The Parts Men Play by Arthur Beverley Baxter
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page 37 of 417 (08%)
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sounds retained by her ear--'discussing--suppers.'
'Don't believe in 'em,' said Mrs. Jennings sternly; 'three regular meals--tea at eleven and four, and hot milk with a bit of ginger in it before retiring--are sufficient for any one.' The Italian took in the forceful figure of the New Woman and smiled with her teeth. 'Madame Jennings,' she said, 'perhaps finds sufficient distraction in just ordinary life--and _una tazza di tè_. But we who are not so--_comment dirai-je?_--so self-complete must rely on frivolous things like _una buona cena_.' 'Don't believe in 'em,' reiterated the resolutionist; 'three regular'---- '_Ah, c'est mauvais_,' gesticulated Madame Carlotti, who alternated between Italian and French phrases in London, and kept her best English for the Continent. 'Mr. Pyford,' put in Lady Durwent, descrying a storm on the yellow and black horizon, 'has just written'---- 'MR. H. STACKTON DUNCKLEY,' announced the butler, with an appropriate note of _mysterioso_. Lady Durwent summoned a blush, and rose to meet the ardent author, who was dressed in a characterless evening suit with disconsolate legs, and whose chin was heavily powdered to conceal the stubble of beard grown since morning. |
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