“Not quite,” said Adam gently. “Now tell me again. Is it something about Nina?”
“Yes, it is,” said Ginger in a rush. “Nina and I are engaged, and I’m not going to have you butting in or there’ll be hell to pay.” He paused, rather taken aback at his own eloquence.
“What makes you think I’m butting in?”
“Well, hang it all, she dined with you last night, didn’t she, and stayed out jolly late, too.”
“How do you know how late she stayed out?”
“Well, as a matter of fact, you see I wanted to speak to her about something rather important, so I rang her up once or twice and didn’t get an answer until three o’clock.”
“I suppose you rang her up about every ten minutes?”
“Oh no, damn it, not as often as that,” said Ginger. “No, no, not as often as that. I know it sounds rather unsporting and all that, but you see I wanted to speak to her, and, anyway, when I did get through, she just said she had a pain and didn’t want to talk: well, I mean to say. After all, I mean, one is a gentleman. It isn’t as though you were just a sort of friend of the family, is it? I mean, you were more or less engaged to her yourself, weren’t you, at one time? Well, what would you have thought if I’d come butting in? You must look at it like that, from my point of view, too, mustn’t you, I mean?”
“Well, I think that’s rather what did happen.”
“Oh no, look here, Symes, I mean, damn it; you mustn’t say things like that. D’you know all the time I was out East I had Nina’s photograph over my bed, honest I did. I expect you think that’s sentimental and all that, but what I mean is I didn’t stop thinking of that girl once all the time I was away. Mind you, there were lots of other frightfully jolly girls out there, and I don’t say I didn’t sometimes get jolly pally with them, you know, tennis and gymkhana and all that sort of thing, I mean, and dancing in the evenings, but never anything serious, you know. Nina was the only girl I really thought of, and I’d sort of made up my mind when I came home to look her up, and if she’d have me … see what I mean? So you see it’s awfully rough luck on me when someone comes butting in. You must see that, don’t you?”
“Yes,” said Adam.
“And there’s another thing, you know, sentiment and all that apart. I mean Nina’s a girl who likes nice clothes and things, you know, comfort and all that. Well, I mean to say, of course, her father’s a topping old boy, absolutely one of the best, but he’s rather an ass about money, if you know what I mean. What I mean, Nina’s going to be frightfully hard up, and all that, and I mean you haven’t got an awful lot of money, have you?”
“I haven’t any at all.”
“No, I mean, that’s what I mean. Awfully rough on you. No one thinks the worse of you, respects you for it, I mean earning a living and all that. Heaps of fellows haven’t any money nowadays. I could give you the names of dozens of stout fellows, absolute toppers, who simply haven’t a bean. No, all I mean is, when it comes to marrying, then that does make a difference, doesn’t it?”
“What you’ve been trying to say all this time is that you’re not sure of Nina?”
“Oh, rot, my dear fellow, absolute bilge. Damn it, I’d trust Nina anywhere, of course I would. After all, damn it, what does being in love mean if you can’t trust a person?”
(“What, indeed?” thought Adam), and he said, “Now, Ginger, tell the truth. What’s Nina worth to you?”
“Good Lord, why what an extraordinary thing to ask; everything in the world of course. I’d go through fire and water for that girl.”
“Well, I’ll sell her to you.”
“No, why, look here, good God, damn it, I mean …”
“I’ll sell my share in her for a hundred pounds.”
“You pretend to be fond of Nina and you talk about her like that! Why, hang it, it’s not decent. Besides, a hundred pounds is the deuce of a lot. I mean, getting married is a damned expensive business, don’t you know. And I’m just getting a couple of polo ponies over from Ireland. That’s going to cost a hell of a lot, what with one thing and another.”
“A hundred down, and I leave Nina to you, I think it’s cheap.”
“Fifty.”
“A hundred.”
“Seventy-five.”
“A hundred.”
“I’m damned if I’ll pay more than seventy-five.”
“I’ll take seventy-eight pounds sixteen and twopence. I can’t go lower than that.”
“All right, I’ll pay that. You really will go away?”
“I’ll try, Ginger. Have a drink.”
“No, thank you … this only shows what an escape Nina’s had—poor little girl.”
“Goodbye, Ginger.”
“Goodbye, Symes.”
“Young Thingummy going?” said Lottie, appearing in the door. “I was just thinking about a little drink.”
Adam went to the telephone-box. … “Hullo, is that Nina?”
“Who’s speaking, please? I don’t think Miss Blount is in.”
“Mr. Fenwick-Symes.”
“Oh, Adam. I was afraid it was Ginger. I woke up feeling I just couldn’t bear him. He rang up last night just as I got in.”
“I know. Nina, darling, something awful’s happened.”
“What?”
“Lottie presented me with her bill.”
“Darling, what did you do?”
“Well, I did something rather extraordinary. … My dear, I sold you.”
“Darling … who to?”
“Ginger. You fetched seventy-eight pounds sixteen and twopence.”
“Well?”
“And now I never am going to
