_Mrs. Tid._ (_in a rapid whisper._) Don't make a fuss--you can take _one_ glass as he wishes it! _Lord Strath._ (_to himself._) Can I though? If she imagines I'm going to poison myself to please her uncle! (SEAKALE _gives him half a glass, after receiving a signal from_ Mrs. T.) I suppose I must just----(_After tasting._) Why it's _dry_! Then why the deuce was I cautioned not to----? _Uncle Gab._ That's a fine wine, isn't it, my Lord? Not much of _that_ in the market nowadays, I can tell you! _Lord Strath._ (_to himself._) Precious little _here_. (_Aloud._) So I should imagine, Sir. _Uncle Gab._ Your Lordship mustn't pass this _entree_. My niece's cook knows her business, I will say that for her. _Lord Strath._ (_as he helps himself._) I have already discovered that she is an artist. _Mrs. Tid._ (_in displeased surprise._) Then you know my cook _too_? An _artist_? and she seems such a _respectable_ person! Pray what sort of pictures does she paint? _Lord Strath._ Pictures? Oh, really I don't know--potboilers probably. [Mrs. TID. _glares at him suspiciously_. _Conversational Scraps._ And when I got into the hall and saw them all sitting in a row with their faces blacked, I said "I'm sure _they_ can't be the Young Men's Christian Association!"... Hysteria? my poor dear wife is a dreadful sufferer from it--I've known her unable to sleep at all except with one foot curled round her neck!... (&c. &c.) _Lord Strath._ (_to himself._) There's no doubt about it--this woman _is_ trying to snub me--hardly brings herself to talk at all--and _then_ she's beastly rude! What did she ask me here _for_ if she can't be civil! If she wasn't my hostess--I'll try her once more, she may know something about antiquities--(_Aloud._) I suppose Mr. CARTOUCHE keeps his collection in a separate room? I was told he has some hunting scarabs of the Amenhoteps that I am very curious to see. _Mrs. Tid._ (_stiffly_). Mr. CARTOUCHE may keep all sorts of disagreeable pets, for anything _I_ know to the contrary. _Lord Strath._ (_to himself, in amazement_). Pets! I'm hanged if I let myself be snubbed like this! (_Aloud._) I'm afraid you have very little sympathy with his tastes? _Mrs. Tid._ Sympathy, indeed! I don't even know if he _has_ any tastes. I am not in the habit of troubling myself about my next-door neighbour's affairs. _Lord Strath._ (_with a gasp_). Your next-door----! (_He pulls himself together._) To be sure--of course not--stupid of me to ask! (_To himself._) Good Heavens!--these _aren't_ the CARTOUCHES! I'm _at the wrong dinner-party_--and this awful woman thinks I've done it on purpose! No wonder she's so confoundedly uncivil!... And MARJORY knows it, too, and won't speak to me! Perhaps they _all_ know it.... What on earth am I to do?... I feel such a fool!