No, sir. I’ll get back to the shop.
Charles.
I ’ope you’ll suit your own convenience, sir. [Charles shows them out and comes back.] I don’t know what these tradespeople are coming to when they expect gentlemen to pay their bills.
[He seats himself in the most comfortable chair in the room and puts his feet on the table. His back is to the door. The newspaper is lying by his side. He shuts his eyes and dozes.
[Gerald enters silently, followed immediately by Blenkinsop and Freddie Perkins.
[Gerald is a handsome man of seven or eight and twenty, simple in his manners, carefully dressed but without exaggeration. Freddie is a vivacious boy of two and twenty, Blenkinsop is an old bachelor of five and forty; he is well-preserved and takes a good deal of care of his appearance. He is dressed in the height of fashion.
[For a moment they look silently at Charles, who wakes with a start and jumps up in confusion.
Charles.
I beg your pardon, sir; I didn’t hear you come in.
Gerald.