“I confess—You think there is a time then, after all, when it pays?”
“Do you fancy I show signs of feeble-mindedness?”
“No, emphatically not; but—Jove, you are human then after all! I begin to have hope.”
Roberts stifled a yawn, a real yawn.
“I think I’ll turn in,” he said.
“Just a moment, Darley. I feel as though I’d discovered a gold mine, and I want to blaze its location before departing. Just when, with your philosophy, do you contemplate taking this important leap among the attached?”
Roberts looked at his companion in silence.
“Pardon me, Darley,” swiftly, “that was flippant, I admit, but I’m really serious.” 33
“Serious? I’ll take you at your word. It’ll be when I mean business, not pastime. Stretch the tape if you wish. There are some things it doesn’t pay to play with. It’ll be when I can give a woman the things, the material things, she wants and demands to make her happy and contented. The world is artificial, and material things are its reflection. When I can make the woman who chooses to marry me pass current anywhere, when I can be the means of giving her more pleasure, more opportunity, more of the good things of life than she has known before, then, when I know, not hope, this,—and not a minute before—Does that answer your question?”
“Yes; that’s clear enough, I’m sure—the implication, too, for that matter.” The speaker yawned, unnecessarily it seemed, for his look was keen. “By the way, though, you haven’t given me a satisfactory explanation for avoiding Elice. She’s attached practically, not unattached; and I personally want you to know her. I think it would make you understand some things you don’t understand now. You might even approve of—dangling. What do you say, will you go out with me some evening or will you have another engagement as usual? I shan’t suggest it again, Darley.” 34