And then I become a coward and dare not face them and talk straight as man to man.

I repeat my platitudes to the ceiling, and they go away thinking, and thinking rightly, that I am a fool." Wratislaw looked worried.

"That is one of my complaints.

The other is that on certain occasions you cannot hold yourself in check.

Do you know you have been blackguarded in the papers lately, and that there is a violent article against you in the Critic, and all on account of some unwise utterances ?" Lewis flushed deeply.