The headache powder and the nap had not
been successful. She greeted Arkwright with a slight, absent
smile, seemed hardly to note Craig, as Arkwright presented him.
"Sit down here beside Miss Severence," Grant said.
"Yes, do," acquiesced Margaret; and Joshua thought her cold and
haughty, an aristocrat of the unapproachable type, never natural
and never permitting others to be natural.
"And tell her all about yourself," continued Grant.
"My friend Josh, here," he explained to Margaret, "is one of those
serious, absorbed men who concentrate entirely upon themselves. It
isn't egotism; it's genius."
Craig was ruffled and showed it. He did not like persiflage; it
seemed an assault upon dignity, and in those early days in
Washington he was full of dignity and of determination to create a
dignified impression. He reared haughtily and looked about with
arrogant, disdainful eyes.
"Will you have tea?" said Miss Severence, as Arkwright moved away.
"No, thanks," replied Craig. "Tea's for the women and the
children."
Miss Severence's expression made him still more uncomfortable.
"Well," said she, "if you should feel dry as you tell me about
yourself, there's whiskey over on that other table.
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