To his great surprise his well-meaning
remarks were received with every symptom of grave dissatisfaction by
his illustrious companions. Madame Sagittarius threw herself suddenly
forward with a most vivacious snort, and her husband's face was
immediately overcast by a threatening gloom that seemed to portend some
very disagreeable expression of adverse humour.
"That won't do, sir, at this time of day!" he exclaimed. "You should
have thought of that yesterday. That won't do at all, will it, Madame?"
"_O miseris hominorum mentas_!" exclaimed that lady, tragically. "_O
pectorae caecae_!"
"You hear her, sir?" continued Mr. Sagittarius. "You grasp her meaning?"
"I do hear certainly," said the Prophet, beginning to feel that he
really must rub up his classics.
"She helps Capricornus, sir, of an evening. She assists him in his
Latin. Madame is a lady of deep education, sir."
"Quite so. But--"
"There can be no going back, sir," continued Mr. Sagittarius. "Can
there, Madame?"
"No human creature can go back," said Madame Sagittarius. "Such is the
natural law as exemplified by the great Charles Darwin in his _Vegetable
Mould and Silkworms_.
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