"That would be impossible, but I'm a victim of stern necessity. Society demands all my spare time, and I'm forced, as one always is in London, to neglect my friends for my acquaintances."
"You deserve a thorough rating, and if it were not for my duties as hostess, I'd give it to you here and now."
"I claim the protection of your hearth," he rejoined, laughing.
"Oh! But it's such a tiny hearth," she remonstrated.
"And I," he added, "am such an insignificant personage."
"I won't have you run yourself down in that way. I believe you are a great social lion. Come, confess, how many teas have you been to in the last seven days?"
"Fifty-six."
"Good gracious! How do you men stand it, and having something to eat and a cup of tea at every place?"
"Shall I enlighten you as to the professional secrets of the habitual tea-goer? We don't."
"But surely you can't always refuse."