That is awfully kind of you, Lady Hunstanton. [To Hester.] Will you come for a stroll, Miss Worsley?
hester
With pleasure. [Exit with Gerald.]
lady hunstanton
I am very much gratified at Gerald Arbuthnot’s good fortune. He is quite a protégé of mine. And I am particularly pleased that Lord Illingworth should have made the offer of his own accord without my suggesting anything. Nobody likes to be asked favours. I remember poor Charlotte Pagden making herself quite unpopular one season, because she had a French governess she wanted to recommend to every one.
lady caroline
I saw the governess, Jane. Lady Pagden sent her to me. It was before Eleanor came out. She was far too good-looking to be in any respectable household. I don’t wonder Lady Pagden was so anxious to get rid of her.
lady hunstanton
Ah, that explains it.
lady caroline
John, the grass is too damp for you. You ·9· had better go and put on your overshoes at once.
sir john
I am quite comfortable, Caroline, I assure you.
lady caroline
You must allow me to be the best judge of that, John. Pray do as I tell you.
[Sir John gets up and goes off.]
lady hunstanton
You spoil him, Caroline, you do indeed!
[Enter Mrs. Allonby and Lady Stutfield.]
[To Mrs. Allonby.] Well, dear, I hope you like the park. It is said to be well timbered.
mrs. allonby
The trees are wonderful, Lady Hunstanton.
lady stutfield
Quite, quite wonderful.
mrs. allonby
But somehow, I feel sure that if I lived in the country for six months, I should become so unsophisticated that no one would take the slightest notice of me.
·10· lady hunstanton
I assure you, dear, that the country has not that effect at all. Why, it was from Melthorpe, which is only two miles from here, that Lady Belton eloped with Lord Fethersdale. I remember the occurrence perfectly. Poor Lord Belton died three days afterwards of joy, or gout. I forget which. We had a large party staying here at the time, so we were all very much interested in the whole affair.
mrs. allonby
I think to elope is cowardly. It’s running away from danger. And danger has become so rare in modern life.
lady caroline
As far as I can make out, the young women of the present day seem to make it the sole object of their lives to be always playing with fire.
mrs. allonby
The one advantage of playing with fire, Lady Caroline, is that one never gets even singed. It is the people who don’t know how to play with it who get burned up.
lady stutfield
Yes; I see that. It is very, very helpful.
·11· lady hunstanton
I don’t know how the world would get on with such a theory as that, dear Mrs. Allonby.
lady stutfield
Ah! The world was made for men and not for women.
mrs. allonby
Oh, don’t say that, Lady Stutfield. We have a much better time than they have. There are far more things forbidden to us than are forbidden to them.
lady stutfield
Yes; that is quite, quite true. I had not thought of that.
[Enter Sir John and Mr. Kelvil.]
lady hunstanton
Well, Mr. Kelvil, have you got through your work?
kelvil
I have finished my writing for the day, Lady Hunstanton. It has been an arduous task. The demands on the time of a public man are very heavy now-a-days, very heavy indeed. And I don’t think they meet with adequate recognition.
·12· lady caroline
John, have you got your overshoes on?
sir john
Yes, my love.
lady caroline
I think you had better come over here, John. It is more sheltered.
sir john
I am quite comfortable, Caroline.
lady caroline
I think not, John. You had better sit beside me. [Sir John rises and goes across.]
lady stutfield
And what have you been writing about this morning, Mr. Kelvil?
kelvil
On the usual subject, Lady Stutfield. On Purity.
lady stutfield
That must be such a very, very interesting thing to write about.
·13· kelvil
It is the one subject of really national importance, now-a-days, Lady Stutfield. I purpose addressing my constituents on the question before Parliament meets. I find that the poorer classes of this country display a marked desire for a higher ethical standard.
lady stutfield
How quite, quite nice of them.
lady caroline
Are you in favour of women taking part in politics, Mr. Kettle?
sir john
Kelvil, my love, Kelvil.
kelvil
The growing influence of women is the one reassuring thing in our political life, Lady Caroline. Women are always on the side of morality, public and private.
lady stutfield
It is so very, very gratifying to hear you say that.
lady hunstanton
Ah, yes! the moral qualities in women—that is ·14· the important thing. I am afraid, Caroline, that dear Lord Illingworth doesn’t value the moral qualities in women as much as he should.
[Enter Lord Illingworth.]
lady stutfield
The world says that Lord Illingworth is very, very wicked.
lord illingworth
But what world says that, Lady Stutfield? It must be the next world. This world and I are on excellent terms. [Sits down beside Mrs. Allonby.]
lady stutfield
Every one I know says you are very, very wicked.
lord illingworth
It is perfectly monstrous the way people go about, now-a-days, saying things against one behind one’s back that are absolutely and entirely true.
lady hunstanton
Dear Lord Illingworth is quite hopeless, Lady Stutfield. I have given up trying to reform him. It would take a Public Company with a Board of Directors and a paid Secretary to do that. But you have the secretary already, Lord Illingworth, ·15· haven’t you? Gerald Arbuthnot has told us of his good fortune; it is really