Mrs. Ames had excellent reasons for suspecting romance in her son’s account of his exploits.
“Tell me exactly what happened in the backs at Cambridge, Harry,” she said.
Harry slightly retracted.
“There is nothing much to tell,” he said. “Our club felt bound to make a protest, and we went down there, as I said. It seemed to cow them a bit!”
“And then did the proctors come and cow you?” asked his inexorable mother.
“I believe a proctor did come; I did not wait for that. They made a perfect fiasco, anyhow. They told me it was all a dead failure, and we heard no more about it.”
“So that was all?” said Mrs. Ames.
“And quite enough. I agree with father. They disgrace their sex!”
“My dear, you know as little about it as your father,” she said.
“But surely a man’s judgment——” said Millie, making weak eyes at Harry.