“Surely,” said Miss Carthew at last, “Don Quixote or General Mace or Henry V wouldn’t have kissed people against their will in order to be spiteful.”
“They might,” argued Michael; “if rotten little girls came to tea and made them angry.”
“I will not have that word ‘rotten’ used in front of me,” Miss Carthew said.
“Well, fat-headed then,” Michael proposed as a euphemism.
“The truth is,” Miss Carthew pointed out, “you were angry because you couldn’t have the Macalisters to tea and you vented your anger on poor Stella and her friends. I call it mean and unchivalrous.”
“Well, Stella goes to mother and asks for Dorothy to come to tea, when you told me I could have the Macalisters, and I don’t see why I should always have to give way.”
“Boys always give way to girls,” generalized Miss Carthew.
“I don’t believe they do nowadays,” said Michael.
“I see it’s hopeless to argue any more. I’m sorry you won’t see you’re in the wrong. It makes me feel disappointed.”
Michael again shrugged his shoulders.