'Now, listen,' protested James, 'you aren't going to sit there and tell me that a girl falls in love with a man just because he saves her dog from drowning?'
'Why, surely,' said Colonel Carteret, surprised. 'What better reason could she have?' He sighed. 'It is the old, old story, my boy. Youth to youth. I am an old man. I should have known—I should have foreseen—yes, youth to youth.'
'You aren't a bit old.'
'Yes, yes.'
'No, no.'
'Yes, yes.'
'Don't keep on saying yes, yes!' cried James, clutching at his hair. 'Besides, she wants a steady old buffer—a steady, sensible man of medium age—to look after her.'
Colonel Carteret shook his head with a gentle smile.
'This is mere quixotry, my boy. It is splendid of you to take this attitude; but no, no.'
'Yes, yes.'