Muir, at the dinner-table.
The remark was unexpected, and Madge, to her dismay, found the blood
rushing to her face. Quick as thought she put her handkerchief to
her mouth, and sought to escape notice under the ruse of a brief
strangulation. "This is not going to answer at all," she thought. "I
must acquire a better self-control." She at once began talking about
Graydon in the most simple and natural manner possible, asking many
questions. Mrs. Muir's intuition and powers of observation were not
very great, and she was without the faintest suspicion of what was
passing in Madge's mind. Keen-eyed, reticent Mr. Muir was not so
unheeding, however. When Graydon's name was mentioned he happened to
glance up from the dinner which usually absorbed his attention. In
dealing with men he had acquired the habit of keen observation. During
a business transaction his impassive face and quiet eyes gave no
evidence of his searching scrutiny. He not only heard and weighed
the words to which he listened, but ever sought to follow the mental
processes behind them; and often men had been perplexed by the fact
that the banker had apparently arrived at conclusions opposite to the
tenor of their statements. When, therefore, he saw the color flying
into Madge's face at the unexpected utterance of his brother's name,
his attention was arrested and an impression made to which his mind
would revert in the future.
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