Dunstan Renshaw has
expressed to Hugh Murray the opinion that "marriages of contentment are
the reward of husbands who have taken the precaution to sow their wild
oats rather thickly"; whereupon the Scotch solicitor replies--
HUGH MURRAY: Contentment! Renshaw, do you imagine that there is no
autumn in the life of a profligate? Do you think there is no moment
when the accursed crop begins to rear its millions of heads above
ground; when the rich man would give his wealth to be able to tread
them back into the earth which rejects the foul load? To-day you
have robbed some honest man of a sweet companion!
DUNSTAN RENSHAW: Look here, Mr. Murray--!
HUGH MURRAY: To-morrow, next week, next month, you may be happy--but
what of the time when those wild oats thrust their ears through the
very seams of the floor trodden by the wife whose respect you will
have learned to covet! You may drag her into the crowded
streets--there is the same vile growth springing up from the chinks
of the pavement! In your house or in the open, the scent of the
mildewed grain always in your nostrils, and in your ears no music
but the wind's rustle amongst the fat sheaves! And, worst of all,
your wife's heart a granary bursting with the load of shame your
profligacy has stored there! I warn you--Mr.
Pages:
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516