"Well, now, you are a man of the world, you've seen many people. I wish you would tell me something."
"What is it?"
Ellen appeared with the mutton. As soon as she had put it on the table and departed, Chichester continued:
"How does Mr. Harding strike you? What impression does he make upon you?"
Eagerness, even more, something that was surely anxiety, shone in his eyes as he asked the question.
"He's a very agreeable man."
"Of course, of course! Would you say he was a man to have much power over others, his fellow-men?"
"Speaking quite confidentially—"
"Nothing you say shall ever go beyond us two."
"Then—I don't know that I should."