ETHEL. What, has Mr. Larkspur then proposed to someone else?
CAPT. They say, he never sees a girl three times without proposing to her.
ETHEL. And he’s always unsuccessful?
CAPT. Well, I did hear a vague rumour that some girl or other had at last had pity on him,—but by Jove, she must have been hard up.
ETHEL. Indeed! He must have been astonished at his sudden change of fortune.
CAPT. Quite knocked over. So I heard. He’d got so used to being rejected, that he felt quite disappointed when he was accepted. And between us two——
ETHEL. Yes.
CAPT. I shouldn’t like his wife to hear it—but between us two, he told a friend of mine that if he’d thought she’d have accepted him, he’d never have proposed to her.
ETHEL. Did he? How very amusing!
CAPT. Oh, extremely entertaining. It’d be a very good joke to tell his wife.