"What is it to you, Jack, if it were?"
She grew visibly paler, and her fingers knit themselves together. He, on the contrary, flushed and became more commanding in his manner.
"Do you suppose," he answered, "that I should be willing to see a friend of mine throw herself away on that old roué? He is old enough to be your father."
"But you know," said she, assuming an air of raillery which did not seem to be entirely genuine, "that the proverb says it's better to be an old man's darling than a young man's slave."
Jack flung himself into a chair with an impatient exclamation, and immediately got up again to walk the floor.
"I wouldn't have believed it of you, Alice. How can you joke about a thing like that!"
"Why, Jack; you've told me a hundred times that the only way to get through life comfortably is to take everything in jest."
"Oh, confound what I've told you! That's good enough philosophy for me, but it's beneath you to talk so."
"What is sauce for the goose—"
"Keep still," he interrupted. "If you can't be serious—"