pressed forward, but the Marquis was attracted by Mavis; he showed
in an unmistakable manner that he preferred her services.

He wanted a trousseau for "Madame the Marquise." He--ahem!--she was
very particular, very, very particular about her lingerie; would
Mavis show "Madame" "Dawes'" most dainty and elaborate specimens?

Mavis was no prude; but this request, coming on top of all she had
learned from Miss Allen, fanned the embers of resentment against the
conditions under which girls, helpless as she, worked. The Marquis's
demand, the circumstances in which it was made, seemed part and
parcel of a system of oppression, of which old Orgles's sending
dozens of girls "on the game," who might otherwise have kept
straight, was another portion. The realisation of this fact awoke in
Mavis a burning sense of injustice; it only needed a spark to cause
an explosion. This was not long in coming. The Marquis examined the
things that she set before him with critical eye; his eagerness to
handle them did not prevent his often looking admiringly at Mavis, a
proceeding that did not please "Madame the Marquise," who felt
resentful against Mavis for marring her transient triumph. "Madame
the Marquise" pouted and fretted, but without effect; when her
"husband" presently put his mouth distressingly near Mavis's ear,
"Madame's" feelings got the better of her; she put her foot, with
some violence, upon the Marquis's most sensitive corn, at which it
was as much as Mavis could do to stop herself from laughing. All
might then have been well, had not the Marquis presently asked Mavis
to put her bare arm into one of the open worked garments in order
that he might critically examine the effect. In a moment, Mavis was
ablaze with indignation; her lips tightened. The man repeated his
request, but he may as well have talked to the moon so far as Mavis