Axel's brows went up. "You are rude, my good Herr Klutz," he said. "Try to be polite if you wish me to help you. If you cannot, I shall ask you to go."
"I will not go."
"My dear Herr Klutz."
"I say I will not go till I have told you what I came to tell you. The woman is Miss Estcourt."
"Miss Estcourt?" repeated Axel, amazed. Then he added, "Call her a lady."
"She is a woman to all intents and purposes——"
"Call her a lady. It sounds better from a young man of your station."
"Of my station! What, a man with the brains of a man, the mind of a man, the sinews of a man, is not equal, is not superior, whatever his station may be, to a mere woman?"
"I will not discuss your internal arrangements. Has there, then, been some mistake about the salary you are to receive?"
"What salary?"