Ray was sitting on a chair, impatient for the music to begin, and, as he never sat on a chair in the ordinary fashion, he had paralysed the Duchess with a series of gymnastic feats, twining his legs round the chair, sitting on his feet, kneeling on the seat with his feet on the back of the chair, until at last an unlucky move had tilted the chair backwards into a pot-stand.

The jar fell with a crash, and Ray laughed.

The Duchess uttered a cry of terror.
"Yer young devil, keep still," cried Jonah, angrily.

"Yer can pay fer that out of yer pocket-money," he added.
"It was of no value," said the Duchess, with frigid dignity.
"Perhaps Miss Grimes will play something," said Jonah.

"Ray's talked of nothing else since daylight this morning." Clara sat down at the piano and ran her fingers over the keys.