"I think I could be true to such a household, madame," said the Idiot, "but please don't misunderstand me. I'm not advocating such a scheme. I am only saying that since such a scheme is impossible under modern conditions I think it is the best thing that ever happened to my wife that she and I never met."
"Do you think a household of that sort would be satisfied with you?" asked the Bibliomaniac.
"The chances are six to one that it wouldn't be," said the Idiot. "I'd probably get along gloriously with Hebe and the giggler, but I guess the others would stand a fair show of finding marriage a failure. Wherefore am I wedded only to my fancies, content that my days should not be subjected to the strain of trying to be all things to one woman, preferring as I do to remain one thing to all women instead—their devoted admirer and willing slave."
"Well, to come back to the Immortals," said the Doctor. "You don't really think, do you, that we have any women Immortals?"
"Of course, I do," replied the Idiot. "The world is full of them, and always has been."
Mr. Brief, the lawyer, tapped his forehead significantly.
"I'm afraid that screw has come loose again, Doctor," he said.
"Looks that way," said the Doctor, "but we'll tighten it up again in a jiffy."
He paused a moment, and then resumed.
"Well, Mr. Idiot," he said, "of course our ideas may differ on the subject of what makes an Immortal. Now, I should say that it is by their fruits that ye shall know them."