"Of course, you, with your cool Northern temperament, cannot understand the negro," replied Constance, good-humouredly. "You would expect a negro to work when he could help it. What a delusion! Suppose I had trusted Scipio or Charles to buy those tickets and get those horses aboard, and meanwhile a street-band had come along?"
"I suppose Scipio or Charles would have got the tickets and attended to the horses just the same," answered Thorndyke.
"Do you? That shows your utter density regarding Scipio and Charles. I daresay you thought it very amusing that I should work for my servants."
"I did."
"They work for me when I want them and make them—that is, they work in a certain way—their way. And I suppose you would have that United States flag pin off Scipio's bosom and that cane with the red, white, and blue ribbons out of Charles's hand if you were travelling to Newport with them."
"I am afraid I should."
"And you could not stand the wreaths of red roses on the hats of my two maids?"
