The Fighting Chance

"O tongue! tongue!" she stammered, "I can't hold you in! I can't curb you, and I can't make you say what you ought to be saying to that boy. There's trouble coming for somebody; there's trouble here already! Call me a cab, Stephen, or I'll be dragging you into that big, old-fashioned parlour and planting you on a chair and placing myself opposite, to moon over you until somebody puts us out! There! Now will you call me a hansom? … And I will be all ready at seven. … And don't dare to keep me waiting one second! … Come before seven. You don't want to frighten me, do you? Very well then, at a quarter to seven--so I shall not be frightened. And, Stephen, Stephen, we're doing exactly what we ought not to do. You know it, don't you? So do I. Nothing can stop us, can it? Good-bye!"