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brae,’ replied Philip.
But he was piqued. It irritated him that when he tried to
be agreeable with a woman she should take offence. When
he asked for the bill, he hazarded a remark which he meant
to lead further.
‘Are we no longer on speaking terms?’ he smiled.
‘I’m here to take orders and to wait on customers. I’ve got
nothing to say to them, and I don’t want them to say any-
thing to me.’
She put down the slip of paper on which she had marked
the sum they had to pay, and walked back to the table at
which she had been sitting. Philip flushed with anger.
‘That’s one in the eye for you, Carey,’ said Dunsford,
when they got outside.
‘Ill-mannered slut,’ said Philip. ‘I shan’t go there again.’
His influence with Dunsford was strong enough to get
him to take their tea elsewhere, and Dunsford soon found
another young woman to flirt with. But the snub which the
waitress had inflicted on him rankled. If she had treated
him with civility he would have been perfectly indifferent
to her; but it was obvious that she disliked him rather than
otherwise, and his pride was wounded. He could not sup-
press a desire to be even with her. He was impatient with
himself because he had so petty a feeling, but three or four
days’ firmness, during which he would not go to the shop,
did not help him to surmount it; and he came to the conclu-
sion that it would be least trouble to see her. Having done
so he would certainly cease to think of her. Pretexting an
appointment one afternoon, for he was not a little ashamed

Of Human Bondage