"Now, my dear," said Leon, "that is kind and wife-like, and all that. It
reminds me of the way in which wives sometimes speak in the plays."

"Speak to me as Miss Dalton, or you shall not speak to me at all."

"It's quite evident," said Leon, with a sneer, "that you don't know into
whose hands you've fallen."

"On the contrary," said Edith, contemptuously, "it has been my fortune,
or my misfortune, to understand from the first both you and Wiggins."

Leon gave a light laugh.

"Your temper," said he, "has not improved much, at any rate. That's
quite evident. You have always shown a very peculiar idea of the way in
which a lady should speak to a gentleman."

"One would suppose by that," said Edith, "that you actually meant to
hint that you considered yourself a gentleman."

"So I am," said Leon, haughtily.

"As you have no particular birth or family," said Edith, in her most
insolent tone, "I suppose you must rest your claims to be a gentleman
altogether on your good manners and high-toned character."

"Birth and family!" exclaimed Leon, excitedly, "what do you know about
them! You don't know what you're talking about."