ANNE. No, that’s what I say.
LEONARD. I mean I haven’t got any luggage for one thing—and, with a
cold like this, I’m not at all sure——
ANNE. You’ve lost your luggage?
LEONARD. Apparently it was left behind by——
ANNE (_with anger_). You let yourself be tricked and humiliated by
this Mr. Latimer, you let _me_ be humiliated, and then when I say
that, whatever happens, I won’t be humiliated, you—you lose your
luggage!
LEONARD. _I_ didn’t lose it. It just happens to _be_ lost.
ANNE. And you catch a cold!
LEONARD. _I_ didn’t catch it. It caught _me_.
ANNE. The—the humiliation of it!... And what do you propose to do
now?
LEONARD. As soon as my luggage turns up, and I am well enough to
travel——
ANNE. Meanwhile you accept this man’s hospitality——
LEONARD. Under protest. (_Helping himself from the dish._) I shall
keep a careful account of everything that we have here——
ANNE. Well, that’s your third kidney; you’d better make a note of it.
LEONARD (_with dignity_). As it happens I was helping myself to a
trifle more bacon.... As I say, I shall keep a careful account, and
send him a cheque for our board and lodging as soon as we have left
his roof.
ANNE. Oh!... I had some coffee and one slice of toast and a little
marmalade. About a spoonful. And a cup of tea and two thin slices of
bread and butter upstairs. Oh, and I’ve had two baths. They’re extra,
aren’t they? A hot one last night and a cold one this morning. I
think that’s all. Except supper last night, and you wouldn’t let me
finish that, so I expect there’ll be a reduction.... You want a
note-book with one of those little pencils in it.
LEONARD (_reproachfully_). I say, Anne, look here——
ANNE. Do go on with your breakfast.
LEONARD. You’re being awfully unfair. How can we possibly go now? Why,
I haven’t even got a pair of trousers to put on.
ANNE. You’re not going to say you’ve lost those too!
LEONARD (_sulkily_). It’s not my fault. That fellow—What’s ’is
name——
ANNE (_wonderingly_). What made you ever _think_ that you could take
anybody to the South of France? Without any practice at all?... Now,
if you had been taking an aunt to Hammersmith—well, you might have
lost a bus or two ... and your hat might have blown off ... and you
would probably have found yourselves at Hampstead the first two or
three times ... and your aunt would have stood up the whole way ...
but still you might have got there eventually. I mean, it would be
worth trying—if your aunt was very anxious to get to Hammersmith. But
the South of France! My dear Leonard! It’s so audacious of you.
LEONARD (_annoyed_). Now, look here, Anne——
(_MR. LATIMER comes in cheerily with shaving-pot, brush,
safety-razor, and towel._)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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