"Don't give me brandy and soda-water," I say, with some energy. "I do so hate it."
"How do you know?"
"Because I tested yours the other evening, and thought it a horrible concoction. I was tired of hearing men praise it as a drink, so thought I would try if it was really as good as they said. But it was not: it was extremely disagreeable."
"It was the soda you disliked. I will put very little in, and then you will like it better."
"But indeed, Marmaduke, I would rather not have anything."
"But indeed, Phyllis, I must insist on your taking it. If we are going to be so ultra-fashionable as to encourage a real ghost on the premises, we must only increase our allowance of spirits, and fortify ourselves to meet it. By the by, have you decided on the sex? Bebe was rather hazy on that point."
"I don't know," I say, shuddering; "I wish you would not jest about it."
Then I drink what he has prepared for me, and, in spite of my dislike to it, feel presently somewhat happier in my mind.
----
The world is only three days older, when, as I sit alone in my own room reading, Tynon opens the door, and addresses me in the semi-mysterious manner he affects.