"But you would give those things to the children when they were old enough to appreciate them," said Isabel coaxingly.
"Perhaps."
"How soon do you think I shall be old enough to appreciate things?"
Paul smiled. "Perhaps when you have grown tired of living on refreshments at evening parties, and want some water from the well of Bethlehem for a change."
"Then do you despise me for liking refreshments at evening parties?" asked Isabel.
"Not in the least; but I think it is rather a youthful taste, like currant wine or raspberry vinegar. There will come a time when it won't satisfy you, and then you will cry out for living water from the well at Bethlehem—which, by the way, was your metaphor, not mine; but it expresses what I mean."
"And what will happen then?"
"Ah! that I can't say. It will depend upon whether any one out of the legions who have lackeyed you and taken you down to countless ball-suppers, is ready to go in jeopardy of his life for you; and that only time can show."
Isabel thought for a moment. "There is rather a good lesson for all women in our well-metaphor, isn't there?"
"Yes," replied Paul. "Women, as a rule, make such dreadful mistakes. You see, nothing but love will really satisfy a woman in the long run; and unattractive women, as a rule, acknowledge this. But attractive women get such a lot of admiration that they think at first that admiration will satisfy them."