'Just a minute, Mr. Selwyn. You are not going to tell me I look charming?'
'That was my intention.'
She sighed, with a pretty pretence at disappointment. 'That will cost me half-a-crown,' she said.
'I beg your'——
'Yes; I wagered myself two-and-six to a "bob" that you wouldn't use that word.'
'It is really your fault that I did,' he said seriously.
She curtsied daintily. 'I make money on Englishmen and lose it on Americans,' she said. 'I have a regular scale of bets. I give ten to one that an Englishman will say in the first ten minutes that I look "topping," five to one on "absolutely ripping" in the first thirty, and even money on "stunning" in the first hour.'
His face, which had been portraying an amusing mixture of perplexity and admiration, broke into a smile which encompassed all his features. 'Do all bets cease at the end of the first hour?' he asked.
'Yes, ra-ther. An Englishman never pays compliments then, because he is used to you. Isn't it awful seeing people getting used to you?'
'Do they ever?'