"My dear young lady," I said, "you know what men of that age are like--or perhaps you still don't. My husband is essentially temperate, but he is also criminally injudicious. He thinks that an occasional glass of champagne--he cannot afford to drink it regularly--is good for him; _I know better_. Acidity... Whisky and soda--two, if he likes--, one glass of port and nothing else. The moment he takes liberties with himself, his digestion suffers, he cannot sleep--and _you_ pay the penalty. Similarly with what he eats; he must never be given butcher's meat more than once a day, shell-fish of every kind are poison to him, and, though he will never admit it, any rich sweets tell their tale next day. I could give you a list, but you will find out for yourself... Smoking again ... one cigar does him no harm, after two he can hardly breathe; all the Spenworths are liable to bronchitis. And exercise. My husband was quite an athlete as a young man; he says he doesn't need exercise, but _I know better_. If I may speak quite openly, he suffers from what men call 'liver.' ... I should dearly like to give you a little list of things, if you won't think me impertinent; one does not live with a man for more than thirty years without coming to regard him as one's child..." And, whether she liked it or not, then and there, I took pencil and paper and just jotted things down. He would never put on his winter underclothes unless some one reminded him; result--a week in bed with a severe chill... "You make him out to be a complete crock," said Mrs. Templedown. Poor soul! one hardly looked for any great _elegance_ from her... "Not that, by any means," I told her, "but, at his age, a man has to be careful." We were still at work on the list when her maid came in and whispered that she had to dress and be out to dinner in half an hour. She was, I understand, going to a dance. "Not with Arthur!" I said. Oh no! She was going with some friend of her husband. I told her that, if Arthur was ever persuaded or even allowed to stay up after midnight, one paid for it next day... She asked if I would not wait with her while she dressed, but I was glad to escape while the maid was still in the room. The parting, had we been by ourselves, must inevitably have been difficult. As it was, we just shook hands...