"Well, you're not going. You know I have expressly forbidden you to visit London. The last time I was weak enough to allow you to go there, what happened? You spent the night in a police station."
"Yes, but that was Boat-Race Night."
"And I had to pay five pounds for your fine."
Hugo dismissed the past with a gesture.
"The whole thing," he said, "was an unfortunate misunderstanding, and, if you ask me, the verdict of posterity will be that the policeman was far more to blame than I was. They're letting a bad type of men into the force nowadays. I've noticed it on several occasions. Besides, it won't happen again."
"You are right. It will not."
"On second thoughts, then, you will spring that tenner?"
"On first, second, third, and fourth thoughts I will do nothing of the kind."
"But, Uncle, do you realize what it would mean if you did?"
"The interpretation I would put upon it is that I was suffering from senile decay."