"It ain't the number I'm speaking of. It's the hold you had over 'em, specially when you was a young man. They was women who would do anything you asked them and be glad of the chance; now, wasn't they? Did you ever know of a party, what you might call a young woman, though not so very young, with the initial C?" She mumbled the letter so that it was not quite distinguishable.
"G?" he said. "Why, yes!—was that the first name or the last?"
"It seems like it was the first name, the way I get it—would it be Grace?"
This was, of course, a random "fishing test," and she got a bite.
"My wife's name was Grace."
She hooked the fact, noticing the tense, and let her line play out to distract his attention temporarily.
"It don't seem quite like your wife. Seems like it was another woman who you was fond of. Maybe it was meant for the last name. Sometimes my control does get things awfully mixed. Or, it might be a middle initial. You wait a minute and maybe I'll get it stronger."
"Oh, if it was the last name, I think I recognize it."
She had another line out and another bite, now, and played to land both, coaxing the truth gently from him.
"Yes, it's a last name, and she was terrible fond of you. She was in love with you for some time, you understand? And there was some trouble between you."