Sentence:  She greeted me with a bright smile, and said: “Back already? Did you find it?” With a strong effort I mastered my emotion and replied curtly but civilly that the answer was in the negative. “No,” I said, “I did not find it.” “You can't have looked properly.” Again I was compelled to pause and remind myself that an English gentleman does not <WSD>slosh</WSD> a sitting redhead, no matter what the provocation. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To punch (someone).