Page:Ethel Churchill 1.pdf/121

Rh they would alarm me more than those of the gout." "But, my dear uncle," asked his young hearer, is it not a pleasanter thing to think well of one's species?" "Pleasanter, I grant you," replied his uncle: "but one always pays for one's pleasures. Now I am arrived at an age when one grows economical on that head. I do not agree with Waller, who says, At all events, there is small enjoyment in being cheated with one's eyes open, which would be my present case. My opinion of my kind is couched in St. Simon's answer to Louis XIV—'Is there any thing,' asked the king, 'that you despise more than men?' 'Yes,' replied the duke,—'woman.'" "I had hoped," said Norbourne, "that you had some soft relentings in favour of the fairer sex." "Not I," answered Lord Norbourne: "