him till--till"--

"Till the young greenhorn was grey, sir?" suggested Brandon.

"Till he knew what women are made of, sir!" the old gentleman finished
his sentence vehemently. "What, d'ye think, will Feverel say to it, Mr.
Adrian?"

"He has been trying the very System you have proposed sir--one that
does not reckon on the powerful action of curiosity on the juvenile
intelligence. I'm afraid it's the very worst way of solving the
problem."

"Of course it is," said Clarence. "None but a fool!"--

"At your age," Adrian relieved his embarrassment, "it is natural, my
dear Clarence, that you should consider the idea of an isolated or
imprisoned manhood something monstrous, and we do not expect you to see
what amount of wisdom it contains. You follow one extreme, and we the
other. I don't say that a middle course exists. The history of mankind
shows our painful efforts to find one, but they have invariably resolved
themselves into asceticism, or laxity, acting and reacting. The moral
question is, if a naughty little man, by reason of his naughtiness,
releases himself from foolishness, does a foolish little man, by reason
of his foolishness, save himself from naughtiness?"

A discussion, peculiar to men of the world, succeeded the laugh at Mr.
Clarence. Then coffee was handed round and the footman informed Adrian,
in a low voice, that Mrs. Doria Forey particularly wished to speak with
him. Adrian preferred not to go in alone. "Very well," he said, and
sipped his coffee. They talked on, sounding the depths of law in Brandon
Forey, and receiving nought but hollow echoes from that profound cavity.
He would not affirm that the marriage was invalid: he would not affirm
that it could not be annulled. He thought not: still he thought it would
be worth trying. A consummated and a non-consummated union were two
different things....

"Dear me!" said Adrian, "does the Law recognize that? Why, that's almost
human!"

Another message was brought to Adrian that Mrs. Doria Forey very
particularly wished to speak with him.

"What can be the matter?" he exclaimed, pleased to have his faith in
woman strengthened. The cake had exploded, no doubt.

So it proved, when the gentlemen joined the fair society. All the
younger ladies stood about the table, whereon the cake stood displayed,
gaps being left for those sitting to feast their vision, and intrude
the comments and speculations continually arising from fresh shocks of
wonder at th