Page:Herbert Jenkins - Patricia Brent Spinster.djvu/195

 "What do you mean?" demanded Lady Tanagra.

"I think," said Patricia deliberately, "that you are too primitive to fall in love. You would have to be stormed, carried away by force, and wooed afterwards."

"It doesn't sound very respectable, does it?" said Lady Tanagra thoughtfully, then turning to Bowen she demanded, "Peter, would you allow me to be carried away by force, stormed, and wooed afterwards?"

"I think, Tanagra, you sometimes forget that our atmosphere is too exotic for most men," said Elton.

"Godfrey," said Lady Tanagra reproachfully, "I have had quite a lot of proposals, and I won't be denied my successes."

"We were talking about love, not offers of marriage," said Elton with a smile. "Cynic," cried Lady Tanagra. "You imply that the men who have proposed to me wanted my money and not myself."

"Suppose, Tanagra, there were a right man," said Patricia, "and he was poor and honourable. What then?"

"I suppose I should have to ask him to marry me," said Lady Tanagra dubiously.

"But, Tan, we've just decided," said Bowen, "that you have to be carried away by force, and cannot love until force has been applied."

"I think I've had enough of this