'They're going to send it to me tomorrow—typewritten. It's not a long part, and not very important, apparently; but Mitchell says there's a lot to be got out of it by a good actor; sometimes one of these comparatively small parts will make the hit of the evening.'
'What sort of part is it?'
'Oh, no particular sort. I don't come on until the second act. As I told you, one of the chief points is to have a good appearance—look a gentleman; that sort of thing.'
'Well?'
'I come on in the second act, dressed as a mandarin.'
'A mandarin! Then you play the part of a Chinaman?'
'No, I don't. It's at the ball. In the second act, there's a ball on the stage—for the hero's coming of age—and I have to be a mandarin.'
'Is the ball given at the Chinese Embassy?'
'No; at the hero's country house. Didn't I tell you—it's a fancy ball!'
'Oh, I see! Then I shouldn't have thought it would have mattered so very much about whether you're good-looking or not. And Miss Wrenner—how will she be dressed at the fancy ball?'