Bradley's half-coquettish ill-humor of a pretty woman, and Louise's
abstracted indifference, were becoming so noticeable as to even impress
Minty into a thoughtful taciturnity. The graciousness of his reception
by Mrs. Bradley somewhat restored his former ostentatious gallantry, and
his self-satisfied, domineering manner had enough masculine power in it
to favorably affect the three women, who, it must be confessed, were a
little bored by the finer abstractions of Bradley and Mainwaring.
After a few moments, Mainwaring rose and, with a significant glance at
Richardson to remind him of his proposed conference with Bradley, turned
to leave the room. He was obliged to pass Louise, who was sitting by the
table. His attention was suddenly arrested by something in her hand with
which she was listlessly playing. It was the stone which he had put on
his letter to her.

As he had not been present when Bradley arrived, he did not know that
this fateful object had been brought home by his host, who, after
receiving it from Richelieu, had put it in his pocket to illustrate
his story of the discovery. On the contrary, it seemed that Louise's
careless exposure of his foolish stratagem was gratuitously and
purposely cruel. Nevertheless, he stopped and looked at her.

"That's a queer stone you have there," he said, in a tone which she
recognized as coldly and ostentatiously civil.

"Yes," she replied, without looking up; "it's the outcrop of that mine."
She handed it to him as if to obviate any further remark. "I thought you
had seen it before."

"The outcrop," he repeated dryly. "That is--it--it--it is the indication
or sign of something important that's below it--isn't it?"