Said Geoffrey: "I often meet Mr. Bean on the street. He is a very idle man; I know by the way he carries his pipe in his mouth."
"What has that to do with it?"
"Everything. He smokes with his pipe in the center of his mouth."
"Well?"
"Well, no one does that unless very old or very idle. Men get the habit from smoking all day while sitting down or lounging. No one can walk hurriedly with his pipe in that position; it would jar his front teeth out. I have noticed that an active man invariably holds his pipe in the side of his mouth, where he can grasp it firmly."
"Hampstead, you should have been a detective."
"Such is genius," said Margaret. "Geoffrey has any quantity of unprofitable genius."
"That reminds me that I once heard my grandfather telling my father the same thing, but it was not very correct about my father."
"Indeed! By the way, Geoffrey, if it is not an impertinent question for your future wife to ask, who was your grandfather?"
This ignorance on the part of an engaged girl made Maurice cackle.