The Black Knight — Ethel M. Dell / Ethel May Dell

"Ermine, my dear, you don't say you refused him!" "Oh, don't be silly, Joyce! Of course I did! I'm not going to the White Rabbit to please anybody". "But, Ermine, you did encourage him, you know you did". "Well, I've discouraged him now, so that's that! Please, darling, I want another toasted scone. Aren't they lovely?" "Ermine, you're quite heartless! For which thanks be! I hate women who trail their hearts about like pet dogs at the end of a string. He can marry the Jervis girl if he likes. She's much more suitable and she's chasing him hard".