prove your mettle, eh? [_With another chuckle._

_Culch._ (_furiously_). Take care--or I may tell you more than you
bargain for!

_Podb._ Go on--never mind _me_. Bless you, _I'm_ under vow for her,
too, my dear boy. Fact!

_Culch._ That's impossible, and I can prove it. The service she
demanded was, that I should leave Constance at once--with you. Do you
understand--with _you_, PODBURY!

_Podb._ (_with a prolonged whistle_). My aunt!

_Culch._ (_severely_). You may invoke every female relative you
possess in the world, but it won't alter the fact, and that alone
ought to convince you--

_Podb._ Hold on a bit. Wait till you've heard _my_ penance. She told
me to cart _you_ off, _Now_, then!

_Culch._ (_faintly_). If I thought she'd been trifling with us both
like that, I'd never--

_Podb._ She's no end of a clever girl, you know. And, after all, she
may only have wanted time to make up her mind.

_Culch._ (_violently_). I tell you _what_ she is--she's a cold-blooded
pedantic prig, and a systematic flirt! I loathe and detest a prig, but
a flirt I despise--yes, _despise_, PODBURY!