Robert Sermaise

The fleshly prelude

CHAPTER I

"Yet another victim of masculine brutality!" concluded my Uncle, sententiously; and on looking once more at the photographs he added:

"It's a pity all the same, for she is jolly good looking. And well-made, too, eh?"

"Diana personified. Neither too plump nor too thin. Moreover, as supple as a willow-wand."

"Lucky chap! You said that the marriage was fixed for…"

"July 20th."

"Next Wednesday?… And since when have you been engaged?"

"Officially since last Thursday, the very day of my return from Shanghai."

"This is bewildering. You mean to tell me that you'll have the shameful courage to… to…"

"Oh! she has advanced beyond that: she holds a Licentiate's degree in both literature and history. Above all, her reading has been most extensive; and whatever she has read she has assimilated perfectly."

"All that is very, very bad."