‘A man again after eighteen years,’ he said, shutting the sash and returning to his bedroom.
The first overt result of his kindled interest in Miss Power was his saying to his sister the day after the surreptitious sight of Paula: ‘I am sorry, Charlotte, for a word or two I said the other day.’
‘Well?’
‘I was rather disrespectful to your friend Miss Power.’
‘I don’t think so—were you?’
‘Yes. When we were walking in the wood, I made a stupid joke about her.... What does she know about me—do you ever speak of me to her?’
‘Only in general terms.’
‘What general terms?’
‘You know well enough, William; of your idiosyncrasies and so on—that you are a bit of a woman-hater, or at least a confirmed bachelor, and have but little respect for your own family.’
‘I wish you had not told her that,’ said De Stancy with dissatisfaction.