relief on the most generous scale, and distribute it, if need
be, to the uttermost ends of the earth."

The Duchess paused, with a sense of ultimate triumph. She
had made the same observation at a drawing-room meeting, and
it had been extremely well received.

"I wonder," said Reginald, "if you have ever walked down the
Embankment on a winter night?"

"Gracious, no, child! Why do you ask?"

"I didn't; I only wondered. And even your philanthropy,
practised in a world where everything is based on
competition, must have a debit as well as a credit account.
The young ravens cry for food."

"And are fed."

"Exactly. Which presupposes that something else is fed
upon."

"Oh, you're simply exasperating. You've been reading
Nietzsche till you haven't got any sense of moral proportion
left. May I ask if you are governed by ANY laws of conduct
whatever?"

"There are certain fixed rules that one observes for one's
own comfort. For instance, never be flippantly rude to any
inoffensive grey-bearded stranger that you may meet in pine