Not for anything would I have them know the truth
about the affair."
"But aren't they bound to know it?" George asked.
Mr. Ingram was wounded. "I hope not. I hope not," he said gravely. "It
is not right that young girls should know such things."
"But surely, sooner or later----"
"Ah! After they are married, conceivably. That would be quite
different," he admitted, with cheerfulness. "And now," he smiled, "I'm
afraid I've got to go and write the case up for London. I can catch the
mail, I think. If not, I must cable. But they hate me to cable when the
mail is possible. Can I drop you anywhere?"
Simultaneously he signalled to a taxi and knocked on the window for the
attendance of the waiter.
"Thanks. If you're going anywhere near the Place de l'Opera," said
George.
VI
He was excited, rather than saddened, by the tragic event. He was indeed
very excited. And also he had a deep satisfaction, because it seemed to
him that he had at last been truly admitted into the great secret
fellowship of adult males. The initiation flattered his pride. He left
Mr. Ingram at the door of an English newspaper office in the Boulevard
des Italiens, and, after vainly asking for telegrams at the hotel,
walked away, aimlessly at first, along broad pavements encumbered with
the chairs and tables of vast, crowded cafes, and with bright Sunday
idlers and sinister street-vendors.
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