“‘Don’t you think,’ says he at last, ‘as I could manage this hotel for you?’
“‘Thanks,’ says she; ‘I’m doing that myself.’
“‘What about looking to the financial side of things,’ says he, ‘and keeping the accounts? It’s hardly your work.’
“‘Nor yours either,’ answers she drily, ‘judging by the way you’ve been keeping your own.’
“‘You wouldn’t like me to be head-waiter, I suppose?’ says he. ‘It would be a bit of a come-down.’
“‘You’re thinking of the hotel, I suppose,’ says she. ‘Perhaps you are right. My customers are mostly an old-fashioned class; it’s probable enough they might not like you. You had better suggest something else.’
“‘I could hardly be an under-waiter,’ says he.
“‘Perhaps not,’ says she; ‘your manners strike me as a bit too familiar for that.’
“Then he thought he’d try sarcasm.
“‘Perhaps you’d fancy my being the boots,’ says he.