"Oh! Mr. Prohack, you are very kind—but every one told me you were."
"No! I am a knave. Also there is a condition."
"I will agree to anything."
"You must leave Mr. Carrel Quire's service. That man is dangerous not only to empires. The entire environment is the very worst decently possible for a girl like you. Get away from it. If you don't undertake to give him notice at once, and withdraw entirely from his set, then I will ruin both you and him."
"But I shall starve," cried Miss Winstock. "I shall never find another place without influence, and I have no more influence."
"Have the Winstocks no money?"
"Not a penny."
"And have the Paulles no money?"
"None for me."
"You are the ideal programme-girl in a theatre," said Mr. Prohack. "You will never starve. Excuse me for a few minutes. I have another very important appointment," he added, as the car stopped in Piccadilly.