“Much better,” echoed Pledger Dapp and Larkins.
“I'm not ashamed to say I began life as a page,” pursued Mr. Tankard; “and you see what I've arrived at.”
“It's no secret that I was a cook in a gentleman's family before I set up for myself as a confectioner,” said Pledger Dapp.
“And I was a gardener before I became a greengrocer,” said Larkins. And he added, with a laugh, “I'm a gardener now, though no longer in service.”
“Take the advice we all of us give you, sir, and become a footman,” said Tankard. “I'll answer for it we'll soon find you a place.”
“But I've no qualifications,” replied Walter. “I don't know the duties—that is, I know what a footman ought to be—”
“Well, that's quite enough,” interrupted Pledger Dapp. “You'll soon learn all the rest.”
“It just occurs to me that Lady Thicknesse, of Belgrave Square, is in want of a footman,” observed Tankard. “That would be a very good thing. It's a first-rate place.”
“Lady Thicknesse! I think I've heard of her,” remarked Walter. “A widow, isn't she?”
“Widow of Sir Thomas Thicknesse—middle-aged and rich. Besides her town residence, she has got a country house in Cheshire.”