'Oh! I let him off.

I wouldn't be drawn.

I told him I had expressed myself so much in public there was nothing more to say.
"H'm," he said, "they tell me at the Embassy you're writing a book!" You should have seen the little old fellow's wizened face--and the scorn of it! So I inquired whether there was any objection to the writing of books.
"Yes!"-- he said--"when a man can do a d----d sight better for himself--as you could! Everyone tells me that last year you had the ball at your feet." "Well,"-- I said--"and I kicked it--and am still kicking it--in my own way.

It mayn't be yours--or anybody else's--but wait and see." He shook his head.

"A man with what _were_ your prospects can't afford escapades.
It's all very well for a Frenchman; it don't pay in England." So then I maintained that half the political reputations of the present day were based on escapades.