"Pooh!" he said; "sit down then and don't be an ass."
"I'll sit down, but perhaps I can't help being an ass."
"I daresay you can't, poor dear," he said. Then he lay back in his chair and laughed. "To think of me," he chuckled, "falling in love."
I sat down at the other side of the fire and lit a pipe.
"But you've been in love ever since I knew you."
"The others didn't count; this does."
I begged him to explain.
"Well, it's like this. When I saw her often I wasn't quite sure about it, but now that I can't see her at all the thing's dead certain."
I again begged him to be more explicit. "You talk in the dark," I said.
"Then why don't you light a lamp?"