"You have no objection?"
She shrugged her shoulders.
"If you have the money and don't mind spending it," she said, "I
will admit that I have had all the walking I want. Besides, the
toe of my boot is worn through and I find it painful. Yesterday
I tramped ten miles trying to find a man who was getting up a
concert party for the provinces."
"And did you find him?" he asked, hailing a cab.
"Yes, I found him," she answered, indifferently. "We went
through the usual programme. He heard me sing, tried to kiss me
and promised to let me know. Nobody ever refuses anything in my
profession, you see. They promise to let you know."
"Are you a singer, then, or an actress?"
"I am neither," she told him. "I said 'my profession' because it
is the only one to which I have ever tried to belong. I have
never succeeded in obtaining an engagement in this country. I do
not suppose that even if I had persevered I should ever have had
one."
"You have given up the idea, then," he remarked.
"I have given it up," she admitted, a little curtly. "Please do
not think, because I am allowing you to be my companion for a
short time, that you may ask me questions. How fast these taxies
go!"
They drew up at their destination--a well-known restaurant in
Regent Street. He paid the cabman and they descended a flight of
stairs into the grill-room.
"I hope that this place will suit you," he said. "I have not
much experience of restaurants.
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