"James," said Lady Ascot, repeating his own words, "do you know that sometimes you are intolerably foolish? How can I tell?"
"Which would you bet on, Miss Headstall?" asked Lord Saltire.
"Well, well!" said Lady Ascot, "I suppose I should bet on John Marston."
"And how long are you going to give Sebastopol, Lord Hainault?" said John Marston.
"What do you think about the Greek Kalends, my dear Marston?" said Lord Hainault.
"Why, no. I suppose we shall get it at last. It won't do to have it said that England and France——"
"Say France and England just now," said Lord Hainault.
"No, I will not. It must not be said that England and France could not take a Black Sea fortress."
"We shall have to say it, I fear," said Lord Hainault. "I am not quite sure that we English don't want a thrashing."