When the orchestra leader had finished with the tune, Starwick turned wearily, thrust his arm indolently across the table towards Ann and wiggling his fingers languidly and a trifle impatiently, said quietly:
“Give me some money.”
She flushed a little, opened her purse, and said sullenly:
“How much do you want?”
The weary impatience of his manner became more evident, he wiggled his languid fingers in a more peremptory command, and, burbling a little with laughter at sight of her sullen face, he said in a low tone of avaricious humour:
“Give, give, give…. Money, money, money,” he said in a low gloating tone, and burbled again, with a rich welling of humour, as he looked at her.
Red in the face, she flung a wad of banknotes down upon the table with almost vicious force; he accepted them languidly, stripped off 300 franc notes and handed them indolently to the orchestra leader, who responded with a bow eloquent with adoration; and then, without pausing to count them, Starwick thrust the remainder carelessly in his pocket.
“Ann!” he said reproachfully. “I am very hurt!” He paused a moment; the flow and burble of soft laughter came quickly, flushing his ruddy face, and he continued as before, with a mock gravity of reproachful humour.
“I had hoped—” his shoulders trembled slightly—“that by this time your finer nature—” he trembled again with secret merriment—“your finer nature would be ready to reveal itself.”
“My finer nature be damned!” Ann said angrily. “Whether you like it or not, I think it’s disgraceful the way you fling money around! Three hundred francs to a man for playing that damned song! And you’ve done the same thing at least a dozen times! God, I’m sick of hearing about your’Chile Bon Bon’!” she concluded bitterly. “I wish the damned thing had never been written.”
“Ann!” again the soft mockery of sounded reproach. “And this is the way you repay us, after all we’ve done for you! It’s not that I’m angry but I’m very, very hurt,” he said gently. “I really am, you know.”
“Ah-h!” She made a sudden exasperated movement as if she was going to push the table away from her and get up, and then said with angry warning: “Now, look here, Frank, don’t you start that again about how much you’ve done for me. Done for me!” she said furiously. “Done
