He replied: "That is my part, of which, by the way, you reminded me just now, and I shall continue to play it."
"Why?" she asked.
"Because it is you who take management of the household, and even of me. That, indeed, concerns you, as being a widow."
She was amazed, saying: "What do you really mean?"
"That you have an experience that should enlighten my ignorance, and matrimonial practice that should polish up my bachelor innocence, that's all."
"That is too much," she exclaimed.
He replied: "That is so. I don't know anything about ladies; no, and you know all about gentlemen, for you are a widow. You must undertake my education—this evening—and you can begin at once if you like."
She exclaimed, very much amused: "Oh, indeed, if you reckon on me for that!"
He repeated, in the tone of a school boy stumbling through his lesson: "Yes, I do. I reckon that you will give me solid information—in twenty lessons. Ten for the elements, reading and grammar; ten for finishing accomplishments. I don't know anything myself."
She exclaimed, highly amused: "You goose."