he gives to this wretched woman, whom he has thrust
into your society, into your home, to shame you before every
one. I offer you my life-
LADY WIN. Lord Darlington!
LORD DAR. My life- my whole life. Take it, and do with it what you
will…. I love you- love you as I have never loved any living
thing. From the moment I met you I loved you, loved you blindly,
adoringly, madly! You did not know it then- you know it now!
Leave this house to-night. I won’t tell you that the world
matters nothing, or the world’s voice, or the voice of society.
 They matter a good deal. They matter far too much. But there are
moments when one has to choose between living one’s own life,
fully, entirely, completely- or dragging out some false,
shallow, degrading existence that the world in its hypocrisy
demands. You have that moment now. Choose! Oh, my love, choose!
LADY WIN. [Moving slowly away from him, and looking at him with
startled eyes.] I have not the courage.
LORD DAR. [Following her.] Yes; you have the courage. There may be
six months of pain, of disgrace even, but when you no longer
bear his name, when you bear mine, all will be well. Margaret,
my love, my wife that shall be some day- yes, my wife! You know
it! What are you now? This woman has the place that belongs by
right to you. Oh! go- go out of this house, with head erect,
with a smile upon your lips, with courage in your eyes. All
London will know why you did it; and who will blame you? No one.
If they do, what matter? Wrong? What is wrong? It’s wrong for a
man to abandon his wife for a shameless woman. It is wrong for a
wife to remain with a man who so dishonours her. You said once
you would make no compromise with things. Make none now. Be
brave! Be yourself!
LADY WIN. I am afraid of being myself. Let me think! Let me wait!
My husband may return to me. [Sits down on sofa.]
LORD DAR. And you would take him back! You are not what I thought
you were. You are just the same as every other woman. You would
stand anything rather than face the censure of a world, whose
praise you would despise. In a week you will be driving with
this woman in the park. She will be your constant guest- your
dearest friend. You would endure anything rather than break with
one blow this monstrous tie. You are right. You have no courage;
none!
LADY WIN. Ah, give me time to think. I cannot answer you now.
[Passes her hand nervously over her brow.]
LORD DAR. It must be now or not at all.
LADY WIN. [Rising from the sofa.] Then not at all. [A pause.]
LORD DAR. You break my heart!
 LADY WIN. Mine is already broken. [A pause.]
LORD DAR. To-morrow I leave England. This is the last time I shall
ever look on you. You will never see me again. For one moment
our lives met- our souls touched. They must never meet to touch
again. Good-bye, Margaret. [Exit.]

LADY WIN. How alone I am in life! How terribly alone!

   [The music stops. Enter the Duchess of Berwick and Lord
 Paisley laughing and talking. Other guests come on from the

ball-room.]

DUCH. Dear Margaret, I've just been having such a delightful chat
 with Mrs. Erlynne. I am so sorry for what I said to you this
 afternoon about her. Of course, she must be all right if you
 invite her. A most attractive woman, and has such sensible views
 of life. Told me she entirely disapproved of people marrying
 more than once, so I feel quite safe about poor Augustus. Can't
 imagine why people speak against her. It's those horrid nieces
 of mine- the Saville girls- they're always talking scandal.
 Still, I should go to Homburg, dear, I really should. She is
 just a little too attractive. But where is Agatha? Oh, there she
 is! [Lady Agatha and Mr. Hopper enter from the terrace L. U. E.]
 Mr. Hopper, I am very angry with you. You have taken Agatha out
 on the terrace, and she is so delicate.
HOP. [L. C.] Awfully, sorry, Duchess. We went out for a moment and
 then got chatting together.
DUCH. [C.] Ah, about dear Australia, I suppose?
HOP. Yes.
DUCH. Agatha, darling! [Beckons her over.]
LADY AGA. Yes, mama.
DUCH. [Aside.] Did Mr. Hopper definitely-
LADY AGA. Yes, mama.
DUCH. And what answer did you give him, dear child?
LADY AGA. Yes, mama.
DUCH. [Affectionately.] My dear one! You always say the right

 thing. Mr. Hopper! James! Agatha has told me everything. How
cleverly you have both kept your secret.
HOP. You don’t mind my taking Agatha off to Australia, then,
Duchess?
DUCH. [Indignantly.] To Australia? Oh! don’t mention that dreadful
vulgar place.
HOP. But she said she’d like to come with me.
DUCH. [Severely.] Did you say that, Agatha?
LADY AGA. Yes, mama.
DUCH. Agatha, you say the most silly things possible. I think on
the whole that Grosvenor Square would be a more healthy place to
reside in. There are lots of vulgar people live in Grosvenor
Square, but at any rate there are no horrid kangaroos crawling
about. But we’ll talk about that to-morrow. James, you can take
Agatha down. You’ll come to lunch, of course, James. At
half-past one instead of two. The Duke will wish to say a few
words to you, I am sure.
HOP. I should like to have a chat with the Duke, Duchess. He has
not said a single word to me yet.
DUCH. I think you’ll find he will have a great deal to say to you
to-morrow. [Exit Lady Agatha with Mr. Hopper.]
And now good-night, Margaret. I’m afraid it’s the old, old
story, dear. Love- well, not love at first sight, but love at
the end of the season, which is so much more satisfactory.
LADY WIN. Good-night, Duchess.
[Exit the Duchess of Berwick on Lord Paisley’s arm.]
LADY PLY. My dear Margaret, what a handsome woman your husband has
been dancing with! I should be quite jealous if I were you! Is
she a great friend of yours?
LADY WIN. No!
LADY PLY. Really? Good-night, dear. [Looks at Mr. Dumby, and exit.]
DUM. Awful manners young Hopper has.
CEC. Ah! Hopper is one of Nature’s gentlemen, the worst type of
gentleman I know.
DUM. Sensible woman, Lady Windermere. Lots of wives would have
 objected to Mrs. Erlynne coming. But Lady Windermere has that
uncommon thing called common sense.
CEC. And Windermere knows that nothing looks so like innocence as
an indiscretion.
DUM. Yes; dear Windermere is becoming almost modern. Never thought
he would. [Bows to Lady Windermere, and exit.]
LADY JED. Good-night, Lady Windermere. What a fascinating woman
Mrs. Erlynne is! She is coming to lunch on Thursday, won’t you
come too? I expect the Bishop and dear Lady Merton.
LADY WIN. I am afraid I am engaged, Lady Jedburgh.
LADY JED. So sorry. Come, dear.

[Exeunt Lady Jedburgh and Miss Graham.]

[Enter Mrs. Erlynne and Lord Windermere.]

MRS. ERL. Charming ball it has been! Quite reminds me of old days.
 [Sits on the sofa.] And I see that there are just as many fools
 in society as there used to be. So pleased to find that nothing,
 has altered! Except Margaret. She's grown quite pretty. The last
 time I saw her- twenty years ago, she was a fright in flannel.
 Positive fright, I assure you. The dear Duchess! and that sweet
 Lady Agatha! Just the type of girl I like! Well, really,
 Windermere, if I am to be the Duchess' sister-in-law-

LORD WIN. [Sitting L. of her.] But are you-?

   [Exit Mr. Cecil Graham with rest of guests. Lady
 Windermere watches, with a look of scorn and pain, Mrs.
 Erlynne and her husband. They are unconscious of her

presence.]

MRS. ERL. Oh yes! He's to call to-morrow at twelve o'clock! He
 wanted to propose to-night. In fact he did. He kept on
 proposing. Poor Augustus, you know how he repeats himself. Such
 a bad habit! But I told him I wouldn't give him an answer till
 to-morrow. Of course I'm going to take him. And I dare say I'll

 make him an admirable wife, as wives go. And there is a great
deal of good in Lord Augustus. Fortunately it is all on the
surface. Just where good qualities should be. Of course you must
help me in this matter.
LORD WIN. I am not called upon to encourage Lord Augustus, I
suppose?
MRS. ERL. Oh, no! I do the encouraging. But you will make me a
handsome settlement, Windermere, won’t you?
LORD WIN. [Frowning.] Is that what you want to talk to me about
to-night?
MRS. ERL. Yes.
LORD WIN. [With a gesture of impatience.] I will not talk of it
here.
MRS. ERL. [Laughing.] Then we will talk of it on the terrace. Even
business should have a picturesque background. Should it not,
Windermere? With a proper background women can do anything.
LORD WIN. Won’t to-morrow do as well?
MRS. ERL. No; you see, to-morrow I am going to accept him. And I
think it would be a good thing if I was able to tell him that-
well, what shall I say?- L2,000 a year left to me by a third
cousin- or a second husband- or some distant relative of that
kind. It would be an additional attraction, wouldn’t it? You
have a delightful opportunity now of paying me a compliment,
Windermere. But you are not very clever at paying compliments.
I am afraid Margaret doesn’t encourage you in that excellent
habit. It’s a great mistake on her part. When men give up saying
what is charming, they give up thinking what is charming. But
seriously, what do you say to L2,000? L2,500, I think. In modern
life margin is everything. Windermere, don’t you think the world

an intensely amusing place? I do!

   [Exit on terrace with Lord Windermere. Music strikes up

in ball-room.]

LADY WIN. To stay in this house any longer is impossible. To-night

 a man who loves me offered me his whole