days----!

FARNCOMBE.

[_Writhing._] Ah, don't-- don't----!

LILY.

[_Brushing the tears from her eyes._] I was a pupil of Tedder's for
twelve months, and then he got me on at the Canterbury; and from the
Canterbury I went to Gatti's, and from Gatti's to the Lane, for a few
lines in the pantomime and an understudy-- my first appearance in the
West End-- [_singing_] "Oh, the West End is the best end!"-- and from
there I went to the old Strand, and there Morrie Cooling spotted me,
and that led to me being engaged at the Pandora, where I ate my heart
out, doing next to nothing, for two whole years. Then came the
production of _The Duchess of Brixton_, and it was in _The Duchess_--
thanks to Vincent Bland-- that I sang the "Mind the Paint" song. He
believed in me, did Vincent; _he_ saw I was fit for something more
than just prancing about, and airing my ankles, in a gay frock. By
Jupiter, how he fought for me; _how_ he fought for me, up to the final
rehearsal! And to this day, whenever I indulge in a prayer, you bet
Vincent Bland has a paragraph all to himself in it! [_Checking herself
and coming to FARNCOMBE._] Oh, but-- I needn't inflict quite so much
of my biography on you, need I? [_He rises._] Sorry. I merely wanted
to tell you enough to show you-- to show you----

FARNCOMBE.

[_Close to her, gazing into her eyes._] To show me what a-- what a
_marvel_ you are!

LILY.

[_Pleased._] Ha, ha! Oh, I'm not chucking mud at myself really. Why
should I! Many a woman 'ud feel as vain as a peacock in my shoes.
Fancy! From the shop in Gladwin Street to-- [_with a gesture_] to
_this_! And from Tedder's stuffy room in the Westminster Bridge Road
to the stage of the Pandora, as principal girl!

FARNCOMBE.

[_Tenderly._] Wonderful!

LILY.

[_Carried away by her narration and putting her hands upon his
shoulders familiarly._] Yes, and all the schooling I've ever had,
Eddie, was at a cheap, frowsy day-school in Kennington, with a tribe
of other common, skinny-legged brats. Imagine it!

FARNCOMBE.

[_Taking her hands._] I can't imagine it; I defy anybody to.

LILY.

[_Unthinkingly allowing him to retain her hands._] Everything I've
learned since-- except my music, and that I owe to Tedder and
Vincent-- everything I've learned since, I've learned by sheer
cuteness, from novels, the papers, the theatres, and by keeping my
ears open like a cunning little parrot. [_Softly._] Ha, ha! That's
what I am-- a cunning litt