In the dining-room they sat down close together.
"I am glad you have such good friends? How did you find them?" asked Kathleen.
"I can't for the life of me discover that. Jackson came to see me and offered to help me. I rather fancy Gerard must have sent him."
"Gerard!" cried Molly Healy, scornfully. "Do you fancy he would take so much trouble? It is 'out of sight as good as buried' with Gerard."
Kathleen O'Connor flushed up at these words, but refrained from reply. Desmond answered banteringly:
"Sure, my hates are as enduring as my loves," said Molly. "You can always know how you will find Molly Healy."
"I don't think you are quite fair to Gerard," said Desmond.
"Now, tell us about--Sylvia Jackson, Desmond," said Kathleen, anxious to terminate the discussion.
"Sylvia Jackson," he answered, with an assumed carelessness, that was in itself suspicious to the critical ears of Molly Healy. "Why are you so anxious to hear about her?"
Molly Healy watched him curiously, and noted a certain embarrassment in his face.
"That is a question of taste. Some people consider her pretty," he answered.
"And why not say that Desmond O'Connor is one of those people? Of course she is pretty, Kathleen, and charming and kind to Desmond. Didn't he say so? Are you kind to her, Desmond?" cried Molly.
"Kind to her?" he replied, with a species of horror in his voice, as if one of his most sacred convictions had been criticised. "One cannot be kind to a girl like Sylvia Jackson."
"I admire and respect--in fact, I almost reverence--her. She is so"--he paused for a suitable word--"so ethereal. She is more like a spirit than a piece of common human nature."
Molly Healy was with great difficulty attempting to restrain a giggle. She recognised that to give her amusement full play would be to grievously annoy him. For this reason she turned to look out of the window, thrusting her handkerchief into her mouth the while.
"She plays and sings divinely. She does everything well. To dance with her--is----."
He ended abruptly, not being capable of giving full expression to his sensations when dancing with Sylvia Jackson.
"Denis Quirk!" cried Molly Healy, and climbed through the window. It was a relief to her to give her mirth full vent.