She thought her sudden good fortune
justified a trifling extravagance; she had no fancy for Mrs
Bilkins's smoked tea, so she turned into the first teashop she came
to, where she revelled in scrambled eggs, strong tea, bread, butter,
and jam. She ate these unaccustomed delicacies slowly, deliberately,
hugely enjoying the savour of each mouthful. She then walked in the
direction of Shepherd's Bush.
The garish vulgarity of the Goldhawk Road, along which a procession
of electric trams rushed and whizzed, took away her breath.
Devonport Road, in which she was to find the academy, was such a
quiet, retiring little turning that Mavis could hardly believe it
joined a noisy thoroughfare like the Goldhawk Road. "Poulter's"
Dancing Academy took some finding; she had no number to guide her,
so she asked the two or three people she met if they could direct
her to this institution, but not one of them appeared to know
anything about it. She walked along the road, keeping a sharp look-
out on either side for door plate or lamp, which she believed was
commonly the out-ward and visible sign of the establishment she
sought. A semicircle of brightly illuminated coloured glass, placed
above an entrance gate, attracted her, but nearer inspection proved
this to be an advertisement of "painless dentistry.
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