"Isn't he a lucky devil ?" he asked, instead.

"The most pestilentially lucky devil under the sun.

But why the deuce didn't you tell me before ?" "You expressed such a distaste for female women that we thought we would give you as long a respite as possible." "That's all very well," he grumbled.

"But if I had known that Adrian's fiancee was knocking around I'd have lumped her in my heart with Barbara and Susie." "You're not prevented from doing that now," said I.
His brow cleared.

"True, sonny." He broke into a guffaw.