"Do you never drink wine of any kind at your Uncle Gregory's?"
"he turned his bull's-eye on bertie." ([p. 285]).
"No, sir; papa made Eddie and I promise we would never even taste it till we grew to be men, and we never have. He said that then we would like it so little that we would not care if we never tasted it a second time."
"He was quite right, boy. And now tell me why you refused my invitation. Were you afraid of offending your uncle?"
"No, sir."
"What, then?" Mr. Murray said, looking stern. "Tell me just the truth."
"I don't think my cousins wanted us to go; I felt that they wouldn't have been kind to us; and I am sure Aunt Gregory would have been displeased. I did not think we should have been happy, sir, I'm sure Eddie would have been miserable after what he said."
"What did Eddie say?" Mr. Murray asked.
"If you please, sir, I'd rather not tell you: he wouldn't like it," Bertie replied, looking quite troubled at the turn the conversation was taking.