"Depends on whether you ever hit him, I should think; and they'd probably conclude a woman never would."
"But what an ass I should look if I went into court with that sort of story!"
"Yes, you would look an ass," Grantley agreed. "Doesn't she give you—well, any other chance, you know?"
"Not she! My dear fellow, she's most aggressively the other way."
"Then why don't you give her a chance?"
"What, you mean——?"
"Am I so very cryptic?" murmured Grantley as he lit his pipe.
"I'm a Member of Parliament."
"Yes, I forgot. That's a bit awkward."
"Besides, there are the children. I don't want my children to think their father a scoundrel." He paused, and added grimly: "And I don't want them to be left to their mother's bringing-up either."