“Anyhow,” I said, more seriously, “Eileen O’Connor is not without
romance herself, and I don’t know what she wrote in that letter to
Franz von Kreuzenach, but I suspect she re-opened an episode which had
best be closed.... As for Brand, I think he’s asking for trouble of the
same kind. If he sees much of that girl Elsa I won’t answer for him.
She’s amazingly pretty, and full of charm, from what Brand tells me.”
“I guess he’ll be a darned fool if he fixes up with that girl,” growled
the doctor.
“You’re inconsistent,” I said. “Are you shocked that Wickham Brand
should fall in love with a German girl?”
“Not at all, sonny,” said Dr. Small. “As a biologist, I know you can’t
interfere with natural selection, and a pretty girl is an alluring
creature, whether she speaks German or Icelandic. But this girl, Elsa
von Kreuzenach, is not up to a high standard of eugenics.”