“Why not, Phil-ipp?”

“Oh, I shouldn’t.”

A bald reason, perchance, but a manly conviction had given it currency.

“But that’s absurd, Phil-ipp. Why should a mere chorus girl—?”

“Look here, Polly,” said the fierce young man, “you mustn’t suppose I’m going to be chipped by you. If I take that flat, you’ve got to come and live in it; and, Polly”—and for all they were just opposite the Burlington Arcade, the vain young man took a firm grip of the arm of Mary the obdurate—“I’m bally well goin’ to take that flat.”

“Are you, Phil-ipp?”

“Yes, and I’m goin’ to take it now.”

“What!—now, Phil-ipp?”

“At once. Come on back to the house-agents.”

“But they are half-a-mile away, Phil-ipp.”