[_With a glance at the others._] Know anybody here?
FARNCOMBE.
[_Looking round the room._] Nearly everybody, I fancy. [_He advances to VON RETTENMAYER, who comes to meet him. LILY sits upon the settee by the piano and fastens the carnation in her dress. GLADYS goes out._] Karl----!
VON RETTENMAYER.
My dear Eddie!
FARNCOMBE.
[_Bowing to DE CASTRO, who is now seated beside JIMMIE on the settee in front of the writing-table._] How are you, Mr. de Castro? [_To JEYES, who is standing by the chair at the writing-table gnawing his moustache and watching LILY and FARNCOMBE sourly._] How are you, Captain Jeyes? [_Turning to BLAND._] How are you, Mr. Bland? [_To LILY._] I"ve been talking to Mrs. Upjohn and Mr. Roper already.
LILY.
[_Looking across to JIMMIE._] Miss Birch-- Lord Farncombe.
JIMMIE.
[_Nodding to FARNCOMBE._] How d"ye do?
FARNCOMBE.
[_Going to JIMMIE and shaking hands with her._] I-- I needn"t say that I am one of Miss Birch"s warmest-- most profound----
JIMMIE.
[_Smiling at him._] That"s all right; don"t you bother about that.
[_MAUD returns, carrying a pair of silken slippers. VON RETTENMAYER, who has come to LILY, makes a dart at the slippers and takes them from MAUD._
VON RETTENMAYER.
Aha! Permid me.
MAUD.
Now, Baron----! [_Slapping his arm._] Ha, ha, ha----!
[_He pushes MAUD out of the room, she resisting laughingly, and closes the door._
VON RETTENMAYER.
[_Holding the slippers aloft._] Gendlemen! Homage to Beaudy! Vollow me! Zam! Vinzent! Rober! Neego! Eddie! [_The men put themselves behind him, in single file, in the order in which he calls them, with the exception of JEYES, who deliberately sits at the writing-table, and FARNCOMBE, who is embarra.s.sed. JIMMIE claps her hands and MRS. UPJOHN, who is pouring out tea, laughs herself into a fit of coughing._] Ta, ta, ra, ra, ta, ta! Boum, boum!
LILY.
Baron, you great baby!
VON RETTENMAYER.
Quig! Marge!
ROPER.
[_Calling to FARNCOMBE._] Come along, Farncombe!
JIMMIE.
[_Giving FARNCOMBE a shove._] Go on!
[_FARNCOMBE takes his place behind ROPER and, headed by VON RETTENMAYER, the men march round the room._
VON RETTENMAYER.
[_Waving the slippers in the air and singing._]
Weib, was ist in aller Welt Dir an Schonheit gleichgestellt!
Reizumflossen, wunderhold, Perl" der Schopfung, Herzensgold!
Tag"s Gedanken, Traum der Nacht, Schweben um Dich, Susse, sacht.
[_VON RETTENMAYER halts before LILY and kneels to her. She extends her left foot and he kisses her instep and puts her foot into her slipper.
She rewards him by lightly boxing his ears. He makes way for DE CASTRO, handing him the other slipper, and DE CASTRO performs the same ceremony with LILY"S right foot. She upsets DE CASTRO"S balance by a little kick._
VON RETTENMAYER.
[_Seating himself beside JIMMIE, singing._]
Venus, seinen Nacken beut Dir Den Sklave, dienstbereit!
[_DE CASTRO gathers himself up and sits in the chair at the end of the settee in front of the, writing-table. BLAND and ROPER, having knelt and kissed LILY"S foot, also sit, the former in the chair in the middle of the room, the latter in the chair on the extreme left.
Finally, FARNCOMBE finds himself before LILY. He looks at her hesitatingly and she returns his look with awakened interest and withdraws her foot._
LILY.
[_Shaking her head._] No, no; don"t _you_ be silly, like the others.
MRS. UPJOHN.
[_Loudly._] Tea!
[_BLAND, VON RETTENMAYER and DE CASTRO jump up and go to the tea-table where FARNCOMBE joins them. GLADYS enters, carrying a stand on which are a plate of bread-and-b.u.t.ter, a dish of cake, etc. ROPER takes the stand from her and the girl retires. FARNCOMBE brings LILY a cup of tea. DE CASTRO and BLAND follow him, the one with a milk-jug, the other with a sugar-basin. VON RETTENMAYER carries a cup of tea to JIMMIE, and then DE CASTRO and BLAND, having waited upon LILY, go to JIMMIE with the milk and sugar. ROPER hands the bread-and-b.u.t.ter and cake to LILY, then to JIMMIE, and in the end ROPER, BLAND, DE CASTRO and VON RETTENMAYER a.s.semble at the tea-table and receive their cups of tea from MRS. UPJOHN._
ROPER.
[_Relieving GLADYS of the stand._] Give it to me. I want a little exercise.
LILY.