“I knew that it would interest you. I was bored to extinction; but it is time you had a little variety.”
“You are good.” She hesitated a moment. “He has real intellect, hasn’t he?” she asked.
“He knows things. He can knock the spots out of us when it comes to solid information. But in a contest of wits I’d engage him in a match without any qualms. He’s straight out from the shoulder, and if he were stacked up against American nimbleness and adaptability for any great length of time, he’d go under.”
“He’s quick enough.”
“With an answer—yes; but that’s not what I mean.”
CHAPTER XXVII
THEY had remained longer at dinner than usual, and when Lee went out to the verandah, she found Mr. and Mrs. Brannan and Mr. Trennahan, a New Yorker who had recently married and settled in Menlo. Cecil was at her elbow in a moment.
“Let us take a walk,” he said. “Will it be rude to leave these people?”
“Oh, no; we are very informal among ourselves, and they are Mrs. Montgomery’s friends rather than mine.”
They crossed the grounds, entered Fair Oaks Lane, and walked toward the hills. It was moonlight, and the redwoods on the crest of the mountain were sharp against the sky.