It was then that Mrs. Bingle found her voice. After ten minutes, he succeeded in changing the subject. In all his acquaintance with his wife, he had never known her to be so scathing in the matter of words. She succeeded in causing him to feel extremely small and sheepish, for after all there was a world of justice and common sense in what she had to say concerning his inspired offer to engage in an enterprise that was as far from his understanding as the North Pole is from the South. "But," he managed to insert, weakly, "it's only to help Dick out, to encourage genius, to--" "Genius your Granny!" she exclaimed. "Don't you suppose that these regular theatre managers know genius when they see it?" "Some of the best plays ever written have never seen the light of day," said he. "Then how does any one know that they were good plays, if they never were played? Tell me that, Thomas Bingle." "My dear, I am only repeating what history tells--" "Well, answer this question then: what do you know about a play? Where do you get your wonderful knowledge of dramatic composition?" "I think you will acknowledge that I know my Shakespeare pretty well," he said stiffly. "But Richard Flanders isn't Shakespeare, Thomas. He's a reporter on a daily paper. Now, for goodness' sake, be sensible. Don't make a fool of yourself, dear. I know what's best for you. I--" "I'm merely proposing to FINANCE the thing, Mary," he argued. "I'm doing it because I like Dick and I want him to succeed. I do not set myself up as a real manager. I'm what Dick calls an 'angel.' He says--" "Well of all the--Do you mean to say that big, strapping fellow called you an angel?" "Theatrical expression," he said. "I shouldn't have been surprised if you'd said that Miss Fairweather called you an angel, but when it comes to--Oh, dear, what an awful thing for one man to call another!" "Now, see here, Mary, you don't under--" But she interrupted him again and he sat back limply to wait for an opportunity to get in the statement that he wanted most of all to make to her--which, when the time came for him to speak, was this: "Well, well, dear, we'll let the matter rest for a day or two. I only thought you'd be interested in the experiment--you and I together, you know--something new and thrilling. We could have a lot of fun planning and secretly watching the play grow from day to day, and discussing costumes and scenery, and meeting real actors and actresses, and seeing the inside workings of the stage, and the green room--and the dressing-rooms, and all that, you know. It's something we used to talk about and wonder about, don't you remember? Remember how we used to sit up in the balcony and wonder what was really happening behind the--" "Indeed I do!" she cried, and her eyes sparkled. "I've always wanted to have a peep behind the scenes and--" She had the good sense to stop before she compromised herself beyond recovery--but she looked extremely guilty.