Page:The little blue devil (IA littlebluedevil00mackiala).pdf/171

old enough. The strain is worn out, practically—I retrieved it by going down to the gutter, decidedly against my will! . . . I’m not overproud of the Ste. Croix, titles and all—what are French titles, anyway? They’re so lavish with them—but they took his away after he was degraded from the Cuirassiers—and that was before I was born. Let me see, how did I figure out what happened? I remember clearly enough hearing it discussed, but I didn’t quite understand till I was grown up. Unhealthily observant kid I must have been. . . . Let’s see, I gather that the family paid him five thousand francs, on condition that he wouldn’t use the title, and wanted him to change his name; but he wouldn’t do that unless they paid him a lot more, and, of course, they couldn’t afford to—they were always hard up. They just had to grin and bear it, and hope strangers would think him an upstart. . . . Blood will tell! Poor old Ste. Croix-birds! . . . He was a bit too strong even for them.... If Lady Trent and I are set together again at any of these shows, I think she’ll probably ask to be moved!”

Pamela did wish Archie wouldn’t make such horrid friends.