"What the dickens makes you want to go in for the stage? Don't tell me if you'd rather not."
"There's no reason why I shouldn't," said Alexandra. "I've longed to ever since I was quite small."
"Goodness! And I've wanted to get off it ever since I can remember. Not that I ever had the chance. I don't know how to do anything useful. I suppose you got cracked about the stage, same as most girls, because you didn't know anything about it. You belong to a swell family, I suppose?"
"No," was the smiling reply; "only Anglo-Indians."
"What are they? Half-castes? You're fooling!"
"English people who live or have lived in India. My father was in the army."
"What, an officer?"
"Yes."
Maggy was impressed. She had once met a Sergeant-Major, and, superior being as she thought him, knew that his glory was reflected from the commissioned ranks.
"That's something to be proud of, anyway."