Page:Anthony Hope - The Dolly Dialogues.djvu/51

 'Is a reform of the upper classes,' said she. 'Let them give an example of duty, of self-denial, of frugality.'

I was not to be caught out again.

'Just what I always say,' I observed impressively.

'Let them put away their horse-racing, their betting, their luxurious living, their'

'You're right, Miss Milton,' said I.

'Let them set an example of morality.'

'They should,' I assented.

Miss Milton smiled.

'I thought we agreed really,' said she.

'I'm sure we do,' cried I; and I winked with my 'off' eye at Mrs. Hilary as I sat down beside Miss Milton.

'Now I heard of a man the other day,' said she, 'who's nearly forty. He's got an estate in the country. He never goes there, except for a few days' shooting. He lives in town. He spends too much. He passes an absolutely vacant existence in a round of empty gaiety. He has by no means a good reputation. He dangles about, wasting his time and his money. Is that the sort of example?'

'He's a traitor to his class,' said I warmly.

'If you want him, you must look on a race-course, or at a tailor's, or in some fashionable woman's boudoir. And his estate looks after itself. He's too selfish to marry, too idle to work, too silly to think.'

I began to feel sorry for this man, in spite of his peccadilloes.