Sabot. Er—what kind of trouble, sair?
Rupert. Why—have you a selection?
Sabot. Ah, sair. Life. She is full of trouble.
Rupert. She certainly is. Indeed she is almost unintermittently troublesome. I was wondering, though, whether you had been getting into any trouble with your employers.
Sabot. Me, sair? No, sair. What should make you think so, sair?
Rupert. Well, I telephoned this house at a quarter to eight and heard the most hysterical noises.
Sabot. Hysterical noises, sair?
Rupert. Hysterical—Sabot—noises. Somebody had evidently lost their nerve. I was wondering whether you were the cause of it.
Sabot. Me, sair? No, sair. Not me, sair. I was not here till five to nine.
[Long pause. Sabot still clearing.
Rupert. Then are you the one that frequents the Coliseum, Sabot?
Sabot (not having heard, or understood, and merely being polite). Yes, sair.
Rupert (seeing that this is the wrong reply, and looking up). I said, are you the one that frequents the Coliseum?
Sabot (pulling himself together). Oh, sair! I did not hear, sair! Pardon, sair. The Coliseum, sair? No, sair.
Rupert. You don’t?
Sabot. Zee—er—zee music-hall, sair?
Rupert. Yes.
Sabot (in a puzzled fashion, as though accused, and quite innocently). No, sair. . . . No, sair. I have been there once, sair. . . . Many years ago, sair.
Rupert. But not lately?
Sabot. No, sair.
[Another pause, as Sabot goes on clearing.
[ 41 ]
