Sir Roger gave a hoarse chuckle.
2
As it was too large a party to get comfortably into the dining-room, a big tent had been pitched on the lawn, and several long narrow tables joined together, and there they dined, an ill-assorted company.
At one end Dr. Sinclair was shouting to Lady Cust, “Well, I’d send him to that co-education place, but, unfortunately, they don’t ... er ... learn anything there. They make the fourth form read Tolstoy’s Resurrection, which is not ... er ... only the most ... er ... trashy of all the works of genius, but the only ... er ... lesson to be learned from it is the ... er ... inadvisability of ... er ... seducing a Russian peasant girl, and ... er ... unfortunately, an ... er ... er ... English schoolboy hasn’t many opportunities of doing that ... er ... er....”
He looked at her, slightly puzzled—her face was pink with suppressed laughter; but, as she was meant to laugh, why suppress it?
Elfrida Penn was terrifying “Crippin” Arbuthnot by searching questions as to whether the erotic adventures of his schooldays had been similar to those described in a recent novel about life at a public school.
Edward Lane was saying to Jollypot, “Yes, before my niece—Olive Jackson, you know—went to school, I said to her, ‘my advice to you is: keep your hands clean.’ I always....”
“Oh, Mr. Lane, that was beautiful!” cried Jollypot.
“Yes, I always say a lady can be known by the way she keeps her hands.”