"Infernal nonsense."
"Is it! We'll try the experiment, if you like."
Mr. Dombrain resumed his seat with a malediction on all women in general, and Mrs. Belswin in particular. Then he bit his nails, and looked at her defiantly, only to quail before the fierce look in her eyes.
"It's no use beating about the bush with a fiend like you," he growled sulkily, making a clumsy attempt to appear at his ease.
"Not a bit."
"I wish you'd go away," whined Dombrain, with a sudden change of front. "I'm quite respectable now. I haven't seen you for twenty years. Why do you come now and badger me? It isn't fair to pull a man down when he's up."
"Do you call this up?" sneered Mrs. Belswin, looking round the dingy office.
"It's up enough for me."
The woman grinned in a disagreeable manner, finding Mr. Dombrain's manner very amusing. She glanced rapidly at him with her fierce eyes, and he wriggled uneasily in his chair.
"Don't look at me like that, you witch," he muttered, covering his face with his large hands. "You've got the evil eye, confound you."