"What!"
He smiled:
"Oh, the place suits, Mrs. Sprowl; I haven't any complaint; and the work and wages are easy; and it's comfortable below-stairs. But—I'm just tired."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about my employers, and I'm talking like the social upper-servant that I am—or was. I'm merely giving a respectable warning; that is the airy purport of my discourse, Mrs. Sprowl."
"Do you know what you're saying?"
"Yes, I think so," he said, wearily.
"Well, then, what the devil are you saying?"
"Merely that I've dropped out of service to engage in trade."
"You can't!" she yelled, sitting up in bed so suddenly that her unquiet tooth took the opportunity to assert itself.