Webster twitched nervously. “Skip the coarse side of my nature,” he pleaded, “and tell me something nice about myself.”
“I am coming to that. This line indicates that you are very brave, gentle, and courteous. You are quick and firm in your decisions, but not always right, because your actions are governed by your heart instead of your head. Once you have made a decision, you are reckless of the consequences. Your lifeline tells me you are close to fifty-three years of age——”
“Seeress, you're shooting high and to the right,” he interrupted, for he did not relish that jab about his age. “I'll have you know I was forty years old last month, and that I can still do a hundred yards in twelve seconds flat—in my working clothes.”
“Well, don't feel peeved about it, Mr. Webster. I am not infallible; the best you can hope for from me is a high percentage of hits, even if I did shoot high and to the right that time. In point of worldly experience you're a hundred and six years old but I lopped off fifty per cent, to be on the safe side. To continue: You are of an extremely chivalrous nature—particularly toward young ladies travelling without chaperons; you are kind, affectionate, generous to a fault, something of a spendthrift. You will always be a millionaire or a pauper, never anything between—at least for any great length of time.”
“You've been talking to that callow Bill Geary.” Mr. Webster's face was so red he was sensible of a distinct feeling of relief that she kept her face bent over his hand.
“I haven't. He's been talking to me. One may safely depend upon you to do the unexpected. Your matrimonial line is unbroken, proving you have never married, although right here the line is somewhat dim and frayed.” She looked up at him suddenly. “You haven't been in love, have you?” she queried with childlike insouciance. “In love—and disappointed?”
He nodded, for he could not trust himself to speak.
“How sad!” she cooed sympathetically. “Did she marry another, or did she die?”
“She—she—yes, she died.”
“Cauliflower-tongue, in all probability, carried her off, poor thing! However, to your fortune: You are naturally truthful and would not make a deliberate misstatement of fact unless you had a very potent reason for it. You are sensitive to ridicule; it irks you to be teased, particularly by a woman, although you would boil in oil rather than admit it. You never ask impertinent questions, and you dislike those who do; you are not inquisitive; you never question other people's motives unless they appear to have a distinct bearing on your happiness or prosperity; you resent it when anybody questions your motives, and anybody who knows your nature will not question them. However, you have a strong sense of sportsmanship, and when fairly defeated, whether in a battle of fists or a battle of wits, you never hold a grudge, which is one of the very nicest characteristics a man can have——”