Oh, it's nothing to be ashamed of, really; still, I did begin life in town—[with an uneasy little laugh and a toss of the head]—you'd hardly believe it!—as a nursery-maid.
Pollitt.
H'm! I am aware that is not considered—
Sophy.
I should think not! Oh, of course, in time I rose to be Useful Maid, and then Maid. I've been lady's-maid in some excellent houses. And when I got sick of maiding I went to Dundas's opposite, and served three years at the hairdressing; that's an extremely refined position, I needn't say. And then some kind friends routed me out, [surveying the room proudly] and put me into this.
Pollitt.
Then why bestow a second thought upon your beginnings?
Sophy.
No, I suppose I oughtn't to. Nobody can breathe a word against my respectability. All the same, I am quite aware that it mightn't be over pleasant for a gentleman to remember that his wife was once—[sitting in the screen-chair] well, a servant.
Pollitt.