Worn out with his unusual self-scrutiny, he left the Park and went to call on Mrs. Brendon. She was at home and welcomed him gaily. He explained that Jane and the baby had deserted him and that he was a lone bachelor in search of friends and comfort.
"Which means you're a wolf in sheep's clothing," she laughed.
"I feel like the sacrificial 'lamb,'" he replied, and marvelled that he could talk so lightly.
"Well, there is nothing so good for husbands, I contend, as a dose of absence. Men need unsettling, they get so rutty. Business, club, home, ditto, ditto, ditto."
"I suppose it's also sauce for the goose?"
"Oh, yes. I hope Jane will get a beau and flirt with him abominably."
"Can you think of Jane flirting?"
"No, that's why I think she needs it. Jane takes life too seriously."
"It's rather a question about which is the better way to take it, don't you think?"
"Life? Not a bit. Take it any way you like, but don't take it hard."