"O Philip!" cried Celia, laughing.
"Well, now, what earthly inducement have I to rise earlier? I am doomed—for my sins, I suppose—to spend four mortal hours of every day in dressing, breakfasting, dining, and supping. Moreover, I am constrained to ride a horse. Item, I have to talk nonsense. Fourth and lastly, I am the docile slave of my Lady-Mother. Is there anything in the list I have just given you to make a fellow turn out of bed three hours before he can't help it?"
"I should not think there was, except in the last item."
"Not in the last item, Madam, seeing that her gracious Ladyship does not shine upon the world any sooner than I do—have you not discovered that yet?"
"It seems to me, Philip, that you want something to do."
"Well, that depends," said Philip, reflectively. "It might be something I should not relish."
"Well!" said Celia, a trifle scornfully, "I never would lead such a useless life as that, Philip. 1 would either find something to do or make it."
"How very like a woman you talk!" loftily remarked Mr. Philip Ingram, putting his hands in his pockets.
Celia laughed merrily.
"I don't like it, Celia," resumed Philip, more seriously, "but what can I do? I wish exceedingly that my mother would let me go into the army, but she will not. Edward, you know—or you don't know—is a Colonel in King James's army; so that he can find something to do. I wish you would talk to my mother about it."