LILY.

[_To MRS. UPJOHN._] Hu-s-s-sh!

JIMMIE.

Well---- [_sipping her tea as if drinking a toast_] in a cup of tea!

BLAND, DE CASTRO, AND ROPER.

[_Sipping their tea._] In a cup o' tea!

VON RETTENMAYER.

[_Drinking._] In a gob o' dea!

JIMMIE.

[_To VON RETTENMAYER, mockingly._] Gob o' dea!

LILY.

[_Waving her hand._] Thank you, Jimmie. Thank you, dear boys, from the bottom of my heart.

JIMMIE.

[_To the men._] By Jove, she saved _me_ once from going home to a cheap lodging and taking a dose of rat-killer!

VON RETTENMAYER.

[_Behind ROPER and DE CASTRO, peeping over their shoulders._] A pidy-- a gread pidy.

JIMMIE.

[_To VON RETTENMAYER._] I'll attend to you presently, Baron.

LILY.

[_To JIMMIE._] I remember. A wretched little shrimp you looked that day.

JIMMIE.

[_To everybody._] It was my first morning at the Pandora. They'd had me up from Harrogate in a hurry, to take Gwennie Harker's place. I'd been playing her part in the Number Two Co. in the country; and she'd left 'em in a hole, to get married to a stupid lord---- [_To FARNCOMBE, finding him standing near her._] Sorry. I was to have only one rehearsal; [_clenching her fist_] and, oh, didn't they treat me abominably! Miss Ensor was late and we were all hanging about on the stage, waiting for her. I've never felt so cold in my life, or so lonely. Not a word of welcome, not a nod, from a single soul; simply a blank stare occasionally from a haughty beauty with a curled lip! And at last, when I was on the point of howling, I became conscious that somebody was watching me-- a tall, pretty thing in a lavender frock----

DE CASTRO.

[_Sitting in the chair in the middle of the room._] Lil.

JIMMIE.

I caught her eye, and she came straight over to me and sat down beside me. "Shaky?" she said. "A corpse," I said. And she quietly laid hold of my hand and held it till Dolly Ensor condescended to stroll in. And when I got up I asked her who she was, and she told me. "Oh, my G.o.d,"

I said, "I'll never forget your kindness! Why, of course, you're the 'Mind the Paint' girl----!"

ROPER, DE CASTRO, AND VON RETTENMAYER.

[_Singing._] "Mind the paint! Mind the paint! Tra, lal, la, lal, la, lal, la, lal, la, lal, tra, la, la, la----!"

[_BLAND seats himself at the piano and thumps out the air of the refrain of "Mind the Paint." The three men, mouthing the time silently, wave their arms, and LILY'S head and body move from side to side._

BLAND.

[_With a groan._] Ugh! Is there anything more ancient than a four-year-old comic song? [_Playing a few bars of the melody of the song._] Shade of Nineveh and all the buried cities!

ROPER, VON RETTENMAYER, AND DE CASTRO.

[_To LILY, coaxingly._] Lily! G.o.ddess! Lil!

LILY.

[_Shaking her head._] Oh, boys, it's gone. [_Pressing temples._]

I couldn't----

[_BLAND plays the introductory symphony and then pauses. Then she sings, he accompanying her. In a moment or two, the song comes back to her readily and she gives it with great witchery and allurement. JEYES starts up and goes to the window in the wall on the right and looks out._

LILY.

[_Singing._]

I've a very charming dwelling, (You know where without the telling) Decorated in a style that's rather quaint!

Smart and quaint!

When you pay my house a visit, You may scrutinise or quiz it, But you mustn't touch the paint!

Brand-new paint!

Mind the paint! Mind the paint!

(No matter whether Maple's bills are settled or they ain't!) Once you smear it or you scratch it, It's impossible to match it; So take care, please, of the paint-- of the paint!

[_Rising and coming to the middle of the room, LILY repeats the refrain, dancing to it gracefully. JIMMIE also rises and she, ROPER, VON RETTENMAYER, and DE CASTRO join in the chorus and the dance, the three men very extravagantly. FARNCOMBE looks on, enraptured, while MRS. UPJOHN beats time with her hands._

LILY.

[_Singing._]

I'm possessed of all the graces, Oh, a perfect dr-r-r-ream my face is!

(It may owe to Art a trifle or it mayn't H'm, it mayn't!) And I'll cry out for a.s.sistance.

Should you fail to keep your distance, Goodness gracious, mind the paint!

Mind the paint!

Mind the paint! Mind the paint!

A girl is not a sinner just because she's not a saint!

But my heart shall hold you dearer-- You may come a little nearer-- If you'll _only_ mind the paint-- mind the paint!