BOTH TOGETHER. Have you been--- CAPT. G. I beg your pardon. You were going to say--- MISS T. (_Who has been watching the moustache with awed fascination_.) Won't you have some eggs? CAPT. G. (_Looking bewilderedly at the tea-table_.) Eggs! (_A side_.) O Hades! She must have a nursery-tea at this hour. S'pose they've wiped her mouth and sent her to me while the Mother is getting on her duds. (_Aloud_.) No, thanks. MISS T. (_Crimson with confusion_.) Oh! I didn't mean that. I wasn't thinking of mou--eggs for an instant. I mean _salt_. Won't you have some sa--- sweets? (_Aside_.) He'll think me a raving lunatic. I wish Mamma would come. CAPT. G. (_Aside_.) It _was_ a nursery-tea and she's ashamed of it. By Jove! She doesn't look half bad when she colours up like that. (_Aloud, helping himself from the dish_.) Have you seen those new chocolates at Peliti's? MISS T. No, I made these myself. What are they like? CAPT. G. These! _De_-licious. (_Aside_.) And that's a fact. MISS T. (_Aside_.) Oh, bother! he'll think I'm fishing for compliments. (_Aloud_.) No, Peliti's of course. CAPT. G. (_Enthusiastically_.) Not to compare with these. How d'you make them? I can't get my _khansamah_ to understand the simplest thing beyond mutton and fowl. MISS T. Yes? I'm not a _khansamah_, you know. Perhaps you frighten him. You should never frighten a servant. He loses his head. It's very bad policy. CAPT. G. He's so awf'ly stupid. MISS T. (_Folding her hands in her lap_.) You should call him quietly and say: 'O _khansamah jee!_' CAPT. G. (_Getting interested_.) Yes? (_Aside_.) Fancy that little featherweight saying, 'O _khansamah jee_' to my bloodthirsty Mir Khan! MISS T. Then you should explain the dinner, dish by dish. CAPT. G. But I can't speak the vernacular. MISS T. (_Patronizingly_.) You should pass the Higher Standard and try. CAPT. G. I have, but I don't seem to be any the wiser. Are you? MISS T. I never passed the Higher Standard. But the _khansamah_ is very patient with me. He doesn't get angry when I talk about sheep's _topees_, or order _maunds_ of grain when I mean _seers_. CAPT. G. (_Aside, with intense indignation_.) I'd like to see Mir Khan being rude to that girl! Hullo! Steady the Buffs! (_Aloud_.) And do you understand about horses, too? MISS T. A little--not very much. I can't doctor them, but I know what they ought to eat, and I am in charge of our stable. CAPT. G. Indeed! You might help me then. What ought a man to give his _sais_ in the Hills? My ruffian says eight rupees, because everything is so dear. MISS T. Six rupees a month, and one rupee Simla allowance--neither more nor less. And a grass-cut gets six rupees. That's better than buying grass in the bazar. CAPT. G. (_Admiringly_.) How do you know? MISS T. I have tried both ways. CAPT. G. Do you ride much, then? I've never seen you on the Mall. MISS T. (_Aside_.) I haven't passed him _more_ than fifty times. (_Aloud_.) Nearly every day.