"Yes. Give it to me immediately."
"But," objected Moore, "I don't know that you have any right to it. Can you prove it to be your property?"
"I can," replied Bessie with emphasis, "but I won't."
"I am sorry, Mistress Dyke, but under the circumstances I really must refuse."
"But it is mine, Mr. Moore."
"But I have no proof that it is n't somebody else's. Perhaps it belongs to Mr. Sheridan."
"What nonsense."
"Oh, I don't know about that. Richard Brinsley is said to be fond of the petticoats. Perhaps this is one he carries around with him. I 'll go ask the old boy."
"Don't you dare," she cried.
"Well, can you identify this as your property?" insisted the poet, not loth to prolong her discomfiture.