"Do tell me why you're so cross," said Jack earnestly, clasping his hands round his knees.
Captain Willoughby had finished his task. He sat down upon his bag with a sigh of relief.
"There! I shall leave my man to do the rest. The world is an utter failure, Jack, that's what it is!"
"Is it?" said Jack innocently.
"Yes," went on Captain Willoughby. "And it's the women who are at the bottom of it. They're all the same—unstable, uncertain, fickle, false, their moods change from day to day; they make you believe in them, and take you in all round, and then are quite surprised to see that you are taken aback by their complete change of tone and mind. It's a bad thing, my boy, to spend too much time with women. Remember that when you grow up. You will rue the day you made their acquaintance."
This dissertation was perfectly incomprehensible to Jack. He stared at the Captain with open eyes and mouth. Then he slipped down from his perch.
"I'm sorry you're so put out," he said. "I suppose you're cross because you have to go away."
Then he slipped out of the room, and confided to Jill that Captain Willoughby was awfully cross with everybody in the world, and that she had better keep out of his way.
The children with their governess occasionally lunched in the dining-room, when there were no visitors.
Jack looked around on this particular day before he commenced to eat.