"Can't think why you always have such damned ugly girls about you,
Phipps," he yawned. "Gives me the creeps to look at them."
Peter Phipps smiled as he drew a box of cigars from his desk.
"Then I will tell you the reason, my friend," he said. "For pleasure there is no one who appreciates beauty more than I do. For business I have a similar passion for efficiency. The two are never confused in my mind."
"Regular paragon, aren't you!" Dredlinton murmured. "Why did you want to see me, by the by?"
"What happened last night?" Phipps asked a little abruptly.
"I obeyed orders," Dredlinton told him. "I told her ladyship that I should be home to dinner and probably bring some friends. I was a little late but she waited."
Phipps smiled maliciously.
"She didn't dine with Wingate, then, or go to the theatre?"
"She did not," Dredlinton replied. "I put the kibosh on it, according to orders."
Peter Phipps pushed the cigars across the desk towards his companion.