And now came in the comic interlude which Lionel had feared most of
all--the squire's faithful henchman going through all the phases of
getting drunk in double-quick stage-time; and, while those stupidities
were going forward, Lionel and Miss Burgoyne were supposed to retire up
the stage somewhat and look on. Well, they took up their
positions--Grace Mainwaring being seated.
"Your giraffe is rather handsome," she said, behind her fan.
"I believe she is considered to be one of the best-looking women in
England," said he, somewhat stiffly.
"Oh, really! Well, of course, tastes differ," Miss Grace Mainwaring
said. "I don't think a woman should have blacking-brushes instead of
eyebrows. But it's a matter of taste."
"Yes," said he, "and comic opera is the sort of place where one's taste
becomes so refined. What do you think of this gag now? Is this what the
public like--when they come to hear music?"
"You're very fastidious--you want everything to be super-fine--but you
may depend on it that it keeps the piece going with the pit and
gallery."
His answer to that was one of this young lady's strangest experiences of
the stage: Lionel Moore had suddenly left her, and, indeed, quitted this
scene, in which he was supposed to be a chief figure.
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