THE KISS 193 



" Yes." 



" You remember how Colonel Bingham praised 

 the pheasants? Well, they were his own 

 pheasants." 



" His own pheasants! " 



" Moriarty poached them." 



Mr Dashwood exploded. 



" I did not know at the time," went on Miss 

 Grimshaw, virtuously. " I entrusted the market- 

 ing to Mrs Driscoll. I explained to her privately 

 that we would have to be very economical. She 

 quite understood. I will say for the Irish that 

 they are quicker in the uptake than any other 

 people I know. She said she could make ends 

 meet on two pounds ten a week, and she has done 

 so; more, she has made them lap over. I am 

 not very good at the price of things, still, pheasants 

 at a shilhng each seemed to me very cheap; of 

 course, I thought most probably she was deahng 

 with some man who got the things in some con- 

 traband way, and I suppose it was very wicked 

 of me, but — the pheasants were very nice. Then 

 there were vegetables — " 



" You can't poach vegetables." 



" I think I said before," went on Miss Grimshaw, 

 " that the Irish were quicker than any other people 

 I know in the uptake, and I'm very much afraid 

 that Moriarty has uptaken not only all the potatoes 

 that have come to our table this winter, but the 

 turnips as well." 



Again ]Mr Dashwood exploded. 



