"You never could see a joke.

She called you a respectable-looking body, and you called her a queer old woman like a nurse.

Now you say she's a shameless old hussy, and so, on the whole, I think you've won the match." Aunt Charlotte relapsed into silence, and did not speak again until the dessert had been brought in.

Austin helped himself to a plateful of black cherries, while his aunt toyed with a peach.

At last she said, in rather a hesitating tone: "Well, you've told me your adventures, so there's an end of that.