"There was, you understand"--lightly tossing his
gauntlet aside--"incompatibility of temper--and--we--parted! Ha!"
He uttered a low, bitter, scornful laugh, which, however, produced the
distinct impression in Brant's mind that up to that moment he had never
had the slightest feeling in the matter whatever.
"You seemed to be on such good terms with each other!" murmured Brant
vaguely.
"Seemed!" said Hooker bitterly, glancing sardonically at an ideal second
row in the pit before him, "yes--seemed! There were other differences,
social and political. You understand that; you have suffered, too." He
reached out his hand and pressed Brant's, in heavy effusiveness. "But,"
he continued haughtily, lightly tossing his glove again, "we are also
men of the world; we let that pass."
And it was possible that he found the strain of his present attitude too
great, for he changed to an easier position.
"But," said Brant curiously, "I always thought that Mrs. Hooker was
intensely Union and Northern?"
"Put on!" said Hooker, in his natural voice.
"But you remember the incident of the flag?" persisted Brant.
"Mrs. Hooker was always an actress," said Hooker significantly.
"But," he added cheerfully, "Mrs.
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