"And I may put back the nasty beetle?"
"On no account; I have ransomed him."
"Oh, very well," she shrugged, rising. "I'll take refuge in billiards for the next game. Corrie taught me to play, but I can beat him, now."
"Perhaps he doesn't watch his game when his opponent is his cousin."
"Why, what else should he watch?" she wondered, arching her brows a trifle too innocently.
"I cannot imagine, if you do not know," Gerard dryly responded, and held open the door for her to pass out.
In the billiard room, Isabel rolled her sleeves above her elbows as a preliminary measure.
"I haven't had that off for a year," she confided, indicating a flexible platinum and turquoise bracelet encircling her firm, sun-browned arm.
"You are fond of it?" her companion inferred. "It is a beautiful bit of work, indeed."