Lady Hunstanton, if she knew Lord Illingworth had made me such an offer.
[Enter Footman with shawl.]
·6· lady hunstanton
I will write and tell her about it, and ask her to come up and meet him. [To Footman.] Just wait, Francis. [Writes letter.]
lady caroline
That is a very wonderful opening for so young a man as you are, Mr. Arbuthnot.
gerald
It is indeed, Lady Caroline. I trust I shall be able to show myself worthy of it.
lady caroline
I trust so.
gerald
[To Hester.] You have not congratulated me yet, Miss Worsley.
hester
Are you very pleased about it?
gerald
Of course I am. It means everything to me—things that were out of the reach of hope before may be within hope’s reach now.
hester
Nothing should be out of the reach of hope. Life is a hope.
·7· lady hunstanton
I fancy, Caroline, that Diplomacy is what Lord Illingworth is aiming at. I heard that he was offered Vienna. But that may not be true.
lady caroline
I don’t think that England should be represented abroad by an unmarried man, Jane. It might lead to complications.
lady hunstanton
You are too nervous, Caroline. Believe me, you are too nervous. Besides, Lord Illingworth may marry any day. I was in hopes he would have married Lady Kelso. But I believe he said her family was too large. Or was it her feet? I forget which. I regret it very much. She was made to be an ambassador’s wife.
lady caroline
She certainly has a wonderful faculty of remembering people’s names, and forgetting their faces.
lady hunstanton
Well, that is very natural, Caroline, is it not? [To Footman.] Tell Henry to wait for an answer. I have written a line to your dear mother, Gerald, to tell her your good news, and to say she really must come to dinner.
[Exit Footman.]
·8· gerald
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
