"Square things?" repeated the little Earl mournfully; "will somebody tell me how? Haven't I been trying out everything? Didn't I back a musical comedy of sorts? Didn't I even do a turn in it myself?"
"That's what probably smashed it," observed O'Hara.
"He did it very well," laughed Sir Charles.
"Dankmere ought to have filled his show full of flossy flappers," insisted Lacy. "Who wants to see an Earl dance and sing? Next time I'll manage the company for you, Dankmere——"
"There'll be no next time," said Dankmere, scanning his cards. "I'm done for," he added, dramatically, letting his own ante go.
"You've lost your nerve," said Quarren, smiling.
"And everything else, my boy!"
"What's the matter with the heiresses, anyway?" inquired O'Hara sympathetically.
"The matter is that I don't want the sort that want me. Somebody's ruined the business in the States. I suppose I might possibly induce a Broadway show-girl——"
The little Earl got up and began to wander around, hands in his pockets, repeating: