_Lady Maisie_ (_with shining eyes_). To _blame_? Mr. Blair! As if I could possibly do that! (_To herself._) He doesn't even see _how_ splendid it was of him! _Undershell_ (_to himself_). I begin to believe that I can do _no_ wrong in her eyes! (_Aloud._) It was not altogether easy, believe me, to leave without even having seen your face; but I felt so strongly that it was better so. _Lady Maisie_ (_looking down_). And--do you still feel that? _Undershell._ I must confess that I am well content to have failed. It was such unspeakable torture to think that you, Lady Maisie, _you_ of all people, would derive your sole idea of my personality from such an irredeemable vulgarian as that veterinary surgeon--the man Spurrell! _Lady Maisie_ (_to herself, with an almost imperceptible start_). I suppose it's only natural he should feel like that--but I wish--I _do_ wish he had put it just a little differently! (_Aloud._) Poor Mr. Spurrell! perhaps he was not exactly---- _Undershell._ Not _exactly_! I assure you it is simply inconceivable to me that, in a circle of any pretensions to culture and refinement, an ill-bred boor like that could have been accepted for a single moment as--I won't say a Man of _Genius_, but---- _Lady Maisie_ (_the light dying out of her eyes_). No, _don't_--don't go on, Mr. Blair. We were all excessively stupid, no doubt, but you must make allowances for us--for _me_, especially. I have had so few opportunities of meeting people who are really distinguished--in literature, at least. Most of the people I know best are--well, not exactly _clever_, you know. I so often wish I was in a set that cared rather more about intellectual things! _Undershell_ (_with infinite pity_). How you must have pined for freer air! How you must have starved on such mental provender as, for example, the vapid and inane commonplaces of that swaggering carpet-soldier, Captain--Thickset, isn't it? _Lady Maisie_ (_drawing back into her corner_). You evidently don't know that Captain Thicknesse distinguished himself greatly in the Soudan, where he was very severely wounded. _Undershell._ Possibly; but that is scarcely to the point. I do not question his efficiency as a fighting animal. As to his intelligence, perhaps, the less said the better. _Lady Maisie_ (_contracting her brows_). Decidedly. I ought to have mentioned at once that Captain Thicknesse is a very old friend of mine. _Undershell._ Really? _He_, at least, may be congratulated. But pray don't think that I spoke with any personal animus; I merely happen to entertain a peculiar aversion for a class whose profession is systematic slaughter. In these Democratic times, when Humanity is advancing by leaps and bounds towards International Solidarity, soldiers are such grotesque and unnecessary anachronisms.