Oh, confound it!' he exclaimed, with sudden temper.

'You ought to be.

I don't understand this aloofness.
I half suspect it's pose.

You undervalue Cecily--well, you have no business to undervalue me.

You know me better than anybody in the world.
Now are you going to help me to marry your daughter ?' 'I don't think so,' I said slowly, after a moment's silence, which he sat through like a mutinous schoolboy.