The girls nodded.
"If I had known that I wouldn't have come!" said Fenton looking very dark.
"I'd think better of it if I were you," remarked Meredith quietly. "There goes more to the making of a gentleman than the drinking of wine."
"What do you mean?"
"Just that. As for instance—self-control, noble thoughts, care for others above himself, indifference to low pleasures."
"Low pleasures!" repeated Fenton. "Do you call wine a low pleasure?"
"Well, it brings people into the gutter."
"Pshaw! not gentlemen."
"I grant you they are not gentlemen after they get there."
"What do you know about it?" said the boy not very politely. "Did you ever drink it yourself?"