Everything But the Truth

"I don't see why the colonel didn't invite some of the ladies," Mrs.
Harrigan complained.

"It's a man-party. He's giving it to please himself. And I do not blame
him. The women about here treat him abominably. They come at all times of
the day and night, use his card-room, order his servants about, drink his
whisky and smoke his cigarettes, and generally invite themselves to
luncheon and tea and dinner. And then, when they are ready to go back to
their villas or hotel, take his motor-boat without a thank-you. The
colonel has about three thousand pounds outside his half-pay, and they are
all crazy to marry him because his sister is a countess. As a bachelor he
can live like a prince, but as a married man he would have to dig. He told
me that if he had been born Adam, he'd have climbed over Eden's walls long
before the Angel of the Flaming Sword paddled him out. Says he's always
going to be a bachelor, unless I take pity on him," mischievously.

"Has he...?" in horrified tones.

"About three times a visit," Nora admitted; "but I told him that I'd be a
daughter, a cousin, or a niece to him, or even a grandchild. The latter
presented too many complications, so we compromised on niece."

"I wish I knew when you were serious and when you were fooling."

"I am often as serious when I am fooling as I am foolish when I am
serious...."

"Nora, you will have me shrieking in a minute!" despaired the mother. "Did
the colonel really propose to you?"