Confessions of a Well-Meaning Woman
you? Now, he’s been doing one of the things that a gentleman doesn’t do; and some one has to thrash him for it. I’ll say that there’s a girl mixed up in it, but I won’t tell you any more. She has no brothers, and her father’s too old to do justice to the occasion. The question is: who’s to give him his thrashing? I’m not as vigorous as I could wish; but I’ll undertake it, if I must. If, on the other hand, you’ll do it for me and do it properly, we may save a scandal; I shouldn’t like to injure his mother in any way, but he has to have his thrashing.’ . . Well, I didn’t know whether the fellow was in his right mind. . . I tried to get him to tell me something more. . . Then I said I’d think it over. . . What the devil’s Will been up to now?”
“Now?,” I repeated . Really, I will stand a good deal from Culroyd, because he is my nephew and I am very fond of him. But I would not submit to being hectored by my relations old and young, one after another. Goodness me, the next thing would be that I should have to give sureties to Phyllida and allow Ruth to make herself a ruler and a judge. . .
“Well, what does it mean?,” Culroyd persisted.
“You have suggested,” I said, “that this
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