"What do you suggest then?" said Lillie anxiously.
"That you wait till she is delivered of The Cherub before deciding."
"Very well," she replied resignedly. "Only I hope we shall be able to admit her. Her conception of the use of man is so sublime!"
Lord Silverdale smiled. "Ah, if the truth were known," he said, "I daresay it would be that pretty women regard man merely as a beast of draught and burden, a creature to draw their checks and carry their cloaks."
Lillie answered, "And men look on pretty women either as home pets or as drawing-room decorations."
Silverdale said further, "I do not look on you as either."
To which, Lillie, "Why do you say such obvious things? It is unworthy of you. Have you anything worthy of you in your pocket to-day?"
"Nothing of your hearing. Just a little poem about another Cherub."
AN ANCIENT PASSION.
Mine is no passion of to-day,
Upblazing like a rocket,
To-morrow doomed to die away
And leave you out of pocket.