intended for them?'

'Why not?' he fenced.

'Well, it seems to me that when any living creature is placed in the
world it is given certain powers to use. You saw this morning how our
horses wanted to race, and couldn't understand our holding them back.
A mosquito bites because that's apparently its job in the world, and it
doesn't know anything else. I was once told that if animals do not use
some faculty they possess, in time Nature takes it away from them.'

'You are quite a student of natural history, Miss Durwent.'

'No--but every now and then mother unearths a man who teaches us
something, like last night.'

He acknowledged the compliment with a slight inclination of his head.
The waiter leant expectantly beside him.

'To descend from the metaphysical to the purely physical,' he said,
glancing in some perplexity at the terrific nomenclature of Monsieur
Beauchamp's dishes, 'do you think we might take a chance on this
_Poulet reine aux primeurs; salade lorette_? I gather that it has
something to do with chicken.'

'It's rather artful of Monsieur Beauchamp to word it so we poor English
can get that much, isn't it?'

'Yes. He apparently acts on the principle that a little learning is a
common thing.'