"I had been telling these ladies what a terrible woman-avoider you have always been.

Miss Forrest wouldn't believe me at first; but that story of your walking five miles alone, rather than ride in a carriage with some ladies, has convinced her.

I thought you had improved the first day or so after you came, but you seem to have fallen back into your old ways." "Don't put the fault on me, Tom," I said.
"The fault has generally been with the ladies.

The truth is, I'm not a ladies' man, and hence not liked by them.

I have generally been put down as a kind of bore, I expect, and I've never taken the trouble to improve my reputation." "Then you ought," said Miss Gray, laughingly.