"
"We've come to French," said my aunt, "anyhow."
"It's a very useful language," said my uncle. "Put a point on things.
Zzzz. As for accent, no Englishman has an accent. No Englishman
pronounces French properly. Don't you tell ME. It's a Bluff.--It's all a
Bluff. Life's a Bluff--practically. That's why it's so important, Susan,
for us to attend to Style. Le Steel Say Lum. The Style it's the man.
Whad you laughing at, Susan? George, you're not smoking. These cigars
are good for the mind.... What do YOU think of it all? We got to adapt
ourselves. We have--so far.... Not going to be beat by these silly
things."
IV
"What do you think of it, George?" he insisted.
What I said I thought of it I don't now recall. Only I have very
distinctly the impression of meeting for a moment my aunt's impenetrable
eye. And anyhow he started in with his accustomed energy to rape the
mysteries of the Costly Life, and become the calmest of its lords. On
the whole, I think he did it--thoroughly. I have crowded memories,
a little difficult to disentangle, of his experimental stages, his
experimental proceedings.
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