Lady Stutfield (to Lord Alfred) How very, very charming those gold-tipped cigarettes° of yours are, Lord Alfred.

Lord Alfred They are awfully expensive. I can only afford them when I’m in debt.

Lady Stutfield It must be terribly, terribly distressing to be in debt.

Lord Alfred One must have some occupation nowadays. If I hadn’t my debts I shouldn’t have anything to think about. All the chaps I know are in debt.

Lady Stutfield But don’t the people to whom you owe the money give you a great, great deal of annoyance?

Enter Footman [with a letter]

Lord Alfred Oh, no, they write; I don’t.

Lady Stutfield How very, very strange.

Lady Hunstanton Ah, here is a letter, Caroline, from dear Mrs Arbuthnot. She won’t dine. I am so sorry. But she will come in the evening. I am very pleased indeed. She is one of the sweetest of women. Writes a beautiful hand, too, so large, so firm.

Hands letter to Lady Caroline

Lady Caroline (looking at it) A little lacking in femininity, Jane. Femininity is the quality I admire most in women.

Lady Hunstanton (taking back letter and leaving it on table) Oh! she is very feminine, Caroline, and so good too. You should hear what the Archdeacon says of her. He regards her as his right hand in the parish. (Footman speaks to her) In the Yellow Drawing-room.° Shall we all go in? Lady Stutfield, shall we go in to tea?

Lady Stutfield With pleasure, Lady Hunstanton.

They rise and proceed to go off. Sir John offers to carry Lady Stutfield’s cloak

Lady Caroline John! If you would allow your nephew° to look after Lady Stutfield’s cloak, you might help me with my work-basket.

Enter Lord Illingworth and Mrs Allonby

Sir John Certainly, my love.

Exeunt°

Mrs Allonby Curious thing, plain women are always jealous of their husbands, beautiful women never are!

Lord Illingworth Beautiful women never have time. They are always so occupied in being jealous of other people’s husbands.

Mrs Allonby I should have thought Lady Caroline would have grown tired of conjugal anxiety by this time! Sir John is her fourth!

Lord Illingworth So much marriage is certainly not becoming. Twenty years of romance make a woman look like a ruin; but twenty years of marriage make her something like a public building.