Page:The principal girl (IA principalgirl00snai).pdf/136

 Miss Mary brought in the tea, looking frightfully demure.

Grandmamma herself had a preference for Chayney tea. She hoped Mr. Shelmerdine did not object to Chayney tea; if he did, there was whisky and soda which some gentlemen preferred. John Peter Kendall always preferred it; likewise John his father; and she had heard that this preference was shared by Edward Bean, who was her godpapa—and the silver mug he gave her at her christening was upon the chiffonnier.

Had Mr. Shelmerdine heard that the Lane was going to double Mary's salary, and desired her to sign a contract for a term of five years?

"Two hundred a week, Mr. Shelmerdine. A fabulous sum. Why, I don't think that Garrick—"

"Not a penny more than she deserves, ma'am," averred the heir to the barony.

"Mr. Shelmerdine, it is enough to make Edward Bean turn in his grave. A preposterous sum for a girl of very ordinary ability, without any true histrionic genius. Why, I don't think that Siddons in the heyday of her power—"

"Why, of course she didn't, you jealous old Granny. And if I were a woman of genius like you are, and she was, I shouldn't be getting it either and signing contracts. Don't you agree, Philip?"

And Miss Mary fixed the young man with her glorious