“Look what a dear little baby I’ve found! Isn’t she sweet, eh?”
And then, in the wings, he gave her a good big kiss on the cheek before putting her down.
The people around them laughed, applauded that stage joke:
“Jimmy, her old friend,” they said, “knew her when she was that high.”
Lily was very proud of it. And, a few minutes after, when he had left her to take a seat in front, Lily jumped into the saddle and rode round and round, without a hitch, smiling to the audience, smiling to Jimmy in a front box, Jimmy to whom she was grateful for coming to see her: a famous bill-topper putting himself out for her ... before everybody! She was faultless that evening, did a dozen twirls on the back-wheel, made a record, was grand.
Trampy, meanwhile, was waiting for Lily outside, in the passage leading to the stage-door. He had not seen Jimmy kiss Lily, but he saw him carry her across the stage, just as he was coming on himself, so he had turned and hurried out to avoid scandal ... giving way to his wife, who worked while he did not. He had gone out at once, time to run to the bar and drown two or three sorrows, and he was waiting for her now, without paying any attention to the girls passing. As soon as he saw Lily, he seized her by the arm:
“I’ve had enough of this,” he said. “I saw you, you and your Jimmy! You can’t deny it this time!”
“Oh, Trampy, don’t insult me like that!” protested Lily. “Why do you always say ‘my’ Jimmy? One can have a laugh and a joke on the stage without meaning wrong, you know one can. Besides, if you didn’t like to see him carry me in his arms, you ought to have smashed his face, without so much talk.”
“I didn’t want to make a fuss.”
“You were afraid to. You’re afraid of him, that’s what you are!”