"So he does. But he is very young. In general, a boy goes through a number of calf loves before he marries, but in your case it was different. I expect you were his first love."
"Yes," whispered Harriet.
"Well, that was charming," he said cheerfully. "Only you see, this was bound to happen."
"Bound to happen?"
"Yes, certainly. You have not been very well; he has been left to his own devices, and in circumstances where it would have been wonderful indeed if, at twenty-three, he had kept his head. This life we are all leading in Brussels is ruinous. Are you not conscious of it?"
"Oh yes, a thousand times yes! I wish I were safely at home!"
"I am glad to hear you say so, for that is what, if you will let me, I am going to advise you to do. Go home, end forget all this."
"He won't go home!"
"Yes, he will. Only you mustn't reproach him just yet. Later, if you like, and still want to, but not now. He will be very much ashamed of himself presently, and wonder how he can have been such a fool."
"How can you know all this?"