One hesitates to take hold of a thing that may the
next moment be knocked sky-high."
"You ought to take hold of a pretty woman," said his companion.
"He's trying hard to fall in love," he added, by way of explanation,
to his father.
"The pretty women themselves may be sent flying!" Lord Warburton
exclaimed.
"No, no, they'll be firm," the old man rejoined; "they'll not be
affected by the social and political changes I just referred to."
"You mean they won't be abolished? Very well, then, I'll lay my
hands on one as soon as possible and tie her round my neck as a
life-preserver."
"The ladies will save us," said the old man; "that is the best of
them will- for I make a difference between them. Make up to a good one
and marry her, and your life will become much more interesting."
A momentary silence marked perhaps on the part of his auditors a
sense of the magnanimity of this speech, for it was a secret neither
for his son nor for his visitor that his own experiment in matrimony
had not been a happy one. As he said, however, he made a difference;
and these words may have been intended as a confession of personal
error; though of course it was not in place for either of his
companions to remark that apparently the lady of his choice had not
been one of the best.
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