"I mean to,"
The ices were taken away. Windebank went on talking.
"You've no idea how careful a chap with domestic instincts, who isn't altogether a pauper, has to be. Women make a dead set at him."
"Poor dear!" commented Mavis.
"Fact. You mayn't believe it, but every woman—nearly every woman he meets—goes out of her way to have a go at him."
"Nonsense!"
Windebank did not heed the interruption; he went on:
"Old Perigal, Charlie Perigal's father, is a rum old chap; lives alone and never sees anyone and all that. One day he asked me to call, and what d'ye think he said?"
"Give it up."
"Boy! you're commencing life, and you should know this: always bear in mind the value of money and the worthlessness of most women. Good-bye."