Virginia. Mr. Jarvis gave it to me.
Grumpy. Mr. Jarvis! Aha! (He hides behind the sofa.)
Enter Mr. Jarvis.
Jarvis (to Virginia). I'm afraid my conduct must seem very strange, but I had to come back to see you. I—er—lost the shirt-front you gave me. Could you let me have my own back again? You see, I'm going abroad and I must have one.
Grumpy (popping his head up). Ah, Mr. Jarvis, did I hear you asking for a shirt-front? Allow me to offer you one—an india-rubber one, Mr. Jarvis! (Jarvis blenches.) And the price, Mr. Jarvis, is the diamond in your waistcoat-pocket!
Curtain.
—except that Ernest gets engaged to Virginia first.
Postscript.—On reading this through I feel that it hardly does justice to the clever acting of Mr. Maude as an always delightful old gentleman, the excellent support given him by the rest of the company, and the pleasantly exciting melodrama provided for them by Messrs. Horace Hodges and T. W. Percyval. To all of them my thanks for an entertaining evening.
A. A. M.