Page:The principal girl (IA principalgirl00snai).pdf/181

 "Goin' to be leadin' a full life, ain't you, Polly?"

"Seems like it, doesn't it, Phil-ipp!"

"Well, I think you ought to turn up those beastly provinces, I do really. You are much too good for 'em. I don't know much about it, of course, but it seems to me that such art as yours is wasted on the bally provinces."

"Perhaps you are right, Phil-ipp," said Mary the demure. "But I love the dear old things."

"If I were you, Polly, I should never play out of London, if I had to play at all."

Polly admitted there might be something in this view. Still, she would miss the dear old provinces terribly, and perhaps they might miss her.

And then Number 68 began to display considerable boldness.

"There's a little flat in Knightsbridge, a toppin' little hole, that I think we might go round and look at, old girl, don't you? Very cheap for the position and the landlord will paint it throughout, and we can have possession any time we want it."

Polly didn't mind going to look at it, as she rather liked looking over such things.

The flat was charming. A little high up, perhaps, but there were two delightful rooms that overlooked the park. It was one of the most tempting spots in the metropolis. Yet there was one serious drawback, which