"Why?... Oh, I know. Ha! ha! ha! You've come to the Crescent instead of the Terrace."
"That confounded cabman! I'm sure I told him the Terrace."
"Don't swear. He's more accustomed to the Crescent. So many pros coming home late, and all that!"
He hesitated at the foot of the stairs. "I really think I ought to call there first...."
Now all the coquette in Nelly O'Neill rose to detain him, subtly tangled with the actress. She pouted adorably. "Oh, now you're here, can't you put her second for once?"
"I didn't say it was a her."
"A she," corrected the governess, instinctively. Nelly hastened to add, "No man leaves a woman for a man."
"This is such an old appointment," he pleaded in distress.
"I see. You want to be off with the old love before you are on with the new."
"Nothing of the kind, I assure you."