“I couldn’t have borne Willie for a husband. He was so mushy,” said Minna.
“You might have left him and got a handsome settlement,” suggested Serge.
“Oh, no! The title carries very little money.”
“Left him! Serge!” Mrs. Folyat apostrophised him.
Minna winked at Serge and said:
“You’re not married, I suppose?”
“No.”
They ate cold ham and pickles and Gruyère cheese and captains’ biscuits. Francis drank toast and water and Serge disposed of two bottles of beer. He looked round at the family portraits and drank their healths.
“I wonder,” he said, “how they like seeing us here?”
“I often sit with them,” replied Francis, breaking his silence, “and I fancy they are snobs and like being in a place where they can feel themselves immeasurably superior.”