what matter if they did? I say nothing to you, maam: I regard youwith respect and affection.[Lachrymosely]You were very good tomy mother: my poor mother![Relapsing into his daring mood]But Isay my name's Baker; and I'm not to be treated as a child or made aslave of by any man. Baker is my name. Did you think I was going togive you my real name? Not likely. Not me.TARLETON. So you thought of John Brown. That was clever of you.GUNNER. Clever! Yes: we're not all such fools as you think: weclerks. It was the bookkeeper put me up to that. It's the only namethat nobody gives as a false name, he said. Clever, eh? I shouldthink so.MRS TARLETON. Come now, Julius—GUNNER.[reassuring her gravely]Dont you be alarmed, maam. Iknow what is due to you as a lady and to myself as a gentleman. Iregard you with respect and affection. If you had been my mother, asyou ought to have been, I should have had more chance. But you shallhave no cause to be ashamed of me. The strength of a chain is nogreater than its weakest link; but the greatness of a poet is thegreatness of his greatest moment. Shakespear used to get drunk.Frederick the Great ran away from a battle. But it was what theycould rise to, not what they could sink to, that made them great.They werent good always; but they were good on their day. Well, on myday—on my day, mind you—I'm good for something too. I know that Ivemade a silly exhibition of myself here. I know I didnt rise to theoccasion. I know that if youd been my mother, youd have been ashamedof me. I lost my presence of mind: I was a contemptible coward. But[slapping himself on the chest]I'm not the man I was then. Thisis my day. Ive seen the tenth possessor of a foolish face carried outkicking and screaming by a woman.[To Percival]You crowed prettybig over me. You hypnotized me. But when you were put through thefire yourself, you were found wanting. I tell you straight I dontgive a damn for you.MRS TARLETON. No: thats naughty. You shouldnt say that before me.GUNNER. I would cut my tongue out sooner than say anything vulgar inyour presence; for I regard you with respect and affection. I was notswearing. I was affirming my manhood.MRS TARLETON. What an idea! What puts all these things into yourhead?GUNNER. Oh, dont you think, because I'm a clerk, that I'm not one ofthe intellectuals. I'm a reading man, a thinking man. I read in abook—a high class six shilling book—this precept: Affirm yourmanhood. It appealed to me. Ive always remembered it. I believe init. I feel I must do it to recover your respect after my cowardlybehavior. Therefore I affirm it in your presence. I tell that manwho insulted me that I dont give a damn for him. And neither I do.TARLETON. I say, Summerhays: did you have chaps of this sort inJinghiskahn?LORD SUMMERHAYS. Oh yes: they exist everywhere: they are a mostserious modern problem.GUNNER. Yes. Youre right.[Conceitedly]I'm a problem. And Itell you that when we clerks realize that we're problems! well, lookout: thats all.LORD SUMMERHAYS.[suavely, to Gunner]You read a great deal, yousay?GUNNER. Ive read more than any man in this room, if the truth wereknown, I expect. Thats whats going to smash up your Capitalism. Theproblems are beginning to read. Ha! We're free to do that here inEngland. What would you do with me in Jinghiskahn if you had methere?LORD SUMMERHAYS. Well, since you ask me so directly, I'll tell you.I should take advantage of the fact that you have neither sense enoughnor strength enough to know how to behave yourself in a difficulty ofany sort. I should warn an intelligent and ambitious policeman thatyou are a troublesome person. The intelligent and ambitious policemanwould take an early opportunity of upsetting your temper by orderingyou to move on, and treading on your heels until you were provokedinto obstructing an officer in the discharge of his duty. Any trifleof that sort would be sufficient to make a man like you lose yourself-possession and put yourself in the wrong. You would then becharged and imprisoned until things quieted down.GUNNER. And you call that justice!LORD SUMMERHAYS. No. Justice was not my business. I had to govern aprovince; and I took the necessary steps to maintain order in it. Menare not governed by justice, but by law or persuasion. When theyrefuse to be governed by law or persuasion, they have to be governedby force or fraud, or both. I used both when law and persuasionfailed me. Every ruler of men since the world began has done so, evenwhen he has hated both fraud and force as heartily as I do. It is aswell that you should know this, my young friend; so that you mayrecognize in time that anarchism is a game at which the police canbeat you. What have you to say to that?GUNNER. What have I to say to it! Well, I call it scandalous: thatswhat I have to say to it.LORD SUMMERHAYS. Precisely: thats all anybody has to say to it,except the British public, which pretends not to believe it. And nowlet me ask you a sympathetic personal question. Havnt you a headache?GUNNER. Well, since you ask me, I have. Ive overexcited myself.MRS TARLETON. Poor lad! No wonder, after all youve gone through!You want to eat a little and to lie down. You come with me. I wantyou to tell me about your poor dear mother and about yourself. Comealong with me.[She leads the way to the inner door].GUNNER.[following her obediently]Thank you kindly, madam.[Shegoes out. Before passing out after her, he partly closes the door andstops an the landing for a moment to say]Mind: I'm not knucklingdown to any man here. I knuckle down to Mrs Tarleton because shes awoman in a thousand. I affirm my manhood all the same. Understand:I dont give a damn for the lot of you.[He hurries out, ratherafraid of the consequences of this defiance, which has provoked Johnnyto an impatient movement towards him].HYPATIA. Thank goodness hes gone! Oh, what a bore! WHAT a bore!!!Talk, talk, talk!TARLETON. Patsy: it's no good. We're going to talk. And we'regoing to talk about you.JOHNNY. It's no use shirking it, Pat. We'd better know where we are.LORD SUMMERHAYS. Come, Miss Tarleton. Wont you sit down? I'm verytired of standing.[Hypatia comes from the pavilion and takes achair at the worktable. Lord Summerhays takes the opposite chair, onher right. Percival takes the chair Johnny placed for Lina on herarrival. Tarleton sits down at the end of the writing table. Johnnyremains standing. Lord Summerhays continues, with a sigh of relief atbeing seated.]We shall now get the change of subject we are allpining for.JOHNNY.[puzzled]Whats that?LORD SUMMERHAYS. The great question. The question that men and womenwill spend hours over without complaining. The question that occupiesall the novel readers and all the playgoers. The question they neverget tired of.JOHNNY. But what question?LORD SUMMERHAYS. The question which particular young man some youngwoman will mate with.PERCIVAL. As if it mattered!HYPATIA.[sharply]Whats that you said?PERCIVAL. I said: As if it mattered.HYPATIA. I call that ungentlemanly.PERCIVAL. Do you care about that? you who are so magnificentlyunladylike!JOHNNY. Look here, Mr Percival: youre not supposed to insult mysister.HYPATIA. Oh, shut up, Johnny. I can take care of myself. Dont youinterfere.JOHNNY. Oh, very well. If you choose to give yourself away likethat—to allow a man to call you unladylike and then to be unladylike,Ive nothing more to say.HYPATIA. I think Mr Percival is most ungentlemanly; but I wont beprotected. I'll not have my affairs interfered with by men onpretence of protecting me. I'm not your baby. If I interferedbetween you and a woman, you would soon tell me to mind my ownbusiness.TARLETON. Children: dont squabble. Read Dr Watts. Behaveyourselves.JOHNNY. Ive nothing more to say; and as I dont seem to be wantedhere, I shall take myself off.[He goes out with affected calmthrough the pavilion].TARLETON. Summerhays: a family is an awful thing, an impossiblething. Cat and dog. Patsy: I'm ashamed of you.HYPATIA. I'll make it up with Johnny afterwards; but I really canthave him here sticking his clumsy hoof into my affairs.LORD SUMMERHAYS. The question is, Mr Percival, are you really agentleman, or are you not?PERCIVAL. Was Napoleon really a gentleman or was he not? He made thelady get out of the way of the porter and said, "Respect the burden,madam." That was behaving like a very fine gentleman; but he kickedVolney for saying that what France wanted was the Bourbons back again.That was behaving rather like a navvy. Now I, like Napoleon, am notall one piece. On occasion, as you have all seen, I can behave like agentleman. On occasion, I can behave with a brutal simplicity whichMiss Tarleton herself could hardly surpass.TARLETON. Gentleman or no gentleman, Patsy: what are yourintentions?HYPATIA. My intentions! Surely it's the gentleman who should beasked his intentions.TARLETON. Come now, Patsy! none of that nonsense. Has Mr Percivalsaid anything to you that I ought to know or that Bentley ought toknow? Have you said anything to Mr Percival?HYPATIA. Mr Percival chased me through the heather and kissed me.LORD SUMMERHAYS. As a gentleman, Mr Percival, what do you say tothat?PERCIVAL. As a gentleman, I do not kiss and tell. As a mere man: amere cad, if you like, I say that I did so at Miss Tarleton's ownsuggestion.HYPATIA. Beast!PERCIVAL. I dont deny that I enjoyed it. But I did not initiate it.And I began by running away.TARLETON. So Patsy can run faster than you, can she?PERCIVAL. Yes, when she is in pursuit of me. She runs faster andfaster. I run slower and slower. And these woods of yours are fullof magic. There was a confounded fern owl. Did you ever hear thechurr of a fern owl? Did you ever hear it create a sudden silence byceasing? Did you ever hear it call its mate by striking its wingstogether twice and whistling that single note that no nightingale canimitate? That is what happened in the woods when I was running away.So I turned; and the pursuer became the pursued.HYPATIA. I had to fight like a wild cat.LORD SUMMERHAYS. Please dont tell us this. It's not fit for oldpeople to hear.TARLETON. Come: how did it end?HYPATIA. It's not ended yet.TARLETON. How is it going to end?HYPATIA. Ask him.TARLETON. How is it going to end, Mr Percival?PERCIVAL. I cant afford to marry, Mr Tarleton. Ive only a thousand ayear until my father dies. Two people cant possibly live on that.TARLETON. Oh, cant they? WhenImarried, I should have been jollyglad to have felt sure of the quarter of it.PERCIVAL. No doubt; but I am not a cheap person, Mr Tarleton. I wasbrought up in a household which cost at least seven or eight timesthat; and I am in constant money difficulties because I simply dontknow how to live on the thousand a year scale. As to ask a woman toshare my degrading poverty, it's out of the question. Besides, I'mrather young to marry. I'm only 28.HYPATIA. Papa: buy the brute for me.LORD SUMMERHAYS.[shrinking]My dear Miss Tarleton: dont be sonaughty. I know how delightful it is to shock an old man; but thereis a point at which it becomes barbarous. Dont. Please dont.HYPATIA. Shall I tell Papa about you?LORD SUMMERHAYS. Tarleton: I had better tell you that I once askedyour daughter to become my widow.TARLETON.[to Hypatia]Why didnt you accept him, you young idiot?LORD SUMMERHAYS. I was too old.TARLETON. All this has been going on under my nose, I suppose. Yourun after young men; and old men run after you. And I'm the lastperson in the world to hear of it.HYPATIA. How could I tell you?LORD SUMMERHAYS. Parents and children, Tarleton.TARLETON. Oh, the gulf that lies between them! the impassable,eternal gulf! And so I'm to buy the brute for you, eh?HYPATIA. If you please, papa.TARLETON. Whats the price, Mr Percival?PERCIVAL. We might do with another fifteen hundred if my father wouldcontribute. But I should like more.TARLETON. It's purely a question of money with you, is it?PERCIVAL.[after a moment's consideration]Practically yes: itturns on that.TARLETON. I thought you might have some sort of preference for Patsy,you know.PERCIVAL. Well, but does that matter, do you think? Patsy fascinatesme, no doubt. I apparently fascinate Patsy. But, believe me, allthat is not worth considering. One of my three fathers (the priest)has married hundreds of couples: couples selected by one another,couples selected by the parents, couples forced to marry one anotherby circumstances of one kind or another; and he assures me that ifmarriages were made by putting all the men's names into one sack andthe women's names into another, and having them taken out by ablindfolded child like lottery numbers, there would be just as high apercentage of happy marriages as we have here in England. He saidCupid was nothing but the blindfolded child: pretty idea that, Ithink! I shall have as good a chance with Patsy as with anyone else.Mind: I'm not bigoted about it. I'm not a doctrinaire: not theslave of a theory. You and Lord Summerhays are experienced marriedmen. If you can tell me of any trustworthy method of selecting awife, I shall be happy to make use of it. I await your suggestions.[He looks with polite attention to Lord Summerhays, who, havingnothing to say, avoids his eye. He looks to Tarleton, who purses hislips glumly and rattles his money in his pockets without a word].Apparently neither of you has anything to suggest. Then Patsy will doas well as another, provided the money is forthcoming.HYPATIA. Oh, you beauty, you beauty!TARLETON. When I married Patsy's mother, I was in love with her.PERCIVAL. For the first time?TARLETON. Yes: for the first time.PERCIVAL. For the last time?LORD SUMMERHAYS.[revolted]Sir: you are in the presence of hisdaughter.HYPATIA. Oh, dont mind me. I dont care. I'm accustomed to Papa'sadventures.TARLETON.[blushing painfully]Patsy, my child: that was not—notdelicate.HYPATIA. Well, papa, youve never shewn any delicacy in talking to meabout my conduct; and I really dont see why I shouldnt talk to youabout yours. It's such nonsense! Do you think young people dontknow?LORD SUMMERHAYS. I'm sure they dont feel. Tarleton: this is toohorrible, too brutal. If neither of these young people haveany—any—any—PERCIVAL. Shall we say paternal sentimentality? I'm extremely sorryto shock you; but you must remember that Ive been educated to discusshuman affairs with three fathers simultaneously. I'm an adult person.Patsy is an adult person. You do not inspire me with veneration.Apparently you do not inspire Patsy with veneration. That maysurprise you. It may pain you. I'm sorry. It cant be helped. Whatabout the money?TARLETON. You dont inspire me with generosity, young man.HYPATIA.[laughing with genuine amusement]He had you there, Joey.TARLETON. I havnt been a bad father to you, Patsy.HYPATIA. I dont say you have, dear. If only I could persuade you Ivegrown up, we should get along perfectly.TARLETON. Do you remember Bill Burt?HYPATIA. Why?TARLETON.[to the others]Bill Burt was a laborer here. I wasgoing to sack him for kicking his father. He said his father hadkicked him until he was big enough to kick back. Patsy begged himoff. I asked that man what it felt like the first time he kicked hisfather, and found that it was just like kicking any other man. Helaughed and said that it was the old man that knew what it felt like.Think of that, Summerhays! think of that!HYPATIA. I havnt kicked you, papa.TARLETON. Youve kicked me harder than Bill Burt ever kicked.LORD SUMMERHAYS. It's no use, Tarleton. Spare yourself. Do youseriously expect these young people, at their age, to sympathize withwhat this gentleman calls your paternal sentimentality?TARLETON.[wistfully]Is it nothing to you but paternalsentimentality, Patsy?HYPATIA. Well, I greatly prefer your superabundant vitality, papa.TARLETON.[violently]Hold your tongue, you young devil. Theyoung are all alike: hard, coarse, shallow, cruel, selfish,dirty-minded. You can clear out of my house as soon as you can coaxhim to take you; and the sooner the better.[To Percival]I thinkyou said your price was fifteen hundred a year. Take it. And I wishyou joy of your bargain.PERCIVAL. If you wish to know who I am—TARLETON. I dont care a tinker's curse who you are or what you are.Youre willing to take that girl off my hands for fifteen hundred ayear: thats all that concerns me. Tell her who you are if you like:it's her affair, not mine.HYPATIA. Dont answer him, Joey: it wont last. Lord Summerhays, I'msorry about Bentley; but Joey's the only man for me.LORD SUMMERHAYS. It may—HYPATIA. Please dont say it may break your poor boy's heart. It'smuch more likely to break yours.LORD SUMMERHAYS. Oh!TARLETON.[springing to his feet]Leave the room. Do you hear:leave the room.PERCIVAL. Arnt we getting a little cross? Dont be angry, MrTarleton. Read Marcus Aurelius.TARLETON. Dont you dare make fun of me. Take your aeroplane out ofmy vinery and yourself out of my house.PERCIVAL.[rising, to Hypatia]I'm afraid I shall have to dine atthe Beacon, Patsy.HYPATIA.[rising]Do. I dine with you.TARLETON. Did you hear me tell you to leave the room?HYPATIA. I did.[To Percival]You see what living with one'sparents means, Joey. It means living in a house where you can beordered to leave the room. Ive got to obey: it's his house, notmine.TARLETON. Who pays for it? Go and support yourself as I did if youwant to be independent.HYPATIA. I wanted to and you wouldnt let me. How can I supportmyself when I'm a prisoner?TARLETON. Hold your tongue.HYPATIA. Keep your temper.PERCIVAL.[coming between them]Lord Summerhays: youll join me,I'm sure, in pointing out to both father and daughter that they havenow reached that very common stage in family life at which anythingbut a blow would be an anti-climax. Do you seriously want to beatPatsy, Mr Tarleton?TARLETON. Yes. I want to thrash the life out of her. If she doesntget out of my reach, I'll do it.[He sits down and grasps thewriting table to restrain himself].HYPATIA.[coolly going to him and leaning with her breast on hiswrithing shoulders]Oh, if you want to beat me just to relieve yourfeelings—just really and truly for the fun of it and the satisfactionof it, beat away. I dont grudge you that.TARLETON.[almost in hysterics]I used to think that this sort ofthing went on in other families but that it never could happen inours. And now—[He is broken with emotion, and continueslamentably]I cant say the right thing. I cant do the right thing.I dont know what is the right thing. I'm beaten; and she knows it.Summerhays: tell me what to do.LORD SUMMERHAYS. When my council in Jinghiskahn reached the point ofcoming to blows, I used to adjourn the sitting. Let us postpone thediscussion. Wait until Monday: we shall have Sunday to quiet downin. Believe me, I'm not making fun of you; but I think theressomething in this young gentleman's advice. Read something.TARLETON. I'll read King Lear.HYPATIA. Dont. I'm very sorry, dear.TARLETON. Youre not. Youre laughing at me. Serve me right! Parentsand children! No man should know his own child. No child should knowits own father. Let the family be rooted out of civilization! Letthe human race be brought up in institutions!HYPATIA. Oh yes. How jolly! You and I might be friends then; andJoey could stay to dinner.TARLETON. Let him stay to dinner. Let him stay to breakfast. Lethim spend his life here. Dont you say I drove him out. Dont you sayI drove you out.PERCIVAL. I really have no right to inflict myself on you. Droppingin as I did—TARLETON. Out of the sky. Ha! Dropping in. The new sport ofaviation. You just see a nice house; drop in; scoop up the man'sdaughter; and off with you again.Bentley comes back, with his shoulders hanging as if he too had beenexercised to the last pitch of fatigue. He is very sad. They stareat him as he gropes to Percival's chair.BENTLEY. I'm sorry for making a fool of myself. I beg your pardon.Hypatia: I'm awfully sorry; but Ive made up my mind that I'll nevermarry.[He sits down in deep depression].HYPATIA.[running to him]How nice of you, Bentley! Of course youguessed I wanted to marry Joey. What did the Polish lady do to you?BENTLEY.[turning his head away]I'd rather not speak of her, ifyou dont mind.HYPATIA. Youve fallen in love with her.[She laughs].BENTLEY. It's beastly of you to laugh.LORD SUMMERHAYS. Youre not the first to fall today under the lash ofthat young lady's terrible derision, Bentley.Lina, her cap on, and her goggles in her hand, comes impetuouslythrough the inner door.LINA.[on the steps]Mr Percival: can we get that aeroplanestarted again?[She comes down and runs to the pavilion door].Imust get out of this into the air: right up into the blue.PERCIVAL. Impossible. The frame's twisted. The petrol has givenout: thats what brought us down. And how can we get a clear run tostart with among these woods?LINA.[swooping back through the middle of the pavilion]We canstraighten the frame. We can buy petrol at the Beacon. With a fewlaborers we can get her out on to the Portsmouth Road and start heralong that.TARLETON.[rising]But why do you want to leave us, Miss Szcz?LINA. Old pal: this is a stuffy house. You seem to think of nothingbut making love. All the conversation here is about love-making. Allthe pictures are about love-making. The eyes of all of you aresheep's eyes. You are steeped in it, soaked in it: the very texts onthe walls of your bedrooms are the ones about love. It is disgusting.It is not healthy. Your women are kept idle and dressed up for noother purpose than to be made love to. I have not been here an hour;and already everybody makes love to me as if because I am a woman itwere my profession to be made love to. First you, old pal. I forgaveyou because you were nice about your wife.HYPATIA. Oh! oh! oh! Oh, papa!LINA. Then you, Lord Summerhays, come to me; and all you have to sayis to ask me not to mention that you made love to me in Vienna twoyears ago. I forgave you because I thought you were an ambassador;and all ambassadors make love and are very nice and useful to peoplewho travel. Then this young gentleman. He is engaged to this younglady; but no matter for that: he makes love to me because I carry himoff in my arms when he cries. All these I bore in silence. But nowcomes your Johnny and tells me I'm a ripping fine woman, and asks meto marry him. I, Lina Szczepanowska, MARRY him!!!!! I do not mindthis boy: he is a child: he loves me: I should have to give himmoney and take care of him: that would be foolish, but honorable. Ido not mind you, old pal: you are what you call an old—ouf! but youdo not offer to buy me: you say until we are tired—until you are sohappy that you dare not ask for more. That is foolish too, at yourage; but it is an adventure: it is not dishonorable. I do not mindLord Summerhays: it was in Vienna: they had been toasting him at agreat banquet: he was not sober. That is bad for the health; but itis not dishonorable. But your Johnny! Oh, your Johnny! with hismarriage. He will do the straight thing by me. He will give me ahome, a position. He tells me I must know that my present position isnot one for a nice woman. This to me, Lina Szczepanowska! I am anhonest woman: I earn my living. I am a free woman: I live in my ownhouse. I am a woman of the world: I have thousands of friends:every night crowds of people applaud me, delight in me, buy mypicture, pay hard-earned money to see me. I am strong: I am skilful:I am brave: I am independent: I am unbought: I am all that a womanought to be; and in my family there has not been a single drunkard forfour generations. And this Englishman! this linendraper! he dares toask me to come and live with him in this rrrrrrrabbit hutch, and takemy bread from his hand, and ask him for pocket money, and wear softclothes, and be his woman! his wife! Sooner than that, I would stoopto the lowest depths of my profession. I would stuff lions with foodand pretend to tame them. I would deceive honest people's eyes withconjuring tricks instead of real feats of strength and skill. I wouldbe a clown and set bad examples of conduct to little children. Iwould sink yet lower and be an actress or an opera singer, imperillingmy soul by the wicked lie of pretending to be somebody else. All thisI would do sooner than take my bread from the hand of a man and makehim the master of my body and soul. And so you may tell your Johnnyto buy an Englishwoman: he shall not buy Lina Szczepanowska; and Iwill not stay in the house where such dishonor is offered me. Adieu.[She turns precipitately to go, but is faced in the pavilion doorwayby Johnny, who comes in slowly, his hands in his pockets, meditatingdeeply].JOHNNY.[confidentially to Lina]You wont mention our littleconversation, Miss Shepanoska. It'll do no good; and I'd rather youdidnt.TARLETON. Weve just heard about it, Johnny.JOHNNY.[shortly, but without ill-temper]Oh: is that so?HYPATIA. The cat's out of the bag, Johnny, about everybody. Theywere all beforehand with you: papa, Lord Summerhays, Bentley and all.Dont you let them laugh at you.JOHNNY.[a grin slowly overspreading his countenance]Well, theresno use my pretending to be surprised at you, Governor, is there? Ihope you got it as hot as I did. Mind, Miss Shepanoska: it wasntlost on me. I'm a thinking man. I kept my temper. Youll admit that.LINA.[frankly]Oh yes. I do not quarrel. You are what is calleda chump; but you are not a bad sort of chump.JOHNNY. Thank you. Well, if a chump may have an opinion, I shouldput it at this. You make, I suppose, ten pounds a night off your ownbat, Miss Lina?LINA.[scornfully]Ten pounds a night! I have made ten pounds aminute.JOHNNY.[with increased respect]Have you indeed? I didnt know:youll excuse my mistake, I hope. But the principle is the same. NowI trust you wont be offended at what I'm going to say; but Ive thoughtabout this and watched it in daily experience; and you may take itfrom me that the moment a woman becomes pecuniarily independent, shegets hold of the wrong end of the stick in moral questions.LINA. Indeed! And what do you conclude from that, Mister Johnny?JOHNNY. Well, obviously, that independence for women is wrong andshouldnt be allowed. For their own good, you know. And for the goodof morality in general. You agree with me, Lord Summerhays, dont you?LORD SUMMERHAYS. It's a very moral moral, if I may so express myself.Mrs Tarleton comes in softly through the inner door.MRS TARLETON. Dont make too much noise. The lad's asleep.TARLETON. Chickabiddy: we have some news for you.JOHNNY.[apprehensively]Now theres no need, you know, Governor,to worry mother with everything that passes.MRS TARLETON.[coming to Tarleton]Whats been going on? Dont youhold anything back from me, John. What have you been doing?TARLETON. Bentley isnt going to marry Patsy.MRS TARLETON. Of course not. Is that your great news? I neverbelieved she'd marry him.TARLETON. Theres something else. Mr Percival here—MRS TARLETON.[to Percival]Are you going to marry Patsy?PERCIVAL[diplomatically]Patsy is going to marry me, with yourpermission.MRS TARLETON. Oh, she has my permission: she ought to have beenmarried long ago.HYPATIA. Mother!TARLETON. Miss Lina here, though she has been so short a time withus, has inspired a good deal of attachment in—I may say in almost allof us. Therefore I hope she'll stay to dinner, and not insist onflying away in that aeroplane.PERCIVAL. You must stay, Miss Szczepanowska. I cant go up again thisevening.LINA. Ive seen you work it. Do you think I require any help? AndBentley shall come with me as a passenger.BENTLEY.[terrified]Go up in an aeroplane! I darent.LINA. You must learn to dare.BENTLEY.[pale but heroic]All right. I'll come.LORD SUMMERHAYS| No, no, Bentley, impossible. I| shall not allow it.|MRS TARLETON. | Do you want to kill the child? He shant go.BENTLEY. I will. I'll lie down and yell until you let me go. I'mnot a coward. I wont be a coward.LORD SUMMERHAYS. Miss Szczepanowska: my son is very dear to me. Iimplore you to wait until tomorrow morning.LINA. There may be a storm tomorrow. And I'll go: storm or nostorm. I must risk my life tomorrow.BENTLEY. I hope there will be a storm.LINA.[grasping his arm]You are trembling.BENTLEY. Yes: it's terror, sheer terror. I can hardly see. I canhardly stand. But I'll go with you.LINA.[slapping him on the back and knocking a ghastly white smileinto his face]You shall. I like you, my boy. We go tomorrow,together.BENTLEY. Yes: together: tomorrow.TARLETON. Well, sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Readthe old book.MRS TARLETON. Is there anything else?TARLETON. Well, I—er[he addresses Lina, and stops].I—er[headdresses Lord Summerhays, and stops].I—er[he gives it up].Well, I suppose—er—I suppose theres nothing more to be said.HYPATIA.[fervently]Thank goodness!