Edgar Jepson

“ In the ordinary course of things, she would never have dreamed of borrowing money from her brother. But it was very clear to her that if she was to continue to dine with James Bletsoe, she must have a new evening frock.
She lost no time. At eleven o'clock, she went up to the smoking room and entered briskly.
The prince looked up from the thick book he was reading with an air of surprise that astonished her; it was almost a startled air. He rose to his feet, began to smile, and checked himself.
“Good morning. I came to ask you to lend me ten pounds. I'll pay you back as soon as I get work. ”

“ She did not wish to leave the house in which he lived.
“It's awfully good of your highness. I should love to stay on,” she said gratefully.
“Good. I'm delighted to hear it,” said the prince.
She came away from the interview with mingled feelings. She felt that the prince was a most charming man, but she was vexed that she had made a fool of herself by not knowing at their first interview that he was not John; and she was angry with James Bletsoe and the Earl of Bastable for allowing her to persist in her error. ”

“ I'm off duty, of course—myself again, and all that—but it would never do for you to be seen at the theater with your brother's butler. You'd lose caste shockingly. Suppose Lord Bastable were there.”
This opposition hardened her in her purpose. Here was an opportunity of getting to know James Bletsoe, and she was not going to let it slip.
“I'm sure I don't care what Lord Bastable thinks,” she said quickly. “Will you come?”
“Thank you, I won't,”. he said amiably, but firmly. “But I tell you what. Let me take you to a music hall—one of the smaller ones.”
“I don't want to go to a music hall. ”

“ The friends of his highness who know that he is not your brother do not know that you are staying here—except, of course, the Earl of Bastable, and he does not appear to think that you're compromised. ”

“ All art is the expression of emotion, and that was an uncommonly good expression of the good, gross, Gallic gayety. Every mortal thing in it produced the exact emotional effect it was meant to produce. What artist can do more? ”

“ The next morning she received a letter from him written at the Royal Aëroplane Club, inviting her to dine that evening and go to a music hall, and asking her to telephone “yes” or “no” to him at the club. ”