"What?"
"Driving—do you like it?"
"Pretty well, if the horse don't come down," said Cuckoo, at once concentrated on cabs.
"My horses won't."
"Yours!"
"Yes. I have no more patients to-day. I have a half-holiday and I want to talk to you. Shall we go for a drive to Hampstead and talk out in the open air and the sunshine?"
The four ladies, the illustrateds, the cough, dry as Sahara, were instantly forgotten. Cuckoo became all curves, almost like Jessie in moments of supreme emotion.
"Me and you?" she exclaimed. "Oh yes!"
The doctor rang the bell.
"Take this lady to the dining-room and give her some lunch," he said to
Lawler. "And please order the victoria round at once."