"Yes, indeed!" said he.
He thought to himself: "Now's the time for me to behave like Edward Henry Machin, and teach these people a thing or two!" But he could not.
A pretty young girl summoned all her forces to address the great proprietor of the Regent, to whom, however, she had not been introduced, and with a charming nervous earnest lisp said:
"But don't you think it's a great play, Mr. Machin?"
"Of course!" he replied, inwardly employing the most fearful and shocking anathemas.
"We were sure you would!"
The young people glanced at each other with the satisfaction of proved prophets.
"D'you know that not another manager has taken the trouble to come here!" said a second earnest young woman.
Edward Henry's self-consciousness was now acute. He would have paid a ransom to be alone on a desert island in the Indian seas. He looked downwards, and noticed that all these bright eager persons, women and men, were wearing blue stockings or socks.
"Miss April is free now," said Marrier in his ear.