“Yes,” said Sullivan, “I’ve been watching that. Mrs. D. tells me that he admires the girl intensely.”
“Humph!” commented Turner.
“I’ve never met the lady,” said Howarth, “but judging from her looks I should think that a man’s intensity of feeling for her could not be much more than a mild passion of the imagination.”
Sullivan laughed. “That’s not bad for you, Billy. I’ll go even further and opine that Dilling’s intensity of feeling for anyone will be like the passion of a fried sole! However, the Deane girl won’t do.”
“What about de Latour’s daughter?” suggested Howarth. “She looks clever, and might help, ‘for the sake of the Party,’ as our estimable Lady Denby says.”
“Good God, Billy,” groaned Sullivan. “We don’t want anyone who looks clever! Don’t you know me better than that?”
“Well, the sweet young thing should be easy to find,” said Turner.
“No good, either. In the first place, it’s hard to find one with any sense, and in the second, he gets that type as a daily diet.”
“Those Carmichael girls seem to be consistent winners,” suggested Turner, once more. “Some brains, and good looks . . .”
“Too young,” said the old campaigner. “Undependable! Kids are apt to lose their heads and weaken, when it comes to using the scalping knife. First thing we know, they’d give the whole show away. No,” he went on, reflectively, “what we want is a regular stunner, who’ll stick right at the game until she has his scalp at her belt . . . a woman of the world, you know, chock full of horse sense and able to handle men with as little difficulty as an expert trainer handles cats.”