"Roderick," she said in an awe-stricken undertone, "I am going to say something very dreadful. Please forgive me in advance."
"Certainly," he said, with a somewhat apprehensive look.
"Just now, when you were talking to me, I fancied you had been drinking brandy."
"I had."
"Absolute undiluted brandy!"
"Neat brandy, sometimes denominated 'short.'"
"Good heavens! were you ill?"
"I had had what people call 'a turn.'"