Chapter 22: The Curtain Rod

⁠​​​‌​​​​​​​​‌‌‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​⁠The satirist stood in his publisher's back parlour, and, through the dusty glass of the partition, observed the Exquisite Mob purchase their castigation.

"'Tis strange," he pondered, "that mankind should be willing to pay four-and-sixpence to be laughed at. Yet it is!"

Mr. Lovely was awaiting a draught for one hundred guineas, and Mr. Paul Virgin, glad of anything that would delay for a while such a