commercial. She is as American as Lucy."
"But Lucy has none of the hectic haste of the native American about her." Carmelita wondered if this man always became so directly personal upon such short acquaintance. But she was rather enjoying herself.
"Lucy is deceiving. She is a clever woman. Like many clever women, she has an outward veneer of lazy, unseeing carelessness. But her eyes and brains are always alert. Her nerves are jumpy. Cross her and see. She is a typical American except for one thing—she is an excellent hostess."
Lucy herself appeared and persuaded them to make up a foursome of bridge in the library with herself and Rao-Singh. Carmelita was anxious to avoid the Hindu but she saw that she could not very well escape. Through the open window Lucy could make out her husband and Mrs. Talbot Trevor sharing a chair in the shadows of the piazza.
"Poor Jackie is at it again," she murmured to Carmelita. "He is not clever enough to flirt. I must persuade him to put in his time at mah-jongg or something else more worth while." She led the way into the library.
Carmelita played bridge badly and the presence of Rao-Singh as her partner did not help her game. But he was extremely proficient and more than made up for her slips. "You
