ralph bent forward. "The man next to her? Never saw him before. But I think you're mistaken: she's not speaking to him."
"She WAS—Wasn't she, Harriet?"
Miss Ray pinched her lips together without speaking, and Mrs. Van Degen paused for the fraction of a second. "Perhaps he's an Apex friend," she then suggested.
"Very likely. Only I think she'd have introduced him if he had been."
His cousin faintly shrugged. "Shall you encourage that?"
Peter Van Degen, who had strayed into his wife's box for a moment, caught the colloquy, and lifted his opera-glass.
"The fellow next to Miss Spragg? (By George, Ralph, she's ripping to-night!) Wait a minute—I know his face. Saw him in old Harmon Driscoll's office the day of the Eubaw Mine meeting. This chap's his secretary, or something. Driscoll called him in to give some facts to the directors, and he seemed a mighty wide-awake customer."
Clare Van Degen turned gaily to her cousin. "If he has anything to do with the Driscolls you'd better cultivate him! That's the kind of acquaintance the Dagonets have always needed. I married to set them an example!"
Ralph rose with a laugh. "You're right. I'll hurry back and make his acquaintance." He held out his hand to his cousin, avoiding her disappointed eyes.