it. In fact, though, of course, it is pleasant to have Peter in the
house...."

"Indeed it is, the darling," put in Peggy.

"One can't deny that disasters have come upon us extraordinarily fast
since he came to live with us in Venice two years ago. First he
discovered things that annoyed him in my private affairs, which was
extremely disagreeable for all of us, and really he was rather
unnecessarily officious about that; in fact, I consider that it was owing
largely to the line he took that things reached their final very trying
_dénouement_. Since then disaster upon disaster has come upon us; Peter's
unfortunate marriage, and consequent serious expenses, including the
child now left upon his hands (really, you know, that was an exceedingly
stupid step that Peter took; I tried to dissuade him at the time, but of
course it was no use). And he is so very frequently ill; so am I, you
will say"--(Peggy didn't, because Hilary wasn't, as a matter of fact, ill
quite so often as he believed)--"but two crocks in a household are twice
as inconvenient as one. And now there has been this unpleasant jar with
the Urquharts. Peter, by his rudeness to them, has finally severed the
connection, and we can hope for nothing from that quarter in future. And
I am not sure that I choose to have living with me a much younger brother
who has influential friends of his own in whom he insists that we shall
have neither part nor lot. I strongly object to the way Peter spoke to us
on that occasion; it was extremely offensive."

"Oh, don't be such a goose, Hilary. The boy only lost his temper for a
moment, and I'm sure that happens seldom enough. And as to the rest of
it, I don't like the way you speak of him, as if he was the cause of our
mischances, and as if his being so mischancey himself wasn't a reason why