_Avonia._
[_Shocked._] Oh, Ferdy! you!
_Gadd._
I, a serious actor, if ever there was one; a poetic actor----!
_Avonia._
What part, Ferdy?
_Gadd._
The insult, the bitter insult! the gross indignity!
_Avonia._
What part, Ferdy?
_Gadd._
I have not been seen in pantomime for years, not since I shook the dust
of the T. R. Stockton from my feet.
_Avonia._
Ferdy, what part?
_Gadd._
I simply looked at Burroughs, when he preferred his request, and swept
from the theatre.
_Avonia._
What part, Ferdy?
_Gadd._
A part, too, which is seen for a moment at the opening of the pantomime,
and not again till its close.
_Avonia._
Ferdy.
_Gadd._
Eh?
_Avonia._.
What part?
_Gadd._
A character called the Demon of Discontent.
[_Rose turns away to the fireplace; Tom curls himself up on the sofa and
is seen to shake with laughter._]
_Avonia._.
[_Walking about indignantly._]Oh! [_Returning to Gadd._] Oh, it's a
rotten part! Rose, dear, I assure you, as artist to artist, that part is
absolutely rotten. [_To Gadd._] You won't play it, darling?
_Gadd._
[_Rising._] Play it! I would see the "Wells" in ashes first.
_Avonia._.
We shall lose our engagements, Ferdy. I know Burroughs; we shall be out,
both of us.
_Gadd._
Of course we shall. D'ye think I have not counted the cost?
_Avonia._
[_Putting her hand in his._] I don't mind, dear--for the sake of your
position--[_struck by a sudden thought_] oh!
_Gadd._
What-----?
_Avonia._
There now--we haven't put by!
[_There is a knock at the door._]
_Rose._
Who is that?
_Colpoys._
[_Outside the door._] Is Gadd here, Miss Trelawny?
_Rose._
Yes.
_Colpoys._