summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/5654-h/5654-h.htm
blob: 993de66497c70aae80fb6f4dce7d7ddd388bbfb5 (plain) 
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
662
663
664
665
666
667
668
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
676
677
678
679
680
681
682
683
684
685
686
687
688
689
690
691
692
693
694
695
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
710
711
712
713
714
715
716
717
718
719
720
721
722
723
724
725
726
727
728
729
730
731
732
733
734
735
736
737
738
739
740
741
742
743
744
745
746
747
748
749
750
751
752
753
754
755
756
757
758
759
760
761
762
763
764
765
766
767
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777
778
779
780
781
782
783
784
785
786
787
788
789
790
791
792
793
794
795
796
797
798
799
800
801
802
803
804
805
806
807
808
809
810
811
812
813
814
815
816
817
818
819
820
821
822
823
824
825
826
827
828
829
830
831
832
833
834
835
836
837
838
839
840
841
842
843
844
845
846
847
848
849
850
851
852
853
854
855
856
857
858
859
860
861
862
863
864
865
866
867
868
869
870
871
872
873
874
875
876
877
878
879
880
881
882
883
884
885
886
887
888
889
890
891
892
893
894
895
896
897
898
899
900
901
902
903
904
905
906
907
908
909
910
911
912
913
914
915
916
917
918
919
920
921
922
923
924
925
926
927
928
929
930
931
932
933
934
935
936
937
938
939
940
941
942
943
944
945
946
947
948
949
950
951
952
953
954
955
956
957
958
959
960
961
962
963
964
965
966
967
968
969
970
971
972
973
974
975
976
977
978
979
980
981
982
983
984
985
986
987
988
989
990
991
992
993
994
995
996
997
998
999
1000
1001
1002
1003
1004
1005
1006
1007
1008
1009
1010
1011
1012
1013
1014
1015
1016
1017
1018
1019
1020
1021
1022
1023
1024
1025
1026
1027
1028
1029
1030
1031
1032
1033
1034
1035
1036
1037
1038
1039
1040
1041
1042
1043
1044
1045
1046
1047
1048
1049
1050
1051
1052
1053
1054
1055
1056
1057
1058
1059
1060
1061
1062
1063
1064
1065
1066
1067
1068
1069
1070
1071
1072
1073
1074
1075
1076
1077
1078
1079
1080
1081
1082
1083
1084
1085
1086
1087
1088
1089
1090
1091
1092
1093
1094
1095
1096
1097
1098
1099
1100
1101
1102
1103
1104
1105
1106
1107
1108
1109
1110
1111
1112
1113
1114
1115
1116
1117
1118
1119
1120
1121
1122
1123
1124
1125
1126
1127
1128
1129
1130
1131
1132
1133
1134
1135
1136
1137
1138
1139
1140
1141
1142
1143
1144
1145
1146
1147
1148
1149
1150
1151
1152
1153
1154
1155
1156
1157
1158
1159
1160
1161
1162
1163
1164
1165
1166
1167
1168
1169
1170
1171
1172
1173
1174
1175
1176
1177
1178
1179
1180
1181
1182
1183
1184
1185
1186
1187
1188
1189
1190
1191
1192
1193
1194
1195
1196
1197
1198
1199
1200
1201
1202
1203
1204
1205
1206
1207
1208
1209
1210
1211
1212
1213
1214
1215
1216
1217
1218
1219
1220
1221
1222
1223
1224
1225
1226
1227
1228
1229
1230
1231
1232
1233
1234
1235
1236
1237
1238
1239
1240
1241
1242
1243
1244
1245
1246
1247
1248
1249
1250
1251
1252
1253
1254
1255
1256
1257
1258
1259
1260
1261
1262
1263
1264
1265
1266
1267
1268
1269
1270
1271
1272
1273
1274
1275
1276
1277
1278
1279
1280
1281
1282
1283
1284
1285
1286
1287
1288
1289
1290
1291
1292
1293
1294
1295
1296
1297
1298
1299
1300
1301
1302
1303
1304
1305
1306
1307
1308
1309
1310
1311
1312
1313
1314
1315
1316
1317
1318
1319
1320
1321
1322
1323
1324
1325
1326
1327
1328
1329
1330
1331
1332
1333
1334
1335
1336
1337
1338
1339
1340
1341
1342
1343
1344
1345
1346
1347
1348
1349
1350
1351
1352
1353
1354
1355
1356
1357
1358
1359
1360
1361
1362
1363
1364
1365
1366
1367
1368
1369
1370
1371
1372
1373
1374
1375
1376
1377
1378
1379
1380
1381
1382
1383
1384
1385
1386
1387
1388
1389
1390
1391
1392
1393
1394
1395
1396
1397
1398
1399
1400
1401
1402
1403
1404
1405
1406
1407
1408
1409
1410
1411
1412
1413
1414
1415
1416
1417
1418
1419
1420
1421
1422
1423
1424
1425
1426
1427
1428
1429
1430
1431
1432
1433
1434
1435
1436
1437
1438
1439
1440
1441
1442
1443
1444
1445
1446
1447
1448
1449
1450
1451
1452
1453
1454
1455
1456
1457
1458
1459
1460
1461
1462
1463
1464
1465
1466
1467
1468
1469
1470
1471
1472
1473
1474
1475
1476
1477
1478
1479
1480
1481
1482
1483
1484
1485
1486
1487
1488
1489
1490
1491
1492
1493
1494
1495
1496
1497
1498
1499
1500
1501
1502
1503
1504
1505
1506
1507
1508
1509
1510
1511
1512
1513
1514
1515
1516
1517
1518
1519
1520
1521
1522
1523
1524
1525
1526
1527
1528
1529
1530
1531
1532
1533
1534
1535
1536
1537
1538
1539
1540
1541
1542
1543
1544
1545
1546
1547
1548
1549
1550
1551
1552
1553
1554
1555
1556
1557
1558
1559
1560
1561
1562
1563
1564
1565
1566
1567
1568
1569
1570
1571
1572
1573
1574
1575
1576
1577
1578
1579
1580
1581
1582
1583
1584
1585
1586
1587
1588
1589
1590
1591
1592
1593
1594
1595
1596
1597
1598
1599
1600
1601
1602
1603
1604
1605
1606
1607
1608
1609
1610
1611
1612
1613
1614
1615
1616
1617
1618
1619
1620
1621
1622
1623
1624
1625
1626
1627
1628
1629
1630
1631
1632
1633
1634
1635
1636
1637
1638
1639
1640
1641
1642
1643
1644
1645
1646
1647
1648
1649
1650
1651
1652
1653
1654
1655
1656
1657
1658
1659
1660
1661
1662
1663
1664
1665
1666
1667
1668
1669
1670
1671
1672
1673
1674
1675
1676
1677
1678
1679
1680
1681
1682
1683
1684
1685
1686
1687
1688
1689
1690
1691
1692
1693
1694
1695
1696
1697
1698
1699
1700
1701
1702
1703
1704
1705
1706
1707
1708
1709
1710
1711
1712
1713
1714
1715
1716
1717
1718
1719
1720
1721
1722
1723
1724
1725
1726
1727
1728
1729
1730
1731
1732
1733
1734
1735
1736
1737
1738
1739
1740
1741
1742
1743
1744
1745
1746
1747
1748
1749
1750
1751
1752
1753
1754
1755
1756
1757
1758
1759
1760
1761
1762
1763
1764
1765
1766
1767
1768
1769
1770
1771
1772
1773
1774
1775
1776
1777
1778
1779
1780
1781
1782
1783
1784
1785
1786
1787
1788
1789
1790
1791
1792
1793
1794
1795
1796
1797
1798
1799
1800
1801
1802
1803
1804
1805
1806
1807
1808
1809
1810
1811
1812
1813
1814
1815
1816
1817
1818
1819
1820
1821
1822
1823
1824
1825
1826
1827
1828
1829
1830
1831
1832
1833
1834
1835
1836
1837
1838
1839
1840
1841
1842
1843
1844
1845
1846
1847
1848
1849
1850
1851
1852
1853
1854
1855
1856
1857
1858
1859
1860
1861
1862
1863
1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
1877
1878
1879
1880
1881
1882
1883
1884
1885
1886
1887
1888
1889
1890
1891
1892
1893
1894
1895
1896
1897
1898
1899
1900
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905
1906
1907
1908
1909
1910
1911
1912
1913
1914
1915
1916
1917
1918
1919
1920
1921
1922
1923
1924
1925
1926
1927
1928
1929
1930
1931
1932
1933
1934
1935
1936
1937
1938
1939
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
2035
2036
2037
2038
2039
2040
2041
2042
2043
2044
2045
2046
2047
2048
2049
2050
2051
2052
2053
2054
2055
2056
2057
2058
2059
2060
2061
2062
2063
2064
2065
2066
2067
2068
2069
2070
2071
2072
2073
2074
2075
2076
2077
2078
2079
2080
2081
2082
2083
2084
2085
2086
2087
2088
2089
2090
2091
2092
2093
2094
2095
2096
2097
2098
2099
2100
2101
2102
2103
2104
2105
2106
2107
2108
2109
2110
2111
2112
2113
2114
2115
2116
2117
2118
2119
2120
2121
2122
2123
2124
2125
2126
2127
2128
2129
2130
2131
2132
2133
2134
2135
2136
2137
2138
2139
2140
2141
2142
2143
2144
2145
2146
2147
2148
2149
2150
2151
2152
2153
2154
2155
2156
2157
2158
2159
2160
2161
2162
2163
2164
2165
2166
2167
2168
2169
2170
2171
2172
2173
2174
2175
2176
2177
2178
2179
2180
2181
2182
2183
2184
2185
2186
2187
2188
2189
2190
2191
2192
2193
2194
2195
2196
2197
2198
2199
2200
2201
2202
2203
2204
2205
2206
2207
2208
2209
2210
2211
2212
2213
2214
2215
2216
2217
2218
2219
2220
2221
2222
2223
2224
2225
2226
2227
2228
2229
2230
2231
2232
2233
2234
2235
2236
2237
2238
2239
2240
2241
2242
2243
2244
2245
2246
2247
2248
2249
2250
2251
2252
2253
2254
2255
2256
2257
2258
2259
2260
2261
2262
2263
2264
2265
2266
2267
2268
2269
2270
2271
2272
2273
2274
2275
2276
2277
2278
2279
2280
2281
2282
2283
2284
2285
2286
2287
2288
2289
2290
2291
2292
2293
2294
2295
2296
2297
2298
2299
2300
2301
2302
2303
2304
2305
2306
2307
2308
2309
2310
2311
2312
2313
2314
2315
2316
2317
2318
2319
2320
2321
2322
2323
2324
2325
2326
2327
2328
2329
2330
2331
2332
2333
2334
2335
2336
2337
2338
2339
2340
2341
2342
2343
2344
2345
2346
2347
2348
2349
2350
2351
2352
2353
2354
2355
2356
2357
2358
2359
2360
2361
2362
2363
2364
2365
2366
2367
2368
2369
2370
2371
2372
2373
2374
2375
2376
2377
2378
2379
2380
2381
2382
2383
2384
2385
2386
2387
2388
2389
2390
2391
2392
2393
2394
2395
2396
2397
2398
2399
2400
2401
2402
2403
2404
2405
2406
2407
2408
2409
2410
2411
2412
2413
2414
2415
2416
2417
2418
2419
2420
2421
2422
2423
2424
2425
2426
2427
2428
2429
2430
2431
2432
2433
2434
2435
2436
2437
2438
2439
2440
2441
2442
2443
2444
2445
2446
2447
2448
2449
2450
2451
2452
2453
2454
2455
2456
2457
2458
2459
2460
2461
2462
2463
2464
2465
2466
2467
2468
2469
2470
2471
2472
2473
2474
2475
2476
2477
2478
2479
2480
2481
2482
2483
2484
2485
2486
2487
2488
2489
2490
2491
2492
2493
2494
2495
2496
2497
2498
2499
2500
2501
2502
2503
2504
2505
2506
2507
2508
2509
2510
2511
2512
2513
2514
2515
2516
2517
2518
2519
2520
2521
2522
2523
2524
2525
2526
2527
2528
2529
2530
2531
2532
2533
2534
2535
2536
2537
2538
2539
2540
2541
2542
2543
2544
2545
2546
2547
2548
2549
2550
2551
2552
2553
2554
2555
2556
2557
2558
2559
2560
2561
2562
2563
2564
2565
2566
2567
2568
2569
2570
2571
2572
2573
2574
2575
2576
2577
2578
2579
2580
2581
2582
2583
2584
2585
2586
2587
2588
2589
2590
2591
2592
2593
2594
2595
2596
2597
2598
2599
2600
2601
2602
2603
2604
2605
2606
2607
2608
2609
2610
2611
2612
2613
2614
2615
2616
2617
2618
2619
2620
2621
2622
2623
2624
2625
2626
2627
2628
2629
2630
2631
2632
2633
2634
2635
2636
2637
2638
2639
2640
2641
2642
2643
2644
2645
2646
2647
2648
2649
2650
2651
2652
2653
2654
2655
2656
2657
2658
2659
2660
2661
2662
2663
2664
2665
2666
2667
2668
2669
2670
2671
2672
2673
2674
2675
2676
2677
2678
2679
2680
2681
2682
2683
2684
2685
2686
2687
2688
2689
2690
2691
2692
2693
2694
2695
2696
2697
2698
2699
2700
2701
2702
2703
2704
2705
2706
2707
2708
2709
2710
2711
2712
2713
2714
2715
2716
2717
2718
2719
2720
2721
2722
2723
2724
2725
2726
2727
2728
2729
2730
2731
2732
2733
2734
2735
2736
2737
2738
2739
2740
2741
2742
2743
2744
2745
2746
2747
2748
2749
2750
2751
2752
2753
2754
2755
2756
2757
2758
2759
2760
2761
2762
2763
2764
2765
2766
2767
2768
2769
2770
2771
2772
2773
2774
2775
2776
2777
2778
2779
2780
2781
2782
2783
2784
2785
2786
2787
2788
2789
2790
2791
2792
2793
2794
2795
2796
2797
2798
2799
2800
2801
2802
2803
2804
2805
2806
2807
2808
2809
2810
2811
2812
2813
2814
2815
2816
2817
2818
2819
2820
2821
2822
2823
2824
2825
2826
2827
2828
2829
2830
2831
2832
2833
2834
2835
2836
2837
2838
2839
2840
2841
2842
2843
2844
2845
2846
2847
2848
2849
2850
2851
2852
2853
2854
2855
2856
2857
2858
2859
2860
2861
2862
2863
2864
2865
2866
2867
2868
2869
2870
2871
2872
2873
2874
2875
2876
2877
2878
2879
2880
2881
2882
2883
2884
2885
2886
2887
2888
2889
2890
2891
2892
2893
2894
2895
2896
2897
2898
2899
2900
2901
2902
2903
2904
2905
2906
2907
2908
2909
2910
2911
2912
2913
2914
2915
2916
2917
2918
2919
2920
2921
2922
2923
2924
2925
2926
2927
2928
2929
2930
2931
2932
2933
2934
2935
2936
2937
2938
2939
2940
2941
2942
2943
2944
2945
2946
2947
2948
2949
2950
2951
2952
2953
2954
2955
2956
2957
2958
2959
2960
2961
2962
2963
2964
2965
2966
2967
2968
2969
2970
2971
2972
2973
2974
2975
2976
2977
2978
2979
2980
2981
2982
2983
2984
2985
2986
2987
2988
2989
2990
2991
2992
2993
2994
2995
2996
2997
2998
2999
3000
3001
3002
3003
3004
3005
3006
3007
3008
3009
3010
3011
3012
3013
3014
3015
3016
3017
3018
3019
3020
3021
3022
3023
3024
3025
3026
3027
3028
3029
3030
3031
3032
3033
3034
3035
3036
3037
3038
3039
3040
3041
3042
3043
3044
3045
3046
3047
3048
3049
3050
3051
3052
3053
3054
3055
3056
3057
3058
3059
3060
3061
3062
3063
3064
3065
3066
3067
3068
3069
3070
3071
3072
3073
3074
3075
3076
3077
3078
3079
3080
3081
3082
3083
3084
3085
3086
3087
3088
3089
3090
3091
3092
3093
3094
3095
3096
3097
3098
3099
3100
3101
3102
3103
3104
3105
3106
3107
3108
3109
3110
3111
3112
3113
3114
3115
3116
3117
3118
3119
3120
3121
3122
3123
3124
3125
3126
3127
3128
3129
3130
3131
3132
3133
3134
3135
3136
3137
3138
3139
3140
3141
3142
3143
3144
3145
3146
3147
3148
3149
3150
3151
3152
3153
3154
3155
3156
3157
3158
3159
3160
3161
3162
3163
3164
3165
3166
3167
3168
3169
3170
3171
3172
3173
3174
3175
3176
3177
3178
3179
3180
3181
3182
3183
3184
3185
3186
3187
3188
3189
3190
3191
3192
3193
3194
3195
3196
3197
3198
3199
3200
3201
3202
3203
3204
3205
3206
3207
3208
3209
3210
3211
3212
3213
3214
3215
3216
3217
3218
3219
3220
3221
3222
3223
3224
3225
3226
3227
3228
3229
3230
3231
3232
3233
3234
3235
3236
3237
3238
3239
3240
3241
3242
3243
3244
3245
3246
3247
3248
3249
3250
3251
3252
3253
3254
3255
3256
3257
3258
3259
3260
3261
3262
3263
3264
3265
3266
3267
3268
3269
3270
3271
3272
3273
3274
3275
3276
3277
3278
3279
3280
3281
3282
3283
3284
3285
3286
3287
3288
3289
3290
3291
3292
3293
3294
3295
3296
3297
3298
3299
3300
3301
3302
3303
3304
3305
3306
3307
3308
3309
3310
3311
3312
3313
3314
3315
3316
3317
3318
3319
3320
3321
3322
3323
3324
3325
3326
3327
3328
3329
3330
3331
3332
3333
3334
3335
3336
3337
3338
3339
3340
3341
3342
3343
3344
3345
3346
3347
3348
3349
3350
3351
3352
3353
3354
3355
3356
3357
3358
3359
3360
3361
3362
3363
3364
3365
3366
3367
3368
3369
3370
3371
3372
3373
3374
3375
3376
3377
3378
3379
3380
3381
3382
3383
3384
3385
3386
3387
3388
3389
3390
3391
3392
3393
3394
3395
3396
3397
3398
3399
3400
3401
3402
3403
3404
3405
3406
3407
3408
3409
3410
3411
3412
3413
3414
3415
3416
3417
3418
3419
3420
3421
3422
3423
3424
3425
3426
3427
3428
3429
3430
3431
3432
3433
3434
3435
3436
3437
3438
3439
3440
3441
3442
3443
3444
3445
3446
3447
3448
3449
3450
3451
3452
3453
3454
3455
3456
3457
3458
3459
3460
3461
3462
3463
3464
3465
3466
3467
3468
3469
3470
3471
3472
3473
3474
3475
3476
3477
3478
3479
3480
3481
3482
3483
3484
3485
3486
3487
3488
3489
3490
3491
3492
3493
3494
3495
3496
3497
3498
3499
3500
3501
3502
3503
3504
3505
3506
3507
3508
3509
3510
3511
3512
3513
3514
3515
3516
3517
3518
3519
3520
3521
3522
3523
3524
3525
3526
3527
3528
3529
3530
3531
3532
3533
3534
3535
3536
3537
3538
3539
3540
3541
3542
3543
3544
3545
3546
3547
3548
3549
3550
3551
3552
3553
3554
3555
3556
3557
3558
3559
3560
3561
3562
3563
3564
3565
3566
3567
3568
3569
3570
3571
3572
3573
3574
3575
3576
3577
3578
3579
3580
3581
3582
3583
3584
3585
3586
3587
3588
3589
3590
3591
3592
3593
3594
3595
3596
3597
3598
3599
3600
3601
3602
3603
3604
3605
3606
3607
3608
3609
3610
3611
3612
3613
3614
3615
3616
3617
3618
3619
3620
3621
3622
3623
3624
3625
3626
3627
3628
3629
3630
3631
3632
3633
3634
3635
3636
3637
3638
3639
3640
3641
3642
3643
3644
3645
3646
3647
3648
3649
3650
3651
3652
3653
3654
3655
3656
3657
3658
3659
3660
3661
3662
3663
3664
3665
3666
3667
3668
3669
3670
3671
3672
3673
3674
3675
3676
3677
3678
3679
3680
3681
3682
3683
3684
3685
3686
3687
3688
3689
3690
3691
3692
3693
3694
3695
3696
3697
3698
3699
3700
3701
3702
3703
3704
3705
3706
3707
3708
3709
3710
3711
3712
3713
3714
3715
3716
3717
3718
3719
3720
3721
3722
3723
3724
3725
3726
3727
3728
3729
3730
3731
3732
3733
3734
3735
3736
3737
3738
3739
3740
3741
3742
3743
3744
3745
3746
3747
3748
3749
3750
3751
3752
3753
3754
3755
3756
3757
3758
3759
3760
3761
3762
3763
3764
3765
3766
3767
3768
3769
3770
3771
3772
3773
3774
3775
3776
3777
3778
3779
3780
3781
3782
3783
3784
3785
3786
3787
3788
3789
3790
3791
3792
3793
3794
3795
3796
3797
3798
3799
3800
3801
3802
3803
3804
3805
3806
3807
3808
3809
3810
3811
3812
3813
3814
3815
3816
3817
3818
3819
3820
3821
3822
3823
3824
3825
3826
3827
3828
3829
3830
3831
3832
3833
3834
3835
3836
3837
3838
3839
3840
3841
3842
3843
3844
3845
3846
3847
3848
3849
3850
3851
3852
3853
3854
3855
3856
3857
3858
3859
3860
3861
3862
3863
3864
3865
3866
3867
3868
3869
3870
3871
3872
3873
3874
3875
3876
3877
3878
3879
3880
3881
3882
3883
3884
3885
3886
3887
3888
3889
3890
3891
3892
3893
3894
3895
3896
3897
3898
3899
3900
3901
3902
3903
3904
3905
3906
3907
3908
3909
3910
3911
3912
3913
3914
3915
3916
3917
3918
3919
3920
3921
3922
3923
3924
3925
3926
3927
3928
3929
3930
3931
3932
3933
3934
3935
3936
3937
3938
3939
3940
3941
3942
3943
3944
3945
3946
3947
3948
3949
3950
3951
3952
3953
3954
3955
3956
3957
3958
3959
3960
3961
3962
3963
3964
3965
3966
3967
3968
3969
3970
3971
3972
3973
3974
3975
3976
3977
3978
3979
3980
3981
3982
3983
3984
3985
3986
3987
3988
3989
3990
3991
3992
3993
3994
3995
3996
3997
3998
3999
4000
4001
4002
4003
4004
4005
4006
4007
4008
4009
4010
4011
4012
4013
4014
4015
4016
4017
4018
4019
4020
4021
4022
4023
4024
4025
4026
4027
4028
4029
4030
4031
4032
4033
4034
4035
4036
4037
4038
4039
4040
4041
4042
4043
4044
4045
4046
4047
4048
4049
4050
4051
4052
4053
4054
4055
4056
4057
4058
4059
4060
4061
4062
4063
4064
4065
4066
4067
4068
4069
4070
4071
4072
4073
4074
4075
4076
4077
4078
4079
4080
4081
4082
4083
4084
4085
4086
4087
4088
4089
4090
4091
4092
4093
4094
4095
4096
4097
4098
4099
4100
4101
4102
4103
4104
4105
4106
4107
4108
4109
4110
4111
4112
4113
4114
4115
4116
4117
4118
4119
4120
4121
4122
4123
4124
4125
4126
4127
4128
4129
4130
4131
4132
4133
4134
4135
4136
4137
4138
4139
4140
4141
4142
4143
4144
4145
4146
4147
4148
4149
4150
4151
4152
4153
4154
4155
4156
4157
4158
4159
4160
4161
4162
4163
4164
4165
4166
4167
4168
4169
4170
4171
4172
4173
4174
4175
4176
4177
4178
4179
4180
4181
4182
4183
4184
4185
4186
4187
4188
4189
4190
4191
4192
4193
4194
4195
4196
4197
4198
4199
4200
4201
4202
4203
4204
4205
4206
4207
4208
4209
4210
4211
4212
4213
4214
4215
4216
4217
4218
4219
4220
4221
4222
4223
4224
4225
4226
4227
4228
4229
4230
4231
4232
4233
4234
4235
4236
4237
4238
4239
4240
4241
4242
4243
4244
4245
4246
4247
4248
4249
4250
4251
4252
4253
4254
4255
4256
4257
4258
4259
4260
4261
4262
4263
4264
4265
4266
4267
4268
4269
4270
4271
4272
4273
4274
4275
4276
4277
4278
4279
4280
4281
4282
4283
4284
4285
4286
4287
4288
4289
4290
4291
4292
4293
4294
4295
4296
4297
4298
4299
4300
4301
4302
4303
4304
4305
4306
4307
4308
4309
4310
4311
4312
4313
4314
4315
4316
4317
4318
4319
4320
4321
4322
4323
4324
4325
4326
4327
4328
4329
4330
4331
4332
4333
4334
4335
4336
4337
4338
4339
4340
4341
4342
4343
4344
4345
4346
4347
4348
4349
4350
4351
4352
4353
4354
4355
4356
4357
4358
4359
4360
4361
4362
4363
4364
4365
4366
4367
4368
4369
4370
4371
4372
4373
4374
4375
4376
4377
4378
4379
4380
4381
4382
4383
4384
4385
4386
4387
4388
4389
4390
4391
4392
4393
4394
4395
4396
4397
4398
4399
4400
4401
4402
4403
4404
4405
4406
4407
4408
4409
4410
4411
4412
4413
4414
4415
4416
4417
4418
4419
4420
4421
4422
4423
4424
4425
4426
4427
4428
4429
4430
4431
4432
4433
4434
4435
4436
4437
4438
4439
4440
4441
4442
4443
4444
4445
4446
4447
4448
4449
4450
4451
4452
4453
4454
4455
4456
4457
4458
4459
4460
4461
4462
4463
4464
4465
4466
4467
4468
4469
4470
4471
4472
4473
4474
4475
4476
4477
4478
4479
4480
4481
4482
4483
4484
4485
4486
4487
4488
4489
4490
4491
4492
4493
4494
4495
4496
4497
4498
4499
4500
4501
4502
4503
4504
4505
4506
4507
4508
4509
4510
4511
4512
4513
4514
4515
4516
4517
4518
4519
4520
4521
4522
4523
4524
4525
4526
4527
4528
4529
4530
4531
4532
4533
4534
4535
4536
4537
4538
4539
4540
4541
4542
4543
4544
4545
4546
4547
4548
4549
4550
4551
4552
4553
4554
4555
4556
4557
4558
4559
4560
4561
4562
4563
4564
4565
4566
4567
4568
4569
4570
4571
4572
4573
4574
4575
4576
4577
4578
4579
4580
4581
4582
4583
4584
4585
4586
4587
4588
4589
4590
4591
4592
4593
4594
4595
4596
4597
4598
4599
4600
4601
4602
4603
4604
4605
4606
4607
4608
4609
4610
4611
4612
4613
4614
4615
4616
4617
4618
4619
4620
4621
4622
4623
4624
4625
4626
4627
4628
4629
4630
4631
4632
4633
4634
4635
4636
4637
4638
4639
4640
4641
4642
4643
4644
4645
4646
4647
4648
4649
4650
4651
4652
4653
4654
4655
4656
4657
4658
4659
4660
4661
4662
4663
4664
4665
4666
4667
4668
4669
4670
4671
4672
4673
4674
4675
4676
4677
4678
4679
4680
4681
4682
4683
4684
4685
4686
4687
4688
4689
4690
4691
4692
4693
4694
4695
4696
4697
4698
4699
4700
4701
4702
4703
4704
4705
4706
4707
4708
4709
4710
4711
4712
4713
4714
4715
4716
4717
4718
4719
4720
4721
4722
4723
4724
4725
4726
4727
4728
4729
4730
4731
4732
4733
4734
4735
4736
4737
4738
4739
4740
4741
4742
4743
4744
4745
4746
4747
4748
4749
4750
4751
4752
4753
4754
4755
4756
4757
4758
4759
4760
4761
4762
4763
4764
4765
4766
4767
4768
4769
4770
4771
4772
4773
4774
4775
4776
4777
4778
4779
4780
4781
4782
4783
4784
4785
4786
4787
4788
4789
4790
4791
4792
4793
4794
4795
4796
4797
4798
4799
4800
4801
4802
4803
4804
4805
4806
4807
4808
4809
4810
4811
4812
4813
4814
4815
4816
4817
4818
4819
4820
4821
4822
4823
4824
4825
4826
4827
4828
4829
4830
4831
4832
4833
4834
4835
4836
4837
4838
4839
4840
4841
4842
4843
4844
4845
4846
4847
4848
4849
4850
4851
4852
4853
4854
4855
4856
4857
4858
4859
4860
4861
4862
4863
4864
4865
4866
4867
4868
4869
4870
4871
4872
4873
4874
4875
4876
4877
4878
4879
4880
4881
4882
4883
4884
4885
4886
4887
4888
4889
4890
4891
4892
4893
4894
4895
4896
4897
4898
4899
4900
4901
4902
4903
4904
4905
4906
4907
4908
4909
4910
4911
4912
4913
4914
4915
4916
4917
4918
4919
4920
4921
4922
4923
4924
4925
4926
4927
4928
4929
4930
4931
4932
4933
4934
4935
4936
4937
4938
4939
4940
4941
4942
4943
4944
4945
4946
4947
4948
4949
4950
4951
4952
4953
4954
4955
4956
4957
4958
4959
4960
4961
4962
4963
4964
4965
4966
4967
4968
4969
4970
4971
4972
4973
4974
4975
4976
4977
4978
4979
4980
4981
4982
4983
4984
4985
4986
4987
4988
4989
4990
4991
4992
4993
4994
4995
4996
4997
4998
4999
5000
5001
5002
5003
5004
5005
5006
5007
5008
5009
5010
5011
5012
5013
5014
5015
5016
5017
5018
5019
5020
5021
5022
5023
5024
5025
5026
5027
5028
5029
5030
5031
5032
5033
5034
5035
5036
5037
5038
5039
5040
5041
5042
5043
5044
5045
5046
5047
5048
5049
5050
5051
5052
5053
5054
5055
5056
5057
5058
5059
5060
5061
5062
5063
5064
5065
5066
5067
5068
5069
5070
5071
5072
5073
5074
5075
5076
5077
5078
5079
5080
5081
5082
5083
5084
5085
5086
5087
5088
5089
5090
5091
5092
5093
5094
5095
5096
5097
5098
5099
5100
5101
5102
5103
5104
5105
5106
5107
5108
5109
5110
5111
5112
5113
5114
5115
5116
5117
5118
5119
5120
5121
5122
5123
5124
5125
5126
5127
5128
5129
5130
5131
5132
5133
5134
5135
5136
5137
5138
5139
5140
5141
5142
5143
5144
5145
5146
5147
5148
5149
5150
5151
5152
5153
5154
5155
5156
5157
5158
5159
5160
5161
5162
5163
5164
5165
5166
5167
5168
5169
5170
5171
5172
5173
5174
5175
5176
5177
5178
5179
5180
5181
5182
5183
5184
5185
5186
5187
5188
5189
5190
5191
5192
5193
5194
5195
5196
5197
5198
5199
5200
5201
5202
5203
5204
5205
5206
5207
5208
5209
5210
5211
5212
5213
5214
5215
5216
5217
5218
5219
5220
5221
5222
5223
5224
5225
5226
5227
5228
5229
5230
5231
5232
5233
5234
5235
5236
5237
5238
5239
5240
5241
5242
5243
5244
5245
5246
5247
5248
5249
5250
5251
5252
5253
5254
5255
5256
5257
5258
5259
5260
5261
5262
5263
5264
5265
5266
5267
5268
5269
5270
5271
5272
5273
5274
5275
5276
5277
5278
5279
5280
5281
5282
5283
5284
5285
5286
5287
5288
5289
5290
5291
5292
5293
5294
5295
5296
5297
5298
5299
5300
5301
5302
5303
5304
5305
5306
5307
5308
5309
5310
5311
5312
5313
5314
5315
5316
5317
5318
5319
5320
5321
5322
5323
5324
5325
5326
5327
5328
5329
5330
5331
5332
5333
5334
5335
5336
5337
5338
5339
5340
5341
5342
5343
5344
5345
5346
5347
5348
5349
5350
5351
5352
5353
5354
5355
5356
5357
5358
5359
5360
5361
5362
5363
5364
5365
5366
5367
5368
5369
5370
5371
5372
5373
5374
5375
5376
5377
5378
5379
5380
5381
5382
5383
5384
5385
5386
5387
5388
5389
5390
5391
5392
5393
5394
5395
5396
5397
5398
5399
5400
5401
5402
5403
5404
5405
5406
5407
5408
5409
5410
5411
5412
5413
5414
5415
5416
5417
5418
5419
5420
5421
5422
5423
5424
5425
5426
5427
5428
5429
5430
5431
5432
5433
5434
5435
5436
5437
5438
5439
5440
5441
5442
5443
5444
5445
5446
5447
5448
5449
5450
5451
5452
5453
5454
5455
5456
5457
5458
5459
5460
5461
5462
5463
5464
5465
5466
5467
5468
5469
5470
5471
5472
5473
5474
5475
5476
5477
5478
5479
5480
5481
5482
5483
5484
5485
5486
5487
5488
5489
5490
5491
5492
5493
5494
5495
5496
5497
5498
5499
5500
5501
5502
5503
5504
5505
5506
5507
5508
5509
5510
5511
5512
5513
5514
5515
5516
5517
5518
5519
5520
5521
5522
5523
5524
5525
5526
5527
5528
5529
5530
5531
5532
5533
5534
5535
5536
5537
5538
5539
5540
5541
5542
5543
5544
5545
5546
5547
5548
5549
5550
5551
5552
5553
5554
5555
5556
5557
5558
5559
5560
5561
5562
5563
5564
5565
5566
5567
5568
5569
5570
5571
5572
5573
5574
5575
5576
5577
5578
5579
5580
5581
5582
5583
5584
5585
5586
5587
5588
5589
5590
5591
5592
5593
5594
5595
5596
5597
5598
5599
5600
5601
5602
5603
5604
5605
5606
5607
5608
5609
5610
5611
5612
5613
5614
5615
5616
5617
5618
5619
5620
5621
5622
5623
5624
5625
5626
5627
5628
5629
5630
5631
5632
5633
5634
5635
5636
5637
5638
5639
5640
5641
5642
5643
5644
5645
5646
5647
5648
5649
5650
5651
5652
5653
5654
5655
5656
5657
5658
5659
5660
5661
5662
5663
5664
5665
5666
5667
5668
5669
5670
5671
5672
5673
5674
5675
5676
5677
5678
5679
5680
5681
5682
5683
5684
5685
5686
5687
5688
5689
5690
5691
5692
5693
5694
5695
5696
5697
5698
5699
5700
5701
5702
5703
5704
5705
5706
5707
5708
5709
5710
5711
5712
5713
5714
5715
5716
5717
5718
5719
5720
5721
5722
5723
5724
5725
5726
5727
5728
5729
5730
5731
5732
5733
5734
5735
5736
5737
5738
5739
5740
5741
5742
5743
5744
5745
5746
5747
5748
5749
5750
5751
5752
5753
5754
5755
5756
5757
5758
5759
5760
5761
5762
5763
5764
5765
5766
5767
5768
5769
5770
5771
5772
5773
5774
5775
5776
5777
5778
5779
5780
5781
5782
5783
5784
5785
5786
5787
5788
5789
5790
5791
5792
5793
5794
5795
5796
5797
5798
5799
5800
5801
5802
5803
5804
5805
5806
5807
5808
5809
5810
5811
5812
5813
5814
5815
5816
5817
5818
5819
5820
5821
5822
5823
5824
5825
5826
5827
5828
5829
5830
5831
5832
5833
5834
5835
5836
5837
5838
5839
5840
5841
5842
5843
5844
5845
5846
5847
5848
5849
5850
5851
5852
5853
5854
5855
5856
5857
5858
5859
5860
5861
5862
5863
5864
5865
5866
5867
5868
5869
5870
5871
5872
5873
5874
5875
5876
5877
5878
5879
5880
5881
5882
5883
5884
5885
5886
5887
5888
5889
5890
5891
5892
5893
5894
5895
5896
5897
5898
5899
5900
5901
5902
5903
5904
5905
5906
5907
5908
5909
5910
5911
5912
5913
5914
5915
5916
5917
5918
5919
5920
5921
5922
5923
5924
5925
5926
5927
5928
5929
5930
5931
5932
5933
5934
5935
5936
5937
5938
5939
5940
5941
5942
5943
5944
5945
5946
5947
5948
5949
5950
5951
5952
5953
5954
5955
5956
5957
5958
5959
5960
5961
5962
5963
5964
5965
5966
5967
5968
5969
5970
5971
5972
5973
5974
5975
5976
5977
5978
5979
5980
5981
5982
5983
5984
5985
5986
5987
5988
5989
5990
5991
5992
5993
5994
5995
5996
5997
5998
5999
6000
6001
6002
6003
6004
6005
6006
6007
6008
6009
6010
6011
6012
6013
6014
6015
6016
6017
6018
6019
6020
6021
6022
6023
6024
6025
6026
6027
6028
6029
6030
6031
6032
6033
6034
6035
6036
6037
6038
6039
6040
6041
6042
6043
6044
6045
6046
6047
6048
6049
6050
6051
6052
6053
6054
6055
6056
6057
6058
6059
6060
6061
6062
6063
6064
6065
6066
6067
6068
6069
6070
6071
6072
6073
6074
6075
6076
6077
6078
6079
6080
6081
6082
6083
6084
6085
6086
6087
6088
6089
6090
6091
6092
6093
6094
6095
6096
6097
6098
6099
6100
6101
6102
6103
6104
6105
6106
6107
6108
6109
6110
6111
6112
6113
6114
6115
6116
6117
6118
6119
6120
6121
6122
6123
6124
6125
6126
6127
6128
6129
6130
6131
6132
6133
6134
6135
6136
6137
6138
6139
6140
6141
6142
6143
6144
6145
6146
6147
6148
6149
6150
6151
6152
6153
6154
6155
6156
6157
6158
6159
6160
6161

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<!DOCTYPE html
   PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
   "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" >

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en">
  <head>
    <title>
      What Every Woman Knows, by James M. Barrie
    </title>
    <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve">

    body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify}
    P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; }
    H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; }
    hr  { width: 50%; text-align: center;}
    .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; }
    blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;}
    .mynote    {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;}
    .toc       { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;}
    .toc2      { margin-left: 20%;}
    div.fig    { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; }
    div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; }
    .figleft   {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;}
    .figright  {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;}
    .pagenum   {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal;
               margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%;
               text-align: right;}
    pre        { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;}

</style>
  </head>
  <body>


<pre>

The Project Gutenberg EBook of What Every Woman Knows, by James M. Barrie

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org


Title: What Every Woman Knows

Author: James M. Barrie


Release Date: May, 2004  [EBook #5654]
This file was first posted on August 5, 2002
Last Updated: October 14, 2016

Language: English

Character set encoding: UTF-8

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHAT EVERY WOMAN KNOWS ***




Text produced by David Moynihan, Charles Franks and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team

HTML file produced by David Widger




</pre>

    <div style="height: 8em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h1>
      WHAT EVERY WOMAN KNOWS
    </h1>
    <h2>
      By James M. Barrie
    </h2>
    <p>
      <br /><br />
    </p>
    <hr />
    <p>
      <br /><br />
    </p>
    <p>
      <b>CONTENTS</b>
    </p>
    <p class="toc">
      <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> ACT I </a>
    </p>
    <p class="toc">
      <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> ACT II </a>
    </p>
    <p class="toc">
      <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> ACT III </a>
    </p>
    <p class="toc">
      <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> ACT IV </a>
    </p>
    <p>
      <br /><br />
    </p>
    <hr />
    <p>
      <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      ACT I
    </h2>
    <p>
      James Wylie is about to make a move on the dambrod, and in the little
      Scotch room there is an awful silence befitting the occasion. James with
      his hand poised&mdash;for if he touches a piece he has to play it, Alick
      will see to that&mdash;raises his red head suddenly to read Alick&rsquo;s face.
      His father, who is Alick, is pretending to be in a panic lest James should
      make this move. James grins heartlessly, and his fingers are about to
      close on the &lsquo;man&rsquo; when some instinct of self-preservation makes him peep
      once more. This time Alick is caught: the unholy ecstasy on his face tells
      as plain as porridge that he has been luring James to destruction. James
      glares; and, too late, his opponent is a simple old father again. James
      mops his head, sprawls in the manner most conducive to thought in the
      Wylie family, and, protruding his underlip, settles down to a
      reconsideration of the board. Alick blows out his cheeks, and a drop of
      water settles on the point of his nose.
    </p>
    <p>
      You will find them thus any Saturday night (after family worship, which
      sends the servant to bed); and sometimes the pauses are so long that in
      the end they forget whose move it is.
    </p>
    <p>
      It is not the room you would be shown into if you were calling socially on
      Miss Wylie. The drawing-room for you, and Miss Wylie in a coloured merino
      to receive you; very likely she would exclaim, &ldquo;This is a pleasant
      surprise!&rdquo; though she has seen you coming up the avenue and has just had
      time to whip the dustcloths off the chairs, and to warn Alick, David and
      James, that they had better not dare come in to see you before they have
      put on a dickey. Nor is this the room in which you would dine in solemn
      grandeur if invited to drop in and take pot-luck, which is how the Wylies
      invite, it being a family weakness to pretend that they sit down in the
      dining-room daily. It is the real living-room of the house, where Alick,
      who will never get used to fashionable ways, can take off his collar and
      sit happily in his stocking soles, and James at times would do so also;
      but catch Maggie letting him.
    </p>
    <p>
      There is one very fine chair, but, heavens, not for sitting on; just to
      give the room a social standing in an emergency. It sneers at the other
      chairs with an air of insolent superiority, like a haughty bride who has
      married into the house for money. Otherwise the furniture is homely; most
      of it has come from that smaller house where the Wylies began. There is
      the large and shiny chair which can be turned into a bed if you look the
      other way for a moment. James cannot sit on this chair without gradually
      sliding down it till he is lying luxuriously on the small of his back, his
      legs indicating, like the hands of a clock, that it is ten past twelve; a
      position in which Maggie shudders to see him receiving company.
    </p>
    <p>
      The other chairs are horse-hair, than which nothing is more comfortable if
      there be a good slit down the seat. The seats are heavily dented, because
      all the Wylie family sit down with a dump. The draught-board is on the
      edge of a large centre table, which also displays four books placed at
      equal distances from each other, one of them a Bible, and another the
      family album. If these were the only books they would not justify Maggie
      in calling this chamber the library, her dogged name for it; while David
      and James call it the west-room and Alick calls it &lsquo;the room,&rsquo; which is to
      him the natural name for any apartment without a bed in it. There is a
      bookcase of pitch pine, which contains six hundred books, with glass doors
      to prevent your getting at them.
    </p>
    <p>
      No one does try to get at the books, for the Wylies are not a reading
      family. They like you to gasp when you see so much literature gathered
      together in one prison-house, but they gasp themselves at the thought that
      there are persons, chiefly clergymen, who, having finished one book,
      coolly begin another. Nevertheless it was not all vainglory that made
      David buy this library: it was rather a mighty respect for education, as
      something that he has missed. This same feeling makes him take in the
      Contemporary Review and stand up to it like a man. Alick, who also has a
      respect for education, tries to read the Contemporary, but becomes
      dispirited, and may be heard muttering over its pages, &lsquo;No, no use, no
      use, no,&rsquo; and sometimes even &lsquo;Oh hell.&rsquo; James has no respect for
      education; and Maggie is at present of an open mind.
    </p>
    <p>
      They are Wylie and Sons of the local granite quarry, in which Alick was
      throughout his working days a mason. It is David who has raised them to
      this position; he climbed up himself step by step (and hewed the steps),
      and drew the others up after him. &lsquo;Wylie Brothers,&rsquo; Alick would have had
      the firm called, but David said No, and James said No, and Maggie said No;
      first honour must be to their father; and Alick now likes it on the whole,
      though he often sighs at having to shave every day; and on some snell
      mornings he still creeps from his couch at four and even at two (thinking
      that his mallet and chisel are calling him), and begins to pull on his
      trousers, until the grandeur of them reminds him that he can go to bed
      again. Sometimes he cries a little, because there is no more work for him
      to do for ever and ever; and then Maggie gives him a spade (without
      telling David) or David gives him the logs to saw (without telling
      Maggie).
    </p>
    <p>
      We have given James a longer time to make his move than our kind friends
      in front will give him, but in the meantime something has been happening.
      David has come in, wearing a black coat and his Sabbath boots, for he has
      been to a public meeting. David is nigh forty years of age, whiskered like
      his father and brother (Alick&rsquo;s whiskers being worn as a sort of cravat
      round the neck), and he has the too brisk manner of one who must arrive
      anywhere a little before any one else. The painter who did the three of
      them for fifteen pounds (you may observe the canvases on the walls) has
      caught this characteristic, perhaps accidentally, for David is almost
      stepping out of his frame, as if to hurry off somewhere; while Alick and
      James look as if they were pinned to the wall for life. All the six of
      them, men and pictures, however, have a family resemblance, like granite
      blocks from their own quarry. They are as Scotch as peat for instance, and
      they might exchange eyes without any neighbour noticing the difference,
      inquisitive little blue eyes that seem to be always totting up the price
      of things.
    </p>
    <p>
      The dambrod players pay no attention to David, nor does he regard them.
      Dumping down on the sofa he removes his &lsquo;lastic sides, as his Sabbath
      boots are called, by pushing one foot against the other, gets into a pair
      of hand-sewn slippers, deposits the boots as according to rule in the
      ottoman, and crosses to the fire. There must be something on David&rsquo;s mind
      to-night, for he pays no attention to the game, neither gives advice (than
      which nothing is more maddening) nor exchanges a wink with Alick over the
      parlous condition of James&rsquo;s crown. You can hear the wag-at-the-wall clock
      in the lobby ticking. Then David lets himself go; it runs out of him like
      a hymn:&mdash;
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Oh, let the solid ground Not fail beneath my feet, Before my life
      has found What some have found so sweet.
    </p>
    <p>
      [This is not a soliloquy, but is offered as a definite statement. The
      players emerge from their game with difficulty.]
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK [with JAMES&rsquo;s crown in his hand]. What&rsquo;s that you&rsquo;re saying, David?
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [like a public speaker explaining the situation in a few well-chosen
      words]. The thing I&rsquo;m speaking about is Love.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES [keeping control of himself]. Do you stand there and say you&rsquo;re in
      love, David Wylie?
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Me; what would I do with the thing?
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES [who is by no means without pluck]. I see no necessity for calling
      it a thing.
    </p>
    <p>
      [They are two bachelors who all their lives have been afraid of nothing
      but Woman. DAVID in his sportive days&mdash;which continue&mdash;has done
      roguish things with his arm when conducting a lady home under an umbrella
      from a soiree, and has both chuckled and been scared on thinking of it
      afterwards. JAMES, a commoner fellow altogether, has discussed the sex
      over a glass, but is too canny to be in the company of less than two young
      women at a time.]
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [derisively]. Oho, has she got you, James?
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES [feeling the sting of it]. Nobody has got me.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. They&rsquo;ll catch you yet, lad.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. They&rsquo;ll never catch me. You&rsquo;ve been nearer catched yourself.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. Yes, Kitty Menzies, David.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [feeling himself under the umbrella]. It was a kind of a shave that.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK [who knows all that is to be known about women and can speak of them
      without a tremor]. It&rsquo;s a curious thing, but a man cannot help winking
      when he hears that one of his friends has been catched.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. That&rsquo;s so.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES [clinging to his manhood]. And fear of that wink is what has kept
      the two of us single men. And yet what&rsquo;s the glory of being single?
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. There&rsquo;s no particular glory in it, but it&rsquo;s safe.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES [putting away his aspirations]. Yes, it&rsquo;s lonely, but it&rsquo;s safe. But
      who did you mean the poetry for, then?
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. For Maggie, of course.
    </p>
    <p>
      [You don&rsquo;t know DAVID and JAMES till you know how they love their sister
      MAGGIE.]
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. I thought that.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [coming to the second point of his statement about Love]. I saw her
      reading poetry and saying those words over to herself.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. She has such a poetical mind.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Love. There&rsquo;s no doubt as that&rsquo;s what Maggie has set her heart on.
      And not merely love, but one of those grand noble loves; for though Maggie
      is undersized she has a passion for romance.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES [wandering miserably about the room]. It&rsquo;s terrible not to be able
      to give Maggie what her heart is set on.
    </p>
    <p>
      [The others never pay much attention to JAMES, though he is quite a smart
      figure in less important houses.]
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK [violently]. Those idiots of men.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Father, did you tell her who had got the minister of Galashiels?
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK [wagging his head sadly]. I had to tell her. And then I&mdash;I&mdash;bought
      her a sealskin muff, and I just slipped it into her hands and came away.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES [illustrating the sense of justice in the Wylie family]. Of course,
      to be fair to the man, he never pretended he wanted her.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. None of them wants her; that&rsquo;s what depresses her. I was thinking,
      father, I would buy her that gold watch and chain in Snibby&rsquo;s window. She
      hankers after it.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES [slapping his pocket]. You&rsquo;re too late, David; I&rsquo;ve got them for
      her.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. It&rsquo;s ill done of the minister. Many a pound of steak has that man
      had in this house.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. You mind the slippers she worked for him?
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. I mind them fine; she began them for William Cathro. She&rsquo;s getting
      on in years, too, though she looks so young.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. I never can make up my mind, David, whether her curls make her look
      younger or older.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [determinedly]. Younger. Whist! I hear her winding the clock. Mind,
      not a word about the minister to her, James. Don&rsquo;t even mention religion
      this day.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. Would it be like me to do such a thing?
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. It would be very like you. And there&rsquo;s that other matter: say not a
      syllable about our having a reason for sitting up late to-night. When she
      says it&rsquo;s bed-time, just all pretend we&rsquo;re not sleepy.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. Exactly, and when&mdash;
    </p>
    <p>
      [Here MAGGIE enters, and all three are suddenly engrossed in the dambrod.
      We could describe MAGGIE at great length. But what is the use? What you
      really want to know is whether she was good-looking. No, she was not.
      Enter MAGGIE, who is not good-looking. When this is said, all is said.
      Enter MAGGIE, as it were, with her throat cut from ear to ear. She has a
      soft Scotch voice and a more resolute manner than is perhaps fitting to
      her plainness; and she stops short at sight of JAMES sprawling
      unconsciously in the company chair.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. James, I wouldn&rsquo;t sit on the fine chair.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. I forgot again.
    </p>
    <p>
      [But he wishes she had spoken more sharply. Even profanation of the fine
      chair has not roused her. She takes up her knitting, and they all suspect
      that she knows what they have been talking about.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. You&rsquo;re late, David, it&rsquo;s nearly bed-time.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [finding the subject a safe one]. I was kept late at the public
      meeting.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK [glad to get so far away from Galashiels]. Was it a good meeting?
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Fairish. [with some heat] That young John Shand WOULD make a
      speech.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. John Shand? Is that the student Shand?
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. The same. It&rsquo;s true he&rsquo;s a student at Glasgow University in the
      winter months, but in summer he&rsquo;s just the railway porter here; and I
      think it&rsquo;s very presumptuous of a young lad like that to make a speech
      when he hasn&rsquo;t a penny to bless himself with.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. The Shands were always an impudent family, and jealous. I suppose
      that&rsquo;s the reason they haven&rsquo;t been on speaking terms with us this six
      years. Was it a good speech?
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [illustrating the family&rsquo;s generosity]. It was very fine; but he
      needn&rsquo;t have made fun of ME.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [losing a stitch]. He dared?
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [depressed]. You see I can not get started on a speech without
      saying things like &lsquo;In rising FOR to make a few remarks.&rsquo; 
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. What&rsquo;s wrong with it?
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. He mimicked me, and said, &lsquo;Will our worthy chairman come for to go
      for to answer my questions?&rsquo; and so on; and they roared.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES [slapping his money pocket]. The sacket.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. I did feel bitterly, father, the want of education. [Without
      knowing it, he has a beautiful way of pronouncing this noble word.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [holding out a kind hand to him]. David.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. I&rsquo;ve missed it sore, David. Even now I feel the want of it in the
      very marrow of me. I&rsquo;m ashamed to think I never gave you your chance. But
      when you were young I was so desperate poor, how could I do it, Maggie?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. It wasn&rsquo;t possible, father.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK [gazing at the book-shelves]. To be able to understand these books!
      To up with them one at a time and scrape them as clean as though they were
      a bowl of brose. Lads, it&rsquo;s not to riches, it&rsquo;s to scholarship that I make
      my humble bow.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES [who is good at bathos]. There&rsquo;s ten yards of them. And they were
      selected by the minister of Galashiels. He said&mdash;
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [quickly]. James.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. I mean&mdash;I mean&mdash;
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [calmly]. I suppose you mean what you say, James. I hear, David,
      that the minister of Galashiels is to be married on that Miss Turnbull.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [on guard]. So they were saying.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. All I can say is she has made a poor bargain.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [the damned]. I wonder at you, father. He&rsquo;s a very nice gentleman.
      I&rsquo;m sure I hope he has chosen wisely.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. Not him.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [getting near her tragedy]. How can you say that when you don&rsquo;t
      know her? I expect she is full of charm.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. Charm? It&rsquo;s the very word he used.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Havering idiot.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. What IS charm, exactly, Maggie?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Oh, it&rsquo;s&mdash;it&rsquo;s a sort of bloom on a woman. If you have it,
      you don&rsquo;t need to have anything else; and if you don&rsquo;t have it, it doesn&rsquo;t
      much matter what else you have. Some women, the few, have charm for all;
      and most have charm for one. But some have charm for none.
    </p>
    <p>
      [Somehow she has stopped knitting. Her men-folk are very depressed. JAMES
      brings his fist down on the table with a crash.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES [shouting]. I have a sister that has charm.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. No, James, you haven&rsquo;t.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES [rushing at her with the watch and chain]. Ha&rsquo;e, Maggie.
    </p>
    <p>
      [She lets them lie in her lap.]
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Maggie, would you like a silk?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. What could I do with a silk? [With a gust of passion] You might as
      well dress up a little brown hen.
    </p>
    <p>
      [They wriggle miserably.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES [stamping]. Bring him here to me.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Bring whom, James?
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. David, I would be obliged if you wouldn&rsquo;t kick me beneath the
      table.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [rising]. Let&rsquo;s be practical; let&rsquo;s go to our beds.
    </p>
    <p>
      [This reminds them that they have a job on hand in which she is not to
      share.]
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [slily]. I don&rsquo;t feel very sleepy yet.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. Nor me either.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. You&rsquo;ve just taken the very words out of my mouth.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [with unusual politeness]. Good-night to you Maggie.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [fixing the three of them]. ALL of you unsleepy, when, as is well
      known, ten o&rsquo;clock is your regular bed-time?
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. Yes, it&rsquo;s common knowledge that we go to our beds at ten.
      [Chuckling] That&rsquo;s what we&rsquo;re counting on.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Counting on?
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. You stupid whelp.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. What have I done?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [folding her arms]. There&rsquo;s something up. You&rsquo;ve got to tell me,
      David.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [who knows when he is beaten]. Go out and watch, James.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Watch?
    </p>
    <p>
      [JAMES takes himself off, armed, as MAGGIE notices, with a stick.]
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [in his alert business way]. Maggie, there are burglars about.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Burglars? [She sits rigid, but she is not the kind to scream.]
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. We hadn&rsquo;t meant for to tell you till we nabbed them; but they&rsquo;ve
      been in this room twice of late. We sat up last night waiting for them,
      and we&rsquo;re to sit up again to-night.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. The silver plate.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. It&rsquo;s all safe as yet. That makes us think that they were either
      frightened away these other times, or that they are coming back for to
      make a clean sweep.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. How did you get to know about this?
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. It was on Tuesday that the polissman called at the quarry with a
      very queer story. He had seen a man climbing out at this window at ten
      past two.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Did he chase him?
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. It was so dark he lost sight of him at once.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. Tell her about the window.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. We&rsquo;ve found out that the catch of the window has been pushed back
      by slipping the blade of a knife between the woodwork.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. David.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. The polissman said he was carrying a little carpet bag.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. The silver plate IS gone.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. No, no. We were thinking that very likely he has bunches of keys in
      the bag.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Or weapons.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. As for that, we have some pretty stout weapons ourselves in the
      umbrella stand. So, if you&rsquo;ll go to your bed, Maggie&mdash;
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Me? and my brothers in danger.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. There&rsquo;s just one of them.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. The polissman just saw one.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [licking his palms]. I would be very pleased if there were three of
      them.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I watch with you. I would be very pleased if there were four of
      them.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. And they say she has no charm!
    </p>
    <p>
      [JAMES returns on tiptoe as if the burglars were beneath the table. He
      signs to every one to breathe no more, and then whispers his news.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. He&rsquo;s there. I had no sooner gone out than I saw him sliding down
      the garden wall, close to the rhubarbs.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. What&rsquo;s he like?
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. He&rsquo;s an ugly customer. That&rsquo;s all I could see. There was a little
      carpet bag in his hand.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. That&rsquo;s him.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. He slunk into the rhodydendrons, and he&rsquo;s there now, watching the
      window.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. We have him. Out with the light.
    </p>
    <p>
      [The room is beautified by a chandelier fitted for three gas jets, but
      with the advance of progress one of these has been removed and the
      incandescent light put in its place. This alone is lit. ALICK climbs a
      chair, pulls a little chain, and the room is now but vaguely lit by the
      fire. It plays fitfully on four sparkling faces.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Do you think he saw you, James?
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. I couldn&rsquo;t say, but in any case I was too clever for him. I looked
      up at the stars, and yawned loud at them as if I was tremendous sleepy.
    </p>
    <p>
      [There is a long pause during which they are lurking in the shadows. At
      last they hear some movement, and they steal like ghosts from the room. We
      see DAVID turning out the lobby light; then the door closes and an empty
      room awaits the intruder with a shudder of expectancy. The window opens
      and shuts as softly as if this were a mother peering in to see whether her
      baby is asleep. Then the head of a man shows between the curtains. The
      remainder of him follows. He is carrying a little carpet bag. He stands
      irresolute; what puzzles him evidently is that the Wylies should have
      retired to rest without lifting that piece of coal off the fire. He opens
      the door and peeps into the lobby, listening to the wag-at-the-wall clock.
      All seems serene, and he turns on the light. We see him clearly now. He is
      JOHN SHAND, age twenty-one, boots muddy, as an indignant carpet can
      testify. He wears a shabby topcoat and a cockerty bonnet; otherwise he is
      in the well-worn corduroys of a railway porter. His movements, at first
      stealthy, become almost homely as he feels that he is secure. He opens the
      bag and takes out a bunch of keys, a small paper parcel, and a black
      implement that may be a burglar&rsquo;s jemmy. This cool customer examines the
      fire and piles on more coals. With the keys he opens the door of the
      bookcase, selects two large volumes, and brings them to the table. He
      takes off his topcoat and opens his parcel, which we now see contains
      sheets of foolscap paper. His next action shows that the &lsquo;jemmy&rsquo; is really
      a ruler. He knows where the pen and ink are kept. He pulls the fine chair
      nearer to the table, sits on it, and proceeds to write, occasionally
      dotting the carpet with ink as he stabs the air with his pen. He is so
      occupied that he does not see the door opening, and the Wylie family
      staring at him. They are armed with sticks.]
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK [at last]. When you&rsquo;re ready, John Shand.
    </p>
    <p>
      [JOHN hints back, and then he has the grace to rise, dogged and
      expressionless.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES [like a railway porter]. Ticket, please.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. You can&rsquo;t think of anything clever for to go for to say now, John.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I hope you find that chair comfortable, young man.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I have no complaint to make against the chair.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK [who is really distressed]. A native of the town. The disgrace to
      your family! I feel pity for the Shands this night.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [glowering]. I&rsquo;ll thank you, Mr. Wylie, not to pity my family.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. Canny, canny.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [that sense of justice again]. I think you should let the young man
      explain. It mayn&rsquo;t be so bad as we thought.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Explain away, my billie.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Only the uneducated would need an explanation. I&rsquo;m a student, [with
      a little passion] and I&rsquo;m desperate for want of books. You have all I want
      here; no use to you but for display; well, I came here to study. I come
      twice weekly. [Amazement of his hosts.]
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [who is the first to recover]. By the window.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Do you think a Shand would so far lower himself as to enter your
      door? Well, is it a case for the police?
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. It is.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [not so much out of the goodness of her heart as to patronise the
      Shands]. It seems to me it&rsquo;s a case for us all to go to our beds and leave
      the young man to study; but not on that chair. [And she wheels the chair
      away from him.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Thank you, Miss Maggie, but I couldn&rsquo;t be beholden to you.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. My opinion is that he&rsquo;s nobody, so out with him.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Yes, out with me. And you&rsquo;ll be cheered to hear I&rsquo;m likely to be a
      nobody for a long time to come.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [who had been beginning to respect him]. Are you a poor scholar?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. On the contrary, I&rsquo;m a brilliant scholar.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. It&rsquo;s siller, then?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [glorified by experiences he has shared with many a gallant soul]. My
      first year at college I lived on a barrel of potatoes, and we had just a
      sofa-bed between two of us; when the one lay down the other had to get up.
      Do you think it was hardship? It was sublime. But this year I can&rsquo;t afford
      it. I&rsquo;ll have to stay on here, collecting the tickets of the illiterate,
      such as you, when I might be with Romulus and Remus among the stars.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES [summing up]. Havers.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [in whose head some design is vaguely taking shape]. Whist, James. I
      must say, young lad, I like your spirit. Now tell me, what&rsquo;s your
      professors&rsquo; opinion of your future.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. They think me a young man of extraordinary promise.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. You have a name here for high moral character.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. And justly.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Are you serious-minded?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I never laughed in my life.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Who do you sit under in Glasgow?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Mr. Flemister of the Sauchiehall High.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Are you a Sabbath-school teacher?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I am.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. One more question. Are you promised?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. To a lady?
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Yes.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I&rsquo;ve never given one of them a single word of encouragement. I&rsquo;m too
      much occupied thinking about my career.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. So. [He reflects, and finally indicates by a jerk of the head that
      he wishes to talk with his father behind the door.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES [longingly]. Do you want me too?
    </p>
    <p>
      [But they go out without even answering him.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I don&rsquo;t know what maggot they have in their heads, but sit down,
      young man, till they come back.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. My name&rsquo;s Mr. Shand, and till I&rsquo;m called that I decline to sit down
      again in this house.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Then I&rsquo;m thinking, young sir, you&rsquo;ll have a weary wait.
    </p>
    <p>
      [While he waits you can see how pinched his face is. He is little more
      than a boy, and he seldom has enough to eat. DAVID and ALICK return
      presently, looking as sly as if they had been discussing some move on the
      dambrod, as indeed they have.]
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [suddenly become genial]. Sit down, Mr. Shand, and pull in your
      chair. You&rsquo;ll have a thimbleful of something to keep the cold out?
      [Briskly] Glasses, Maggie.
    </p>
    <p>
      [She wonders, but gets glasses and decanter from the sideboard, which
      JAMES calls the chiffy. DAVID and ALICK, in the most friendly manner, also
      draw up to the table.]
    </p>
    <p>
      You&rsquo;re not a totaller, I hope?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [guardedly]. I&rsquo;m practically a totaller.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. So are we. How do you take it? Is there any hot water, Maggie?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. If I take it at all, and I haven&rsquo;t made up my mind yet, I&rsquo;ll take it
      cold.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. You&rsquo;ll take it hot, James?
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES [also sitting at the table but completely befogged]. No, I&mdash;
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [decisively] I think you&rsquo;ll take it hot, James.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES [sulking]. I&rsquo;ll take it hot.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. The kettle, Maggie.
    </p>
    <p>
      [JAMES has evidently to take it hot so that they can get at the business
      now on hand, while MAGGIE goes kitchenward for the kettle.]
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. Now, David, quick, before she comes back.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Mr. Shand, we have an offer to make you.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [warningly]. No patronage.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. It&rsquo;s strictly a business affair.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Leave it to me, father. It&rsquo;s this&mdash;[But to his annoyance the
      suspicious MAGGIE has already returned with the kettle.] Maggie, don&rsquo;t you
      see that you&rsquo;re not wanted?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [sitting down by the fire and resuming her knitting]. I do, David.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. I have a proposition to put before Mr. Shand, and women are out of
      place in business transactions.
    </p>
    <p>
      [The needles continue to click.]
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK [sighing]. We&rsquo;ll have to let her bide, David.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [sternly]. Woman. [But even this does not budge her.] Very well
      then, sit there, but don&rsquo;t interfere, mind. Mr. Shand, we&rsquo;re willing, the
      three of us, to lay out L300 on your education if&mdash;
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Take care.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [slowly, which is not his wont]. On condition that five years from
      now, Maggie Wylie, if still unmarried, can claim to marry you, should such
      be her wish; the thing to be perfectly open on her side, but you to be
      strictly tied down.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES [enlightened]. So, so.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [resuming his smart manner]. Now, what have you to say? Decide.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [after a pause]. I regret to say&mdash;
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. It doesn&rsquo;t matter what he regrets to say, because I decide against
      it. And I think it was very ill-done of you to make any such proposal.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [without looking at her]. Quiet, Maggie.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [looking at her]. I must say, Miss Maggie, I don&rsquo;t see what reasons
      YOU can have for being so set against it.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. If you would grow a beard, Mr. Shand, the reasons wouldn&rsquo;t be
      quite so obvious.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I&rsquo;ll never grow a beard.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Then you&rsquo;re done for at the start.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. Come, come.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Seeing I have refused the young man&mdash;
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Refused!
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. That&rsquo;s no reason why we shouldn&rsquo;t have his friendly opinion. Your
      objections, Mr. Shand?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Simply, it&rsquo;s a one-sided bargain. I admit I&rsquo;m no catch at present;
      but what could a man of my abilities not soar to with three hundred
      pounds? Something far above what she could aspire to.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Oh, indeed!
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. The position is that without the three hundred you can&rsquo;t soar.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. You have me there.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Yes, but&mdash;
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. You see YOU&rsquo;RE safeguarded, Maggie; you don&rsquo;t need to take him
      unless you like, but he has to take you.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. That&rsquo;s an unfair arrangement also.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I wouldn&rsquo;t dream of it without that condition.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Then you ARE thinking of it?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Poof!
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. It&rsquo;s a good arrangement for you, Mr. Shand. The chances are you&rsquo;ll
      never have to go on with it, for in all probability she&rsquo;ll marry soon.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. She&rsquo;s tremendous run after.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Even if that&rsquo;s true, it&rsquo;s just keeping me in reserve in case she
      misses doing better.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [relieved]. That&rsquo;s the situation in a nutshell.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Another thing. Supposing I was to get fond of her?
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK [wistfully]. It&rsquo;s very likely.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Yes, and then suppose she was to give me the go-by?
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. You have to risk that.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Or take it the other way. Supposing as I got to know her I COULD NOT
      endure her?
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [suavely]. You have both to take risks.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES [less suavely]. What you need, John Shand, is a clout on the head.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Three hundred pounds is no great sum.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. You can take it or leave it.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. No great sum for a student studying for the ministry!
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Do you think that with that amount of money I would stop short at
      being a minister?
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. That&rsquo;s how I like to hear you speak. A young Scotsman of your
      ability let loose upon the world with L300, what could he not do? It&rsquo;s
      almost appalling to think of; especially if he went among the English.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. What do you think, Miss Maggie?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [who is knitting]. I have no thoughts on the subject either way.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [after looking her over]. What&rsquo;s her age? She looks young, but they
      say it&rsquo;s the curls that does it.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [rather happily]. She&rsquo;s one of those women who are eternally young.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I can&rsquo;t take that for an answer.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. She&rsquo;s twenty-five.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I&rsquo;m just twenty-one.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. I read in a book that about four years&rsquo; difference in the ages is
      the ideal thing. [As usual he is disregarded.]
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Well, Mr. Shand?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [where is his mother?]. I&rsquo;m willing if she&rsquo;s willing.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Maggie?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. There can be no &lsquo;if&rsquo; about it. It must be an offer.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. A Shand give a Wylie such a chance to humiliate him? Never.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Then all is off.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Come, come, Mr. Shand, it&rsquo;s just a form.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [reluctantly]. Miss Maggie, will you?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [doggedly]. Is it an offer?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [dourly]. Yes.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [rising]. Before I answer I want first to give you a chance of
      drawing back.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Maggie.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [bravely]. When they said that I have been run after they were
      misleading you. I&rsquo;m without charm; nobody has ever been after me.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Oho!
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. They will be yet.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [the innocent]. It shows at least that you haven&rsquo;t been after them.
    </p>
    <p>
      [His hosts exchange a self-conscious glance.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. One thing more; David said I&rsquo;m twenty-five, I&rsquo;m twenty-six.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Aha!
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Now be practical. Do you withdraw from the bargain, or do you not?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [on reflection]. It&rsquo;s a bargain.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Then so be it.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [hurriedly]. And that&rsquo;s settled. Did you say you would take it hot,
      Mr. Shand?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I think I&rsquo;ll take it neat.
    </p>
    <p>
      [The others decide to take it hot, and there is some careful business here
      with the toddy ladles.]
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. Here&rsquo;s to you, and your career.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Thank you. To you, Miss Maggie. Had we not better draw up a legal
      document? Lawyer Crosbie could do it on the quiet.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Should we do that, or should we just trust to one another&rsquo;s honour?
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK [gallantly]. Let Maggie decide.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I think we would better have a legal document.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. We&rsquo;ll have it drawn up to-morrow. I was thinking the best way would
      be for to pay the money in five yearly instalments.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I was thinking, better bank the whole sum in my name at once.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. I think David&rsquo;s plan&rsquo;s the best.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I think not. Of course if it&rsquo;s not convenient to you&mdash;
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [touched to the quick]. It&rsquo;s perfectly convenient. What do you say,
      Maggie?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I agree with John.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [with an odd feeling that MAGGIE is now on the other side]. Very
      well.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Then as that&rsquo;s settled I think I&rsquo;ll be stepping. [He is putting his
      papers back in the bag.]
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK [politely]. If you would like to sit on at your books&mdash;
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. As I can come at any orra time now I think I&rsquo;ll be stepping. [MAGGIE
      helps him into his topcoat.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Have you a muffler, John?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I have. [He gets it from his pocket.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. You had better put it twice round. [She does this for him.]
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Well, good-night to you, Mr. Shand.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. And good luck.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Thank you. The same to you. And I&rsquo;ll cry in at your office in the
      morning before the 6:20 is due.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. I&rsquo;ll have the document ready for you. [There is the awkward pause
      that sometimes follows great events.] I think, Maggie, you might see Mr.
      Shand to the door.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Certainly. [JOHN is going by the window.] This way, John.
    </p>
    <p>
      [She takes him off by the more usual exit.]
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. He&rsquo;s a fine frank fellow; and you saw how cleverly he got the
      better of me about banking the money. [As the heads of the conspirators
      come gleefully together] I tell you, father, he has a grand business head.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. Lads, he&rsquo;s canny. He&rsquo;s cannier than any of us.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. Except maybe Maggie. He has no idea what a remarkable woman Maggie
      is.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. Best he shouldn&rsquo;t know. Men are nervous of remarkable women.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. She&rsquo;s a long time in coming back.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [not quite comfortable]. It&rsquo;s a good sign. H&rsquo;sh. What sort of a
      night is it, Maggie?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. It&rsquo;s a little blowy.
    </p>
    <p>
      [She gets a large dustcloth which is lying folded on a shelf, and proceeds
      to spread it over the fine chair. The men exchange self-conscious
      glances.]
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [stretching himself]. Yes&mdash;well, well, oh yes. It&rsquo;s getting
      late. What is it with you, father?
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. I&rsquo;m ten forty-two.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. I&rsquo;m ten-forty.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Ten forty-two.
    </p>
    <p>
      [They wind up their watches.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. It&rsquo;s high time we were bedded. [She puts her hands on their
      shoulders lovingly, which is the very thing they have been trying to
      avoid.] You&rsquo;re very kind to me.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Havers.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. Havers.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES [but this does not matter]. Havers.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [a little dolefully]. I&rsquo;m a sort of sorry for the young man, David.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Not at all. You&rsquo;ll be the making of him. [She lifts the two
      volumes.] Are you taking the books to your bed, Maggie?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Yes. I don&rsquo;t want him to know things I don&rsquo;t know myself.
    </p>
    <p>
      [She departs with the books; and ALICK and DAVID, the villains, now want
      to get away from each other.]
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. Yes&mdash;yes. Oh yes&mdash;ay, man&mdash;it is so&mdash;umpha.
      You&rsquo;ll lift the big coals off, David.
    </p>
    <p>
      [He wanders away to his spring mattress. DAVID removes the coals.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES [who would like to sit down and have an argy-bargy]. It&rsquo;s a most
      romantical affair. [But he gets no answer.] I wonder how it&rsquo;ll turn out?
      [No answer.] She&rsquo;s queer, Maggie. I wonder how some clever writers has
      never noticed how queer women are. It&rsquo;s my belief you could write a whole
      book about them. [DAVID remains obdurate.] It was very noble of her to
      tell him she&rsquo;s twenty-six. [Muttering as he too wanders away.] But I
      thought she was twenty-seven.
    </p>
    <p>
      [DAVID turns out the light.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <br /><br />
    </p>
    <hr />
    <p>
      <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      ACT II
    </h2>
    <p>
      [Six years have elapsed and John Shand&rsquo;s great hour has come. Perhaps his
      great hour really lies ahead of him, perhaps he had it six years ago; it
      often passes us by in the night with such a faint call that we don&rsquo;t even
      turn in our beds. But according to the trumpets this is John&rsquo;s great hour;
      it is the hour for which he has long been working with his coat off; and
      now the coat is on again (broadcloth but ill-fitting), for there is no
      more to do but await results. He is standing for Parliament, and this is
      election night.
    </p>
    <p>
      As the scene discloses itself you get, so to speak, one of John Shand&rsquo;s
      posters in the face. Vote for Shand. Shand, Shand, Shand. Civil and
      Religious Liberty, Faith, Hope, Freedom. They are all fly-blown names for
      Shand. Have a placard about Shand, have a hundred placards about him, it
      is snowing Shand to-night in Glasgow; take the paste out of your eye, and
      you will see that we are in one of Shand&rsquo;s committee rooms. It has been a
      hairdresser&rsquo;s emporium, but Shand, Shand, Shand has swept through it like
      a wind, leaving nothing but the fixtures; why shave, why have your head
      doused in those basins when you can be brushed and scraped and washed up
      for ever by simply voting for Shand?
    </p>
    <p>
      There are a few hard chairs for yelling Shand from, and then rushing away.
      There is an iron spiral staircase that once led to the ladies&rsquo; 
      hairdressing apartments, but now leads to more Shand, Shand, Shand. A
      glass door at the back opens on to the shop proper, screaming Civil and
      Religious Liberty, Shand, as it opens, and beyond is the street crammed
      with still more Shand pro and con. Men in every sort of garb rush in and
      out, up and down the stair, shouting the magic word. Then there is a lull,
      and down the stair comes Maggie Wylie, decidedly overdressed in blue
      velvet and (let us get this over) less good-looking than ever. She raises
      her hands to heaven, she spins round like a little teetotum. To her from
      the street, suffering from a determination of the word Shand to the mouth,
      rush Alick and David. Alick is thinner (being older), David is stouter
      (being older), and they are both in tweeds and silk hats.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. David&mdash;have they&mdash;is he? quick, quick! DAVID. There&rsquo;s no
      news yet, no news. It&rsquo;s terrible.
    </p>
    <p>
      [The teetotum revolves more quickly.]
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. For God&rsquo;s sake, Maggie, sit down.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I can&rsquo;t, I can&rsquo;t.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Hold her down.
    </p>
    <p>
      [They press her into a chair; JAMES darts in, stouter also. His necktie
      has gone; he will never again be able to attend a funeral in that hat.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES [wildly]. John Shand&rsquo;s the man for you. John Shand&rsquo;s the man for
      you. John Shand&rsquo;s the man for you.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [clutching him]. Have you heard anything?
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. Not a word.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. Look at her.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Maggie [he goes on his knees beside her, pressing her to him in
      affectionate anxiety]. It was mad of him to dare.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. It was grand of him.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK [moving about distraught]. Insane ambition.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Glorious ambition.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Maggie, Maggie, my lamb, best be prepared for the worst.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [husky]. I am prepared.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. Six weary years has she waited for this night.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Six brave years has John toiled for this night.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. And you could have had him, Maggie, at the end of five. The
      document says five.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Do you think I grudge not being married to him yet? Was I to
      hamper him till the fight was won?
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [with wrinkled brows]. But if it&rsquo;s lost?
    </p>
    <p>
      [She can&rsquo;t answer.]
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK [starting]. What&rsquo;s that?
    </p>
    <p>
      [The three listen at the door, the shouting dies down.]
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. They&rsquo;re terrible still; what can make them so still?
    </p>
    <p>
      [JAMES spirits himself away. ALICK and DAVID blanch to hear MAGGIE
      speaking softly as if to JOHN.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Did you say you had lost, John? Of course you would lose the first
      time, dear John. Six years. Very well, we&rsquo;ll begin another six to-night.
      You&rsquo;ll win yet. [Fiercely] Never give in, John, never give in!
    </p>
    <p>
      [The roar of the multitude breaks out again and comes rolling nearer.]
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. I think he&rsquo;s coming.
    </p>
    <p>
      [JAMES is fired into the room like a squeezed onion.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. He&rsquo;s coming!
    </p>
    <p>
      [They may go on speaking, but through the clang outside none could hear.
      The populace seems to be trying to take the committee room by assault. Out
      of the scrimmage a man emerges dishevelled and bursts into the room,
      closing the door behind him. It is JOHN SHAND in a five guinea suit,
      including the hat. There are other changes in him also, for he has been
      delving his way through loamy ground all those years. His right shoulder,
      which he used to raise to pound a path through the crowd, now remains
      permanently in that position. His mouth tends to close like a box. His
      eyes are tired, they need some one to pull the lids over them and send him
      to sleep for a week. But they are honest eyes still, and faithful, and
      could even light up his face at times with a smile, if the mouth would
      give a little help.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [clinging to a chair that he may not fly straight to heaven]. I&rsquo;m in;
      I&rsquo;m elected. Majority two hundred and forty-four; I&rsquo;m John Shand, M.P.
    </p>
    <p>
      [The crowd have the news by this time and their roar breaks the door open.
      JAMES is off at once to tell them that he is to be SHAND&rsquo;S brother-in-law.
      A teardrop clings to ALICK&rsquo;s nose; DAVID hits out playfully at JOHN, and
      JOHN in an ecstasy returns the blow.]
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Fling yourself at the door, father, and bar them out. Maggie, what
      keeps you so quiet now?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [weak in her limbs]. You&rsquo;re sure you&rsquo;re in, John?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Majority 244. I&rsquo;ve beaten the baronet. I&rsquo;ve done it, Maggie, and not
      a soul to help me; I&rsquo;ve done it alone. [His voice breaks; you could almost
      pick up the pieces.] I&rsquo;m as hoarse as a crow, and I have to address the
      Cowcaddens Club yet; David, pump some oxygen into me.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Certainly, Mr. Shand. [While he does it, MAGGIE is seeing visions.]
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. What are you doing, Maggie?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. This is the House of Commons, and I&rsquo;m John, catching the Speaker&rsquo;s
      eye for the first time. Do you see a queer little old wifie sitting away
      up there in the Ladies&rsquo; Gallery? That&rsquo;s me. &lsquo;Mr. Speaker, sir, I rise to
      make my historic maiden speech. I am no orator, sir&rsquo;; voice from Ladies&rsquo; 
      Gallery, &lsquo;Are you not, John? you&rsquo;ll soon let them see that&rsquo;; cries of
      &lsquo;Silence, woman,&rsquo; and general indignation. &lsquo;Mr. Speaker, sir, I stand here
      diffidently with my eyes on the Treasury Bench&rsquo;; voice from the Ladies&rsquo; 
      Gallery, &lsquo;And you&rsquo;ll soon have your coat-tails on it, John&rsquo;; loud cries of
      &lsquo;Remove that little old wifie,&rsquo; in which she is forcibly ejected, and the
      honourable gentleman resumes his seat in a torrent of admiring applause.
    </p>
    <p>
      [ALICK and DAVID waggle their proud heads.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [tolerantly]. Maggie, Maggie.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. You&rsquo;re not angry with me, John?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. No, no.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. But you glowered.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I was thinking of Sir Peregrine. Just because I beat him at the poll
      he took a shabby revenge; he congratulated me in French, a language I
      haven&rsquo;t taken the trouble to master.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [becoming a little taller]. Would it help you, John, if you were to
      marry a woman that could speak French?
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [quickly]. Not at all.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [gloriously]. Mon cher Jean, laissez-moi parler le francais,
      voulez-vous un interprete?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Hullo!
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Je suis la soeur francaise de mes deux freres ecossais.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [worshipping her]. She&rsquo;s been learning French.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [lightly]. Well done.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [grandly]. They&rsquo;re arriving.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. Who?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Our guests. This is London, and Mrs. John Shand is giving her
      first reception. [Airily] Have I told you, darling, who are coming
      to-night? There&rsquo;s that dear Sir Peregrine. [To ALICK] Sir Peregrine, this
      is a pleasure. Avez-vous...So sorry we beat you at the poll.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I&rsquo;m doubting the baronet would sit on you, Maggie.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I&rsquo;ve invited a lord to sit on the baronet. Voila!
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [delighted]. You thing! You&rsquo;ll find the lords expensive.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Just a little cheap lord. [JAMES enters importantly.] My dear Lord
      Cheap, this is kind of you.
    </p>
    <p>
      [JAMES hopes that MAGGIE&rsquo;s reason is not unbalanced.]
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [who really ought to have had education]. How de doo, Cheap?
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES [bewildered]. Maggie&mdash;-
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Yes, do call me Maggie.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK [grinning]. She&rsquo;s practising her first party, James. The swells are
      at the door.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES [heavily]. That&rsquo;s what I came to say. They are at the door.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Who?
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. The swells; in their motor. [He gives JOHN three cards.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. &lsquo;Mr. Tenterden.&rsquo; 
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Him that was speaking for you?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. The same. He&rsquo;s a whip and an Honourable. &lsquo;Lady Sybil Tenterden.&rsquo; 
      [Frowns.] Her! She&rsquo;s his sister.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. A married woman?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. No. &lsquo;The Comtesse de la Briere.&rsquo; 
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [the scholar]. She must be French.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Yes; I think she&rsquo;s some relation. She&rsquo;s a widow.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. But what am I to say to them? [&rsquo;Mr. Shand&rsquo;s compliments, and he
      will be proud to receive them&rsquo; is the very least that the Wylies expect.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [who was evidently made for great ends]. Say I&rsquo;m very busy, but if
      they care to wait I hope presently to give them a few minutes.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES [thunderstruck]. Good God, Mr. Shand!
    </p>
    <p>
      [But it makes him JOHN&rsquo;S more humble servant than ever, and he departs
      with the message.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [not unaware of the sensation he has created]. I&rsquo;ll go up and let the
      crowd see me from the window.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. But&mdash;but&mdash;what are we to do with these ladies?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [as he tramps upwards]. It&rsquo;s your reception, Maggie; this will prove
      you.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [growing smaller]. Tell me what you know about this Lady Sybil?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. The only thing I know about her is that she thinks me vulgar.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. You?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. She has attended some of my meetings, and I&rsquo;m told she said that.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. What could the woman mean?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I wonder. When I come down I&rsquo;ll ask her.
    </p>
    <p>
      [With his departure MAGGIE&rsquo;S nervousness increases.]
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK [encouragingly]. In at them, Maggie, with your French.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. It&rsquo;s all slipping from me, father.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [gloomily]. I&rsquo;m sure to say &lsquo;for to come for to go.&rsquo; 
    </p>
    <p>
      [The newcomers glorify the room, and MAGGIE feels that they have lifted
      her up with the tongs and deposited her in one of the basins. They are far
      from intending to be rude; it is not their fault that thus do swans
      scatter the ducks. They do not know that they are guests of the family,
      they think merely that they are waiting with other strangers in a public
      room; they undulate inquiringly, and if MAGGIE could undulate in return
      she would have no cause for offence. But she suddenly realises that this
      is an art as yet denied her, and that though DAVID might buy her
      evening-gowns as fine as theirs [and is at this moment probably deciding
      to do so], she would look better carrying them in her arms than on her
      person. She also feels that to emerge from wraps as they are doing is more
      difficult than to plank your money on the counter for them. The COMTESSE
      she could forgive, for she is old; but LADY SYBIL is young and beautiful
      and comes lazily to rest like a stately ship of Tarsus.]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE [smiling divinely, and speaking with such a pretty accent]. I
      hope one is not in the way. We were told we might wait.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [bravely climbing out of the basin]. Certainly&mdash;I am sure if
      you will be so&mdash;it is&mdash;
    </p>
    <p>
      [She knows that DAVID and her father are very sorry for her.]
    </p>
    <p>
      [A high voice is heard orating outside.]
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [screwing her nose deliciously]. He is at it again, Auntie.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Mon Dieu! [Like one begging pardon of the universe] It is Mr.
      Tenterden, you understand, making one more of his delightful speeches to
      the crowd. WOULD you be so charming as to shut the door?
    </p>
    <p>
      [This to DAVID in such appeal that she is evidently making the petition of
      her life. DAVID saves her.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [determined not to go under]. J&rsquo;espere que vous&mdash;trouvez&mdash;cette&mdash;reunion&mdash;interessante?
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Vous parlez francais? Mais c&rsquo;est charmant! Voyons, causons un
      peu. Racontez-moi tout de ce grand homme, toutes les choses merveilleuses
      qu&rsquo;il a faites.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I&mdash;I&mdash;Je connais&mdash;[Alas!]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE [naughtily]. Forgive me, Mademoiselle, I thought you spoke
      French.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [who knows that DAVID admires her shoulders]. How wicked of you,
      Auntie. [To MAGGIE] I assure you none of us can understand her when she
      gallops at that pace.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [crushed]. It doesn&rsquo;t matter. I will tell Mr. Shand that you are
      here.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [drawling]. Please don&rsquo;t trouble him. We are really only waiting
      till my brother recovers and can take us back to our hotel.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I&rsquo;ll tell him.
    </p>
    <p>
      [She is glad to disappear up the stair.]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. The lady seems distressed. Is she a relation of Mr. Shand?
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Not for to say a relation. She&rsquo;s my sister. Our name is Wylie.
    </p>
    <p>
      [But granite quarries are nothing to them.]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. How do you do. You are the committee man of Mr. Shand?
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. No, just friends.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE [gaily to the basins]. Aha! I know you. Next, please! Sybil, do
      you weigh yourself, or are you asleep?
    </p>
    <p>
      [LADY SYBIL has sunk indolently into a weighing-chair.]
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. Not quite, Auntie.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE [the mirror of la politesse]. Tell me all about Mr. Shand. Was it
      here that he&mdash;picked up the pin?
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. The pin?
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. As I have read, a self-made man always begins by picking up a
      pin. After that, as the memoirs say, his rise was rapid.
    </p>
    <p>
      [DAVID, however, is once more master of himself, and indeed has begun to
      tot up the cost of their garments.]
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. It wasn&rsquo;t a pin he picked up, my lady; it was L300.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK [who feels that JOHN&rsquo;s greatness has been outside the conversation
      quite long enough]. And his rise wasn&rsquo;t so rapid, just at first, David!
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. He had his fight. His original intention was to become a minister;
      he&rsquo;s university-educated, you know; he&rsquo;s not a working-man member.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK [with reverence]. He&rsquo;s an M.A. But while he was a student he got a
      place in an iron-cementer&rsquo;s business.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE [now far out of her depths]. Iron-cementer?
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. They scrape boilers.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. I see. The fun men have, Sybil!
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [with some solemnity]. There have been millions made in scraping
      boilers. They say, father, he went into business so as to be able to pay
      off the L300.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK [slily]. So I&rsquo;ve heard.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Aha&mdash;it was a loan?
    </p>
    <p>
      [DAVID and ALICK are astride their great subject now.]
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. No, a gift&mdash;of a sort&mdash;from some well-wishers. But they
      wouldn&rsquo;t hear of his paying it off, father!
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. Not them!
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE [restraining an impulse to think of other things]. That was kind,
      charming.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK [with a look at DAVID]. Yes. Well, my lady, he developed a perfect
      genius for the iron-cementing.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. But his ambition wasn&rsquo;t satisfied. Soon he had public life in his
      eye. As a heckler he was something fearsome; they had to seat him on the
      platform for to keep him quiet. Next they had to let him into the Chair.
      After that he did all the speaking; he cleared all roads before him like a
      fire-engine; and when this vacancy occurred, you could hardly say it did
      occur, so quickly did he step into it. My lady, there are few more
      impressive sights in the world than a Scotsman on the make.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. I can well believe it. And now he has said farewell to boilers?
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [impressively]. Not at all; the firm promised if he was elected for
      to make him their London manager at L800 a year.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. There is a strong man for you, Sybil; but I believe you ARE
      asleep.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [stirring herself]. Honestly, I&rsquo;m not. [Sweetly to the others] But
      would you mind finding out whether my brother is drawing to a close?
    </p>
    <p>
      [DAVID goes out, leaving poor ALICK marooned. The COMTESSE is kind to
      him.]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Thank you very much. [Which helps ALICK out.] Don&rsquo;t you love a
      strong man, sleepy head?
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [preening herself]. I never met one.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Neither have I. But if you DID meet one, would he wakes you up?
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. I dare say he would find there were two of us.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE [considering her]. Yes, I think he would. Ever been in love, you
      cold thing?
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [yawning]. I have never shot up in flame, Auntie.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Think you could manage it?
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. If Mr. Right came along.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. As a girl of to-day it would be your duty to tame him.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. As a girl of to-day I would try to do my duty.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. And if it turned out that HE tamed you instead?
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. He would have to do that if he were MY Mr. Right.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. And then?
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. Then, of course, I should adore him. Auntie, I think if I ever
      really love it will be like Mary Queen of Scots, who said of her Bothwell
      that she could follow him round the world in her nighty.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. My petite!
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. I believe I mean it.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Oh, it is quite my conception of your character. Do you know, I
      am rather sorry for this Mr. John Shand.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [opening her fine eyes]. Why? He is quite a boor, is he not?
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. For that very reason. Because his great hour is already nearly
      sped. That wild bull manner that moves the multitude&mdash;they will laugh
      at it in your House of Commons.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [indifferent]. I suppose so.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Yet if he had education&mdash;-
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. Have we not been hearing how superbly he is educated?
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. It is such as you or me that he needs to educate him now. You
      could do it almost too well.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [with that pretty stretch of neck]. I am not sufficiently
      interested. I retire in your favour. How would you begin?
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. By asking him to drop in, about five, of course. By the way, I
      wonder is there a Mrs. Shand?
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. I have no idea. But they marry young.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. If there is not, there is probably a lady waiting for him,
      somewhere in a boiler.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. I dare say.
    </p>
    <p>
      [MAGGIE descends.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Mr. Shand will be down directly.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Thank you. Your brother has been giving us such an interesting
      account of his career. I forget, Sybil, whether he said that he was
      married.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. No, he&rsquo;s not married; but he will be soon.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Ah! [She is merely making conversation.] A friend of yours?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [now a scorner of herself]. I don&rsquo;t think much of her.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. In that case, tell me all about her.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. There&rsquo;s not much to tell. She&rsquo;s common, and stupid. One of those
      who go in for self-culture; and then when the test comes they break down.
      [With sinister enjoyment] She&rsquo;ll be the ruin of him.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. But is not that sad! Figure to yourself how many men with
      greatness before them have been shipwrecked by marrying in the rank from
      which they sprang.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I&rsquo;ve told her that.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. But she will not give him up?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. No.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. Why should she if he cares for her? What is her name?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. It&rsquo;s&mdash;Maggie.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE [still uninterested]. Well, I am afraid that Maggie is to do for
      John. [JOHN comes down.] Ah, our hero!
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Sorry I have kept you waiting. The Comtesse?
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. And my niece Lady Sybil Tenterden. [SYBIL&rsquo;S head inclines on its
      stem.] She is not really all my niece; I mean I am only half of her aunt.
      What a triumph, Mr. Shand!
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Oh, pretty fair, pretty fair. Your brother has just finished
      addressing the crowd, Lady Sybil.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. Then we must not detain Mr. Shand, Auntie.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE [who unless her heart is touched thinks insincerity charming].
      Only one word. I heard you speak last night. Sublime! Just the sort of
      impassioned eloquence that your House of Commons loves.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. It&rsquo;s very good of you to say so.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. But we must run. Bon soir.
    </p>
    <p>
      [SYBIL bows as to some one far away.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Good-night, Lady Sybil. I hear you think I&rsquo;m vulgar. [Eyebrows are
      raised.]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. My dear Mr. Shand, what absurd&mdash;-
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I was told she said that after hearing me speak.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Quite a mistake, I&mdash;-
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [doggedly]. Is it not true?
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [&lsquo;waking up&rsquo;]. You seem to know, Mr. Shand; and as you press me so
      unnecessarily&mdash;well, yes, that is how you struck me.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. My child!
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [who is a little agitated]. He would have it.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [perplexed]. What&rsquo;s the matter? I just wanted to know, because if
      it&rsquo;s true I must alter it.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. There, Sybil, see how he values your good opinion.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [her svelte figure giving like a fishing-rod]. It is very nice of
      you to put it in that way, Mr. Shand. Forgive me.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. But I don&rsquo;t quite understand yet. Of course, it can&rsquo;t matter to me,
      Lady Sybil, what you think of me; what I mean is, that I mustn&rsquo;t be vulgar
      if it would be injurious to my career.
    </p>
    <p>
      [The fishing-rod regains its rigidity.]
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. I see. No, of course, I could not affect your career, Mr Shand.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [who quite understands that he is being challenged]. That&rsquo;s so, Lady
      Sybil, meaning no offence.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [who has a naughty little impediment in her voice when she is most
      alluring]. Of course not. And we are friends again?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Certainly.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. Then I hope you will come to see me in London as I present no
      terrors.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [he is a man, is JOHN]. I&rsquo;ll be very pleased.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. Any afternoon about five.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Much obliged. And you can teach me the things I don&rsquo;t know yet, if
      you&rsquo;ll be so kind.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [the impediment becoming more assertive]. If you wish it, I shall do
      my best.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Thank you, Lady Sybil. And who knows there may be one or two things
      I can teach you.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [it has now become an angel&rsquo;s hiccough]. Yes, we can help one
      another. Good-bye till then.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Good-bye. Maggie, the ladies are going.
    </p>
    <p>
      [During this skirmish MAGGIE has stood apart. At the mention of her name
      they glance at one another. JOHN escorts SYBIL, but the COMTESSE turns
      back.]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Are you, then, THE Maggie? [MAGGIE nods rather defiantly and the
      COMTESSE is distressed.] But if I had known I would not have said those
      things. Please forgive an old woman.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. It doesn&rsquo;t matter.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. I&mdash;I dare say it will be all right. Mademoiselle, if I were
      you I would not encourage those tete-a-tetes with Lady Sybil. I am the
      rude one, but she is the dangerous one; and I am afraid his impudence has
      attracted her. Bon voyage, Miss Maggie.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Good-bye&mdash;but I CAN speak French. Je parle francais. Isn&rsquo;t
      that right?
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. But, yes, it is excellent. [Making things easy for her] C&rsquo;est
      tres bien.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Je me suis embrouillee&mdash;la derniere fois.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Good! Shall I speak more slowly?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. No, no. Nonon, non, faster, faster.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. J&rsquo;admire votre courage!
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Je comprends chaque mot.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Parfait! Bravo!
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Voila!
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Superbe!
    </p>
    <p>
      [She goes, applauding; and MAGGIE has a moment of elation, which however
      has passed before JOHN returns for his hat.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Have you more speaking to do, John? [He is somehow in high
      good-humour.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I must run across and address the Cowcaddens Club. [He sprays his
      throat with a hand-spray.] I wonder if I AM vulgar, Maggie?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. You are not, but <i>I</i> am.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Not that <i>I</i> can see.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Look how overdressed I am, John. I knew it was too showy when I
      ordered it, and yet I could not resist the thing. But I will tone it down,
      I will. What did you think of Lady Sybil?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. That young woman had better be careful. She&rsquo;s a bit of a besom,
      Maggie.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. She&rsquo;s beautiful, John.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. She has a neat way of stretching herself. For playing with she would
      do as well as another.
    </p>
    <p>
      [She looks at him wistfully.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. You couldn&rsquo;t stay and have a talk for a few minutes?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. If you want me, Maggie. The longer you keep them waiting, the more
      they think of you.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. When are you to announce that we&rsquo;re to be married, John?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I won&rsquo;t be long. You&rsquo;ve waited a year more than you need have done,
      so I think it&rsquo;s your due I should hurry things now.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I think it&rsquo;s noble of you.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Not at all, Maggie; the nobleness has been yours in waiting so
      patiently. And your brothers would insist on it at any rate. They&rsquo;re
      watching me like cats with a mouse.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. It&rsquo;s so little I&rsquo;ve done to help.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Three hundred pounds.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I&rsquo;m getting a thousand per cent for it.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. And very pleased I am you should think so, Maggie.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Is it terrible hard to you, John?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. It&rsquo;s not hard at all. I can say truthfully, Maggie, that all, or
      nearly all, I&rsquo;ve seen of you in these six years has gone to increase my
      respect for you.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Respect!
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. And a bargain&rsquo;s a bargain.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. If it wasn&rsquo;t that you&rsquo;re so glorious to me, John, I would let you
      off.
    </p>
    <p>
      [There is a gleam in his eye, but he puts it out.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. In my opinion, Maggie, we&rsquo;ll be a very happy pair.
    </p>
    <p>
      [She accepts this eagerly.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. We know each other so well, John, don&rsquo;t we?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I&rsquo;m an extraordinary queer character, and I suppose nobody knows me
      well except myself; but I know you, Maggie, to the very roots of you.
    </p>
    <p>
      [She magnanimously lets this remark alone.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. And it&rsquo;s not as if there was any other woman you&mdash;fancied
      more, John.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. There&rsquo;s none whatever.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. If there ever should be&mdash;oh, if there ever should be! Some
      woman with charm.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Maggie, you forget yourself. There couldn&rsquo;t be another woman once I
      was a married man.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. One has heard of such things.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Not in Scotsmen, Maggie; not in Scotsmen.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I&rsquo;ve sometimes thought, John, that the difference between us and
      the English is that the Scotch are hard in all other respects but soft
      with women, and the English are hard with women but soft in all other
      respects.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. You&rsquo;ve forgotten the grandest moral attribute of a Scotsman, Maggie,
      that he&rsquo;ll do nothing which might damage his career.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Ah, but John, whatever you do, you do it so tremendously; and if
      you were to love, what a passion it would be.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. There&rsquo;s something in that, I suppose.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. And then, what could I do? For the desire of my life now, John, is
      to help you to get everything you want, except just that I want you to
      have me, too.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. We&rsquo;ll get on fine, Maggie.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. You&rsquo;re just making the best of it. They say that love is sympathy,
      and if that&rsquo;s so, mine must be a great love for you, for I see all you are
      feeling this night and bravely hiding; I feel for you as if I was John
      Shand myself. [He sighs.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I had best go to the meeting, Maggie.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Not yet. Can you look me in the face, John, and deny that there is
      surging within you a mighty desire to be free, to begin the new life
      untrammelled?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Leave such maggots alone, Maggie.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. It&rsquo;s a shame of me not to give you up.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I would consider you a very foolish woman if you did.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. If I were John Shand I would no more want to take Maggie Wylie
      with me through the beautiful door that has opened wide for you than I
      would want to take an old pair of shoon. Why don&rsquo;t you bang the door in my
      face, John? [A tremor runs through JOHN.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. A bargain&rsquo;s a bargain, Maggie.
    </p>
    <p>
      [MAGGIE moves about, an eerie figure, breaking into little cries. She
      flutters round him, threateningly.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Say one word about wanting to get out of it, and I&rsquo;ll put the
      lawyers on you.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Have I hinted at such a thing?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. The document holds you hard and fast.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. It does.
    </p>
    <p>
      [She gloats miserably.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. The woman never rises with the man. I&rsquo;ll drag you down, John. I&rsquo;ll
      drag you down.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Have no fear of that, I won&rsquo;t let you. I&rsquo;m too strong.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. You&rsquo;ll miss the prettiest thing in the world, and all owing to me.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. What&rsquo;s that?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Romance.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Poof.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. All&rsquo;s cold and grey without it, John. They that have had it have
      slipped in and out of heaven.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. You&rsquo;re exaggerating, Maggie.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. You&rsquo;ve worked so hard, you&rsquo;ve had none of the fun that comes to
      most men long before they&rsquo;re your age.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I never was one for fun. I cannot call to mind, Maggie, ever having
      laughed in my life.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. You have no sense of humour.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Not a spark.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I&rsquo;ve sometimes thought that if you had, it might make you fonder
      of me. I think one needs a sense of humour to be fond of me.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I remember reading of some one that said it needed a surgical
      operation to get a joke into a Scotsman&rsquo;s head.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Yes, that&rsquo;s been said.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. What beats me, Maggie, is how you could insert a joke with an
      operation.
    </p>
    <p>
      [He considers this and gives it up.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. That&rsquo;s not the kind of fun I was thinking of. I mean fun with the
      lasses, John&mdash;gay, jolly, harmless fun. They could be impudent
      fashionable beauties now, stretching themselves to attract you, like that
      hiccoughing little devil, and running away from you, and crooking their
      fingers to you to run after them.
    </p>
    <p>
      [He draws a big breath.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. No, I never had that.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. It&rsquo;s every man&rsquo;s birthright, and you would have it now but for me.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I can do without, Maggie.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. It&rsquo;s like missing out all the Saturdays.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. You feel sure, I suppose, that an older man wouldn&rsquo;t suit you
      better, Maggie?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I couldn&rsquo;t feel surer of anything. You&rsquo;re just my ideal.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Yes, yes. Well, that&rsquo;s as it should be.
    </p>
    <p>
      [She threatens him again.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. David has the document. It&rsquo;s carefully locked away.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. He would naturally take good care of it.
    </p>
    <p>
      [The pride of the Wylies deserts her.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. John, I make you a solemn promise that, in consideration of the
      circumstances of our marriage, if you should ever fall in love I&rsquo;ll act
      differently from other wives.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. There will be no occasion, Maggie.
    </p>
    <p>
      [Her voice becomes tremulous.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. John, David doesn&rsquo;t have the document. He thinks he has, but I
      have it here.
    </p>
    <p>
      [Somewhat heavily JOHN surveys the fatal paper.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Well do I mind the look of it, Maggie. Yes, yes, that&rsquo;s it. Umpha.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. You don&rsquo;t ask why I&rsquo;ve brought it.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Why did you?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Because I thought I might perhaps have the courage and the
      womanliness to give it back to you. [JOHN has a brief dream.] Will you
      never hold it up against me in the future that I couldn&rsquo;t do that?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I promise you, Maggie, I never will.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. To go back to The Pans and take up my old life there, when all
      these six years my eyes have been centred on this night! I&rsquo;ve been waiting
      for this night as long as you have been; and now to go back there, and
      wizen and dry up, when I might be married to John Shand!
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. And you will be, Maggie. You have my word.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Never&mdash;never&mdash;never. [She tears up the document. He
      remains seated immovable, but the gleam returns to his eye. She rages
      first at herself and then at him.] I&rsquo;m a fool, a fool, to let you go. I
      tell you, you&rsquo;ll rue this day, for you need me, you&rsquo;ll come to grief
      without me. There&rsquo;s nobody can help you as I could have helped you. I&rsquo;m
      essential to your career, and you&rsquo;re blind not to see it.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. What&rsquo;s that, Maggie? In no circumstances would I allow any meddling
      with my career.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. You would never have known I was meddling with it. But that&rsquo;s
      over. Don&rsquo;t be in too great a hurry to marry, John. Have your fling with
      the beautiful dolls first. Get the whiphand of the haughty ones, John.
      Give them their licks. Every time they hiccough let them have an extra
      slap in memory of me. And be sure to remember this, my man, that the one
      who marries you will find you out.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Find me out?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. However careful a man is, his wife always finds out his failings.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I don&rsquo;t know, Maggie, to what failings you refer.
    </p>
    <p>
      [The Cowcaddens Club has burst its walls, and is pouring this way to raise
      the new Member on its crest. The first wave hurls itself against the
      barber&rsquo;s shop with cries of &lsquo;Shand, Shand, Shand.&rsquo; For a moment, JOHN
      stems the torrent by planting his back against the door.]
    </p>
    <p>
      You are acting under an impulse, Maggie, and I can&rsquo;t take advantage of it.
      Think the matter over, and we&rsquo;ll speak about it in the morning.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. No, I can&rsquo;t go through it again. It ends to-night and now. Good
      luck, John.
    </p>
    <p>
      [She is immediately submerged in the sea that surges through the door,
      bringing much wreckage with it. In a moment the place is so full that
      another cupful could not find standing room. Some slippery ones are
      squeezed upwards and remain aloft as warnings. JOHN has jumped on to the
      stair, and harangues the flood vainly like another Canute. It is something
      about freedom and noble minds, and, though unheard, goes to all heads,
      including the speaker&rsquo;s. By the time he is audible sentiment has him for
      her own.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. But, gentlemen, one may have too much even of freedom [No, no.] Yes,
      Mr. Adamson. One may want to be tied. [Never, never.] I say yes, Willie
      Cameron; and I have found a young lady who I am proud to say is willing to
      be tied to me. I&rsquo;m to be married. [Uproar.] Her name&rsquo;s Miss Wylie.
      [Transport.] Quiet; she&rsquo;s here now. [Frenzy.] She was here! Where are you,
      Maggie? [A small voice&mdash;&lsquo;I&rsquo;m here.&rsquo; A hundred great voices&mdash;&lsquo;Where&mdash;where&mdash;where?&rsquo; 
      The small voice&mdash;&lsquo;I&rsquo;m so little none of you can see me.&lsquo;]
    </p>
    <p>
      [Three men, name of Wylie, buffet their way forward.]
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. James, father, have you grip of her?
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. We&rsquo;ve got her.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Then hoist her up.
    </p>
    <p>
      [The queer little elated figure is raised aloft. With her fingers she can
      just touch the stars. Not unconscious of the nobility of his behaviour,
      the hero of the evening points an impressive finger at her.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Gentlemen, the future Mrs. John Shand! [Cries of &lsquo;Speech, speech!&rsquo;]
      No, no, being a lady she can&rsquo;t make a speech, but&mdash;-
    </p>
    <p>
      [The heroine of the evening surprises him.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I can make a speech, and I will make a speech, and it&rsquo;s in two
      words, and they&rsquo;re these [holding out her arms to enfold all the members
      of the Cowcaddens Club]&mdash;My Constituents! [Dementia.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <br /><br />
    </p>
    <hr />
    <p>
      <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      ACT III
    </h2>
    <p>
      [A few minutes ago the Comtesse de la Briere, who has not recently been in
      England, was shown into the London home of the Shands. Though not
      sufficiently interested to express her surprise in words, she raised her
      eyebrows on finding herself in a charming room; she has presumed that the
      Shand scheme of decoration would be as impossible as themselves.
    </p>
    <p>
      It is the little room behind the dining-room for which English architects
      have long been famous; &lsquo;Make something of this, and you will indeed be a
      clever one,&rsquo; they seem to say to you as they unveil it. The Comtesse finds
      that John has undoubtedly made something of it. It is his &lsquo;study&rsquo; (mon
      Dieu, the words these English use!) and there is nothing in it that
      offends; there is so much not in it too that might so easily have been
      there. It is not in the least ornate; there are no colours quarrelling
      with each other (unseen, unheard by the blissful occupant of the revolving
      chair); the Comtesse has not even the gentle satisfaction of noting a
      &lsquo;suite&rsquo; in stained oak. Nature might have taken a share in the
      decorations, so restful are they to the eyes; it is the working room of a
      man of culture, probably lately down from Oxford; at a first meeting there
      is nothing in it that pretends to be what it is not. Our visitor is a
      little disappointed, but being fair-minded blows her absent host a kiss
      for disappointing her.
    </p>
    <p>
      He has even, she observes with a twinkle, made something of the most
      difficult of his possessions, the little wife. For Maggie, who is here
      receiving her, has been quite creditably toned down. He has put her into a
      little grey frock that not only deals gently with her personal defects,
      but is in harmony with the room. Evidently, however, she has not &lsquo;risen&rsquo; 
      with him, for she is as ever; the Comtesse, who remembers having liked her
      the better of the two, could shake her for being so stupid. For instance,
      why is she not asserting herself in that other apartment?
    </p>
    <p>
      The other apartment is really a correctly solemn dining-room, of which we
      have a glimpse through partly open folding-doors. At this moment it is
      harbouring Mr. Shand&rsquo;s ladies&rsquo; committee, who sit with pens and foolscap
      round the large table, awaiting the advent of their leader. There are
      nobly wise ones and some foolish ones among them, for we are back in the
      strange days when it was considered &lsquo;unwomanly&rsquo; for women to have minds.
      The Comtesse peeps at them with curiosity, as they arrange their papers or
      are ushered into the dining-room through a door which we cannot see. To
      her frivolous ladyship they are a species of wild fowl, and she is
      specially amused to find her niece among them. She demands an explanation
      as soon as the communicating doors close.]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Tell me since when has my dear Sybil become one of these ladies?
      It is not like her.
    </p>
<pre xml:space="preserve">
[MAGGIE is obviously not clever enough to understand the woman question.
Her eye rests longingly on a half-finished stocking as she innocently
but densely replies:]

 MAGGIE. I think it was about the time that my husband took up their
cause.
</pre>
    <p>
      [The COMTESSE has been hearing tales of LADY SYBIL and the barbarian; and
      after having the grace to hesitate, she speaks with the directness for
      which she is famed in Mayfair.]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Mrs. Shand, excuse me for saying that if half of what I hear be
      true, your husband is seeing that lady a great deal too often. [MAGGIE is
      expressionless; she reaches for her stocking, whereat her guest loses
      patience.] Oh, mon Dieu, put that down; you can buy them at two francs the
      pair. Mrs. Shand, why do not you compel yourself to take an intelligent
      interest in your husband&rsquo;s work?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I typewrite his speeches.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. But do you know what they are about?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. They are about various subjects.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Oh!
    </p>
    <p>
      [Did MAGGIE give her an unseen quizzical glance before demurely resuming
      the knitting? One is not certain, as JOHN has come in, and this
      obliterates her. A &lsquo;Scotsman on the make,&rsquo; of whom DAVID has spoken
      reverently, is still to be read&mdash;in a somewhat better bound volume&mdash;in
      JOHN SHAND&rsquo;s person; but it is as doggedly honest a face as ever; and he
      champions women, not for personal ends, but because his blessed days of
      poverty gave him a light upon their needs. His self-satisfaction, however,
      has increased, and he has pleasantly forgotten some things. For instance,
      he can now call out &lsquo;Porter&rsquo; at railway stations without dropping his
      hands for the barrow. MAGGIE introduces the COMTESSE, and he is still
      undaunted.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I remember you well&mdash;at Glasgow.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. It must be quite two years ago, Mr. Shand.
    </p>
    <p>
      [JOHN has no objection to showing that he has had a classical education.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Tempus fugit, Comtesse.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. I have not been much in this country since then, and I return to
      find you a coming man.
    </p>
    <p>
      [Fortunately his learning is tempered with modesty.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Oh, I don&rsquo;t know, I don&rsquo;t know.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. The Ladies&rsquo; Champion.
    </p>
    <p>
      [His modesty is tempered with a respect for truth.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Well, well.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. And you are about, as I understand, to introduce a bill to give
      women an equal right with men to grow beards [which is all she knows about
      it. He takes the remark literally.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. There&rsquo;s nothing about beards in it, Comtesse. [She gives him time to
      cogitate, and is pleased to note that there is no result.] Have you typed
      my speech, Maggie?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Yes; twenty-six pages. [She produces it from a drawer.]
    </p>
    <p>
      [Perhaps JOHN wishes to impress the visitor.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I&rsquo;m to give the ladies&rsquo; committee a general idea of it. Just see,
      Maggie, if I know the peroration. &lsquo;In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, these are
      the reasonable demands of every intelligent Englishwoman&rsquo;&mdash;I had
      better say British woman&mdash;&lsquo;and I am proud to nail them to my flag&rsquo;&mdash;-
    </p>
    <p>
      [The visitor is properly impressed.]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Oho! defies his leaders!
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. &lsquo;So long as I can do so without embarrassing the Government.&rsquo; 
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Ah, ah, Mr. Shand!
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. &lsquo;I call upon the Front Bench, sir, loyally but firmly&rsquo;&mdash;
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Firm again!
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. &mdash;&lsquo;either to accept my Bill, or to promise WITHOUT DELAY to
      bring in one of their own; and if they decline to do so I solemnly warn
      them that though I will not press the matter to a division just now&rsquo;&mdash;
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Ahem!
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. &lsquo;I will bring it forward again in the near future.&rsquo; And now
      Comtesse, you know that I&rsquo;m not going to divide&mdash;and not another soul
      knows it.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. I am indeed flattered by your confidence.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I&rsquo;ve only told you because I don&rsquo;t care who knows now.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Oh!
    </p>
    <p>
      [Somehow MAGGIE seems to be dissatisfied.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. But why is that, John?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I daren&rsquo;t keep the Government in doubt any longer about what I mean
      to do. I&rsquo;ll show the whips the speech privately to-night.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [who still wants to know]. But not to go to a division is hedging,
      isn&rsquo;t it? Is that strong?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. To make the speech at all, Maggie, is stronger than most would dare.
      They would do for me if I went to a division.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Bark but not bite?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Now, now, Maggie, you&rsquo;re out of your depth.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I suppose that&rsquo;s it.
    </p>
    <p>
      [The COMTESSE remains in the shallows.]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. But what will the ladies say, Mr. Shand?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. They won&rsquo;t like it, Comtesse, but they&rsquo;ve got to lump it.
    </p>
    <p>
      [Here the maid appears with a card for MAGGIE, who considers it quietly.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Any one of importance?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. No.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Then I&rsquo;m ready, Maggie.
    </p>
    <p>
      [This is evidently an intimation that she is to open the folding-doors,
      and he makes an effective entrance into the dining-room, his thumb in his
      waistcoat. There is a delicious clapping of hands from the committee, and
      the door closes. Not till then does MAGGIE, who has grown thoughtful, tell
      her maid to admit the visitor.]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Another lady, Mrs. Shand?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. The card says &lsquo;Mr. Charles Venables.&rsquo; 
    </p>
    <p>
      [The COMTESSE is really interested at last.]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Charles Venables! Do you know him?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I think I call to mind meeting one of that name at the Foreign
      Office party.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. One of that name! He who is a Minister of your Cabinet. But as
      you know him so little why should he call on you?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I wonder.
    </p>
    <p>
      [MAGGIE&rsquo;s glance wanders to the drawer in which she has replaced JOHN&rsquo;s
      speech.]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Well, well, I shall take care of you, petite.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Do you know him?
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Do I know him! The last time I saw him he asked me to&mdash;to&mdash;hem!&mdash;ma
      cherie, it was thirty years ago.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Thirty years!
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. I was a pretty woman then. I dare say I shall detest him now;
      but if I find I do not&mdash;let us have a little plot&mdash;I shall drop
      this book; and then perhaps you will be so charming as&mdash;as not to be
      here for a little while?
    </p>
    <p>
      [MR. VENABLES, who enters, is such a courtly seigneur that he seems to
      bring the eighteenth century with him; you feel that his sedan chair is at
      the door. He stoops over MAGGIE&rsquo;s plebeian hand.]
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. I hope you will pardon my calling, Mrs. Shand; we had such a
      pleasant talk the other evening.
    </p>
    <p>
      [MAGGIE, of course, is at once deceived by his gracious manner.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I think it&rsquo;s kind of you. Do you know each other? The Comtesse de
      la Briere.
    </p>
    <p>
      [He repeats the name with some emotion, and the COMTESSE, half
      mischievously, half sadly, holds a hand before her face.]
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. Comtesse.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Thirty years, Mr. Venables.
    </p>
    <p>
      [He gallantly removes the hand that screens her face.]
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. It does not seem so much.
    </p>
    <p>
      [She gives him a similar scrutiny.]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Mon Dieu, it seems all that.
    </p>
    <p>
      [They smile rather ruefully. MAGGIE like a kind hostess relieves the
      tension.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. The Comtesse has taken a cottage in Surrey for the summer.
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. I am overjoyed.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. No, Charles, you are not. You no longer care. Fickle one! And it
      is only thirty years.
    </p>
    <p>
      [He sinks into a chair beside her.]
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. Those heavenly evenings, Comtesse, on the Bosphorus.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. I refuse to talk of them. I hate you.
    </p>
    <p>
      [But she drops the book, and MAGGIE fades from the room. It is not a very
      clever departure, and the old diplomatist smiles. Then he sighs a
      beautiful sigh, for he does all things beautifully.]
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. It is moonlight, Comtesse, on the Golden Horn.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Who are those two young things in a caique?
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. Is he the brave Leander, Comtesse, and is she Hero of the Lamp?
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. No, she is the foolish wife of the French Ambassador, and he is
      a good-for-nothing British attache trying to get her husband&rsquo;s secrets out
      of her.
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. Is it possible! They part at a certain garden gate.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Oh, Charles, Charles!
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. But you promised to come back; I waited there till dawn.
      Blanche, if you HAD come back&mdash;
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. How is Mrs. Venables?
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. She is rather poorly. I think it&rsquo;s gout.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. And you?
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. I creak a little in the mornings.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. So do I. There is such a good man at Wiesbaden.
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. The Homburg fellow is better. The way he patched me up last
      summer&mdash;Oh, Lord, Lord!
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Yes, Charles, the game is up; we are two old fogies. [They groan
      in unison; then she raps him sharply on the knuckles.] Tell me, sir, what
      are you doing here?
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. Merely a friendly call.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. I do not believe it.
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. The same woman; the old delightful candour.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. The same man; the old fibs. [She sees that the door is asking a
      question.] Yes, come, Mrs. Shand, I have had quite enough of him; I warn
      you he is here for some crafty purpose.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [drawing back timidly]. Surely not?
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. Really, Comtesse, you make conversation difficult. To show that
      my intentions are innocent, Mrs. Shand, I propose that you choose the
      subject.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [relieved]. There, Comtesse.
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. I hope your husband is well?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Yes, thank you. [With a happy thought] I decide that we talk about
      him.
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. If you wish it.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Be careful; HE has chosen the subject.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. <i>I</i> chose it, didn&rsquo;t I?
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. You know you did.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [appealingly]. You admire John?
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. Very much. But he puzzles me a little. You Scots, Mrs. Shand,
      are such a mixture of the practical and the emotional that you escape out
      of an Englishman&rsquo;s hand like a trout.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [open-eyed]. Do we?
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. Well, not you, but your husband. I have known few men make a
      worse beginning in the House. He had the most atrocious bow-wow
      public-park manner&mdash;-
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. I remember that manner!
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. No, he hadn&rsquo;t.
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES [soothingly]. At first. But by his second session he had shed all
      that, and he is now a pleasure to listen to. By the way, Comtesse, have
      you found any dark intention in that?
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. You wanted to know whether he talks over these matter with his
      wife; and she has told you that he does not.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [indignantly]. I haven&rsquo;t said a word about it, have I?
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. Not a word. Then, again, I admire him for his impromptu
      speeches.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. What is impromptu?
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. Unprepared. They have contained some grave blunders not so much
      of judgment as of taste&mdash;-
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [hotly]. <i>I</i> don&rsquo;t think so.
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. Pardon me. But he has righted himself subsequently in the
      neatest way. I have always found that the man whose second thoughts are
      good is worth watching. Well, Comtesse, I see you have something to say.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. You are wondering whether she can tell you who gives him his
      second thoughts.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Gives them to John? I would like to see anybody try to give
      thoughts to John.
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. Quite so.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Is there anything more that has roused your admiration Charles?
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES [purring]. Let me see. Yes, we are all much edified by his
      humour.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE [surprised indeed]. His humour? That man!
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [with hauteur]. Why not?
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. I assure you, Comtesse, some of the neat things in his speeches
      convulse the house. A word has even been coined for them&mdash;Shandisms.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE [slowly recovering from a blow]. Humour!
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. In conversation, I admit, he strikes one as being&mdash;ah&mdash;somewhat
      lacking in humour.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE [pouncing]. You are wondering who supplies his speeches with the
      humour.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Supplies John?
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. Now that you mention it, some of his Shandisms do have a
      curiously feminine quality.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. You have thought it might be a woman.
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. Really, Comtesse&mdash;
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. I see it all. Charles, you thought it might be the wife!
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES [flinging up his hands]. I own up.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [bewildered]. Me?
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. Forgive me, I see I was wrong.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [alarmed]. Have I been doing John any harm?
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. On the contrary, I am relieved to know that there are no
      hairpins in his speeches. If he is at home, Mrs. Shand, may I see him? I
      am going to be rather charming to him.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [drawn in two directions]. Yes, he is&mdash;oh yes&mdash;but&mdash;
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. That is to say, Comtesse, if he proves himself the man I believe
      him to be.
    </p>
    <p>
      [This arrests MAGGIE almost as she has reached the dining-room door.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [hesitating]. He is very busy just now.
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES [smiling]. I think he will see me.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Is it something about his speech?
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES [the smile hardening]. Well, yes, it is.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Then I dare say I could tell you what you want to know without
      troubling him, as I&rsquo;ve been typing it.
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES [with a sigh]. I don&rsquo;t acquire information in that way.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. I trust not.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. There&rsquo;s no secret about it. He is to show it to the whips tonight.
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES [sharply]. You are sure of that?
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. It is quite true, Charles. I heard him say so; and indeed he
      repeated what he called the &lsquo;peroration&rsquo; before me.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I know it by heart. [She plays a bold game.] &lsquo;These are the
      demands of all intelligent British women, and I am proud to nail them to
      my flag&rsquo;&mdash;
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. The very words, Mrs. Shand.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [looking at her imploringly]. &lsquo;And I don&rsquo;t care how they may
      embarrass the Government.&rsquo; [The COMTESSE is bereft of speech, so suddenly
      has she been introduced to the real MAGGIE SHAND]. &lsquo;If the right
      honourable gentleman will give us his pledge to introduce a similar Bill
      this session I will willingly withdraw mine; but otherwise I solemnly warn
      him that I will press the matter now to a division.&rsquo; 
    </p>
    <p>
      [She turns her face from the great man; she has gone white.]
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES [after a pause]. Capital.
    </p>
    <p>
      [The blood returns to MAGGIE&rsquo;s heart.]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE [who is beginning to enjoy herself very much]. Then you are
      pleased to know that he means to, as you say, go to a division?
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. Delighted. The courage of it will be the making of him.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. I see.
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. Had he been to hedge we should have known that he was a
      pasteboard knight and have disregarded him.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. I see.
    </p>
    <p>
      [She desires to catch the eye of MAGGIE, but it is carefully turned from
      her.]
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. Mrs. Shand, let us have him in at once.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Yes, yes, indeed.
    </p>
    <p>
      [MAGGIE&rsquo;s anxiety returns, but she has to call JOHN in.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [impressed]. Mr. Venables! This is an honour.
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. How are you, Shand?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Sit down, sit down. [Becoming himself again.] I can guess what you
      have come about.
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. Ah, you Scotsmen.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Of course I know I&rsquo;m harassing the Government a good deal&mdash;
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES [blandly]. Not at all, Shand. The Government are very pleased.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. You don&rsquo;t expect me to believe that?
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. I called here to give you the proof of it. You may know that we
      are to have a big meeting at Leeds on the 24th, when two Ministers are to
      speak. There is room for a third speaker, and I am authorised to offer
      that place to you.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. To me!
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. Yes.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [swelling]. It would be&mdash;the Government taking me up.
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. Don&rsquo;t make too much of it; it would be an acknowledgment that
      they look upon you as one of their likely young men.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. John!
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [not found wanting in a trying hour]. It&rsquo;s a bribe. You are offering
      me this on condition that I don&rsquo;t make my speech. How can you think so
      meanly of me as to believe that I would play the women&rsquo;s cause false for
      the sake of my own advancement. I refuse your bribe.
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES [liking him for the first time]. Good. But you are wrong. There
      are no conditions, and we want you to make your speech. Now do you accept?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [still suspicious]. If you make me the same offer after you have read
      it. I insist on your reading it first.
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES [sighing]. By all means.
    </p>
    <p>
      [MAGGIE is in an agony as she sees JOHN hand the speech to his leader. On
      the other hand, the COMTESSE thrills.]
    </p>
    <p>
      But I assure you we look on the speech as a small matter. The important
      thing is your intention of going to a division; and we agree to that also.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [losing his head]. What&rsquo;s that?
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. Yes, we agree.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. But&mdash;but&mdash;why, you have been threatening to excommunicate
      me if I dared.
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. All done to test you, Shand.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. To test me?
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. We know that a division on your Bill can have no serious
      significance; we shall see to that. And so the test was to be whether you
      had the pluck to divide the House. Had you been intending to talk big in
      this speech, and then hedge, through fear of the Government, they would
      have had no further use for you.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [heavily]. I understand. [But there is one thing he cannot
      understand, which is, why VENABLES should be so sure that he is not to
      hedge.]
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES [turning over the pages carelessly]. Any of your good things in
      this, Shand?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [whose one desire is to get the pages back]. No, I&mdash;no&mdash;it
      isn&rsquo;t necessary you should read it now.
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES [from politeness only]. Merely for my own pleasure. I shall look
      through it this evening. [He rolls up the speech to put it in his pocket.
      JOHN turns despairingly to MAGGIE, though well aware that no help can come
      from her.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. That&rsquo;s the only copy there is, John. [To VENABLES] Let me make a
      fresh one, and send it to you in an hour or two.
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES [good-naturedly]. I could not put you to that trouble, Mrs.
      Shand. I will take good care of it.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. If anything were to happen to you on the way home, wouldn&rsquo;t
      whatever is in your pocket be considered to be the property of your heirs?
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES [laughing]. Now there is forethought! Shand, I think that after
      that&mdash;! [He returns the speech to JOHN, whose hand swallows it
      greedily.] She is Scotch too, Comtesse.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE [delighted]. Yes, she is Scotch too.
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. Though the only persons likely to do for me in the street,
      Shand, are your ladies&rsquo; committee. Ever since they took the horse out of
      my brougham, I can scent them a mile away.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. A mile? Charles, peep in there.
    </p>
    <p>
      [He softly turns the handle of the dining-room door, and realises that his
      scent is not so good as he had thought it. He bids his hostess and the
      COMTESSE good-bye in a burlesque whisper and tiptoes off to safer places.
      JOHN having gone out with him, MAGGIE can no longer avoid the COMTESSE&rsquo;s
      reproachful eye. That much injured lady advances upon her with accusing
      finger.]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. So, madam!
    </p>
    <p>
      [MAGGIE is prepared for her.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I don&rsquo;t know what you mean.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Yes, you do. I mean that there IS some one who &lsquo;helps&rsquo; our Mr.
      Shand.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. There&rsquo;s not.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. And it IS a woman, and it&rsquo;s you.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I help in the little things.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. The little things! You are the Pin he picked up and that is to
      make his fortune. And now what I want to know is whether your John is
      aware that you help at all.
    </p>
    <p>
      [JOHN returns, and at once provides the answer.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Maggie, Comtesse, I&rsquo;ve done it again!
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I&rsquo;m so glad, John.
    </p>
    <p>
      [The COMTESSE is in an ecstasy.]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. And all because you were not to hedge, Mr. Shand.
    </p>
    <p>
      [His appeal to her with the wistfulness of a schoolboy makes him rather
      attractive.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. You won&rsquo;t tell on me, Comtesse! [He thinks it out.] They had just
      guessed I would be firm because they know I&rsquo;m a strong man. You little
      saw, Maggie, what a good turn you were doing me when you said you wanted
      to make another copy of the speech.
    </p>
    <p>
      [She is dense.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. How, John?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Because now I can alter the end.
    </p>
    <p>
      [She is enlightened.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. So you can!
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Here&rsquo;s another lucky thing, Maggie: I hadn&rsquo;t told the ladies&rsquo; 
      committee that I was to hedge, and so they need never know. Comtesse, I
      tell you there&rsquo;s a little cherub who sits up aloft and looks after the
      career of John Shand.
    </p>
    <p>
      [The COMTESSE looks not aloft but toward the chair at present occupied by
      MAGGIE.]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Where does she sit, Mr. Shand?
    </p>
    <p>
      [He knows that women are not well read.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. It&rsquo;s just a figure of speech.
    </p>
    <p>
      [He returns airily to his committee room; and now again you may hear the
      click of MAGGIE&rsquo;s needles. They no longer annoy the COMTESSE; she is
      setting them to music.]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. It is not down here she sits, Mrs. Shand, knitting a stocking.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. No, it isn&rsquo;t.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. And when I came in I gave him credit for everything; even for
      the prettiness of the room!
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. He has beautiful taste.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Good-bye, Scotchy.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Good-bye, Comtesse, and thank you for coming.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Good-bye&mdash;Miss Pin.
    </p>
    <p>
      [MAGGIE rings genteelly.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Good-bye.
    </p>
    <p>
      [The COMTESSE is now lost in admiration of her.]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. You divine little wife. He can&rsquo;t be worthy of it, no man could
      be worthy of it. Why do you do it?
    </p>
    <p>
      [MAGGIE shivers a little.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. He loves to think he does it all himself; that&rsquo;s the way of men.
      I&rsquo;m six years older than he is. I&rsquo;m plain, and I have no charm. I
      shouldn&rsquo;t have let him marry me. I&rsquo;m trying to make up for it.
    </p>
    <p>
      [The COMTESSE kisses her and goes away. MAGGIE, somewhat foolishly,
      resumes her knitting.]
    </p>
    <p>
      [Some days later this same room is listening&mdash;with the same
      inattention&mdash;to the outpouring of JOHN SHAND&rsquo;s love for the lady of
      the hiccoughs. We arrive&mdash;by arrangement&mdash;rather late; and thus
      we miss some of the most delightful of the pangs.
    </p>
    <p>
      One can see that these two are playing no game, or, if they are, that they
      little know it. The wonders of the world [so strange are the instruments
      chosen by Love] have been revealed to JOHN in hiccoughs; he shakes in
      SYBIL&rsquo;s presence; never were more swimming eyes; he who has been of a
      wooden face till now, with ways to match, has gone on flame like a piece
      of paper; emotion is in flood in him. We may be almost fond of JOHN for
      being so worshipful of love. Much has come to him that we had almost
      despaired of his acquiring, including nearly all the divine attributes
      except that sense of humour. The beautiful SYBIL has always possessed but
      little of it also, and what she had has been struck from her by Cupid&rsquo;s
      flail. Naked of the saving grace, they face each other in awful rapture.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. In a room, Sybil, I go to you as a cold man to a fire. You fill me
      like a peal of bells in an empty house.
    </p>
    <p>
      [She is being brutally treated by the dear impediment, for which hiccough
      is such an inadequate name that even to spell it is an abomination though
      a sign of ability. How to describe a sound that is noiseless? Let us put
      it thus, that when SYBIL wants to say something very much there are little
      obstacles in her way; she falters, falls perhaps once, and then is over,
      the while her appealing orbs beg you not to be angry with her. We may
      express those sweet pauses in precious dots, which some clever person can
      afterwards string together and make a pearl necklace of them.]
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. I should not ... let you say it, ... but ... you ... say it so
      beautifully.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. You must have guessed.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. I dreamed ... I feared ... but you were ... Scotch, and I didn&rsquo;t
      know what to think.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Do you know what first attracted me to you, Sybil? It was your
      insolence. I thought, &lsquo;I&rsquo;ll break her insolence for her.&rsquo; 
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. And I thought... &lsquo;I&rsquo;ll break his str...ength!&rsquo; 
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. And now your cooing voice plays round me; the softness of you,
      Sybil, in your pretty clothes makes me think of young birds. [The
      impediment is now insurmountable; she has to swim for it, she swims toward
      him.] It is you who inspire my work.
    </p>
    <p>
      [He thrills to find that she can be touched without breaking.]
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. I am so glad... so proud...
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. And others know it, Sybil, as well as I. Only yesterday the Comtesse
      said to me, &lsquo;No man could get on so fast unaided. Cherchez la femme, Mr.
      Shand.&rsquo; 
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. Auntie said that?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I said &lsquo;Find her yourself, Comtesse.&rsquo; 
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. And she?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. She said &lsquo;I have found her,&rsquo; and I said in my blunt way, &lsquo;You mean
      Lady Sybil,&rsquo; and she went away laughing.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. Laughing?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I seem to amuse the woman.
    </p>
    <p>
      [Sybil grows sad.]
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. If Mrs. Shand&mdash;It is so cruel to her. Whom did you say she had
      gone to the station to meet?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Her father and brothers.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. It is so cruel to them. We must think no more of this. It is mad...
      ness.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. It&rsquo;s fate. Sybil, let us declare our love openly.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. You can&rsquo;t ask that, now in the first moment that you tell me of it.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. The one thing I won&rsquo;t do even for you is to live a life of
      underhand.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. The... blow to her.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Yes. But at least she has always known that I never loved her.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. It is asking me to give... up everything, every one, for you.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. It&rsquo;s too much.
    </p>
    <p>
      [JOHN is humble at last.]
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. To a woman who truly loves, even that is not too much. Oh! it is
      not I who matter&mdash;it is you.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. My dear, my dear.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. So gladly would I do it to save you; but, oh, if it were to bring
      you down!
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Nothing can keep me down if I have you to help me.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. I am dazed, John, I...
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. My love, my love.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. I... oh... here...
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Be brave, Sybil, be brave.
    </p>
    <h3>
      SYBIL. ..........
    </h3>
    <p>
      [In this bewilderment of pearls she melts into his arms. MAGGIE happens to
      open the door just then; but neither fond heart hears her.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I can&rsquo;t walk along the streets, Sybil, without looking in all the
      shop windows for what I think would become you best. [As awkwardly as
      though his heart still beat against corduroy, he takes from his pocket a
      pendant and its chain. He is shy, and she drops pearls over the beauty of
      the ruby which is its only stone.] It is a drop of my blood, Sybil.
    </p>
    <p>
      [Her lovely neck is outstretched, and he puts the chain round it. MAGGIE
      withdraws as silently as she had come; but perhaps the door whispered &lsquo;d&mdash;n&rsquo; 
      as it closed, for SYBIL wakes out of Paradise.]
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. I thought&mdash;-Did the door shut?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. It was shut already.
    </p>
    <p>
      [Perhaps it is only that SYBIL is bewildered to find herself once again in
      a world that has doors.]
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. It seemed to me&mdash;-
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. There was nothing. But I think I hear voices; they may have arrived.
    </p>
    <p>
      [Some pretty instinct makes SYBIL go farther from him. MAGGIE kindly gives
      her time for this by speaking before opening the door.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. That will do perfectly, David. The maid knows where to put them.
      [She comes in.] They&rsquo;ve come, John; they WOULD help with the luggage.
      [JOHN goes out. MAGGIE is agreeably surprised to find a visitor.] How do
      you do, Lady Sybil? This is nice of you.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. I was so sorry not to find you in, Mrs. Shand.
    </p>
    <p>
      [The impediment has run away. It is only for those who love it.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Thank you. You&rsquo;ll sit down?
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. I think not; your relatives&mdash;-
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. They will be so proud to see that you are my friend.
    </p>
    <p>
      [If MAGGIE were less simple her guest would feel more comfortable. She
      tries to make conversation.]
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. It is their first visit to London?
    </p>
    <p>
      [Instead of relieving her anxiety on this point, MAGGIE has a long look at
      the gorgeous armful.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I&rsquo;m glad you are so beautiful, Lady Sybil.
    </p>
    <p>
      [The beautiful one is somehow not flattered. She pursues her
      investigations with growing uneasiness.]
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. One of them is married now, isn&rsquo;t he? [Still there is no answer;
      MAGGIE continues looking at her, and shivers slightly.] Have they
      travelled from Scotland to-day? Mrs. Shand, why do you look at me so? The
      door did open! [MAGGIE nods.] What are you to do?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. That would be telling. Sit down, my pretty.
    </p>
    <p>
      [As SYBIL subsides into what the Wylies with one glance would call the
      best chair, MAGGIE&rsquo;s men-folk are brought in by JOHN, all carrying silk
      hats and looking very active after their long rest in the train. They are
      gazing about them. They would like this lady, they would like JOHN, they
      would even like MAGGIE to go away for a little and leave them to examine
      the room. Is that linen on the walls, for instance, or just paper? Is the
      carpet as thick as it feels, or is there brown paper beneath it? Had
      MAGGIE got anything off that bookcase on account of the worm-hole? DAVID
      even discovers that we were simpletons when we said there was nothing in
      the room that pretended to be what it was not. He taps the marble
      mantelpiece, and is favourably impressed by the tinny sound.]
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Very fine imitation. It&rsquo;s a capital house, Maggie.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I&rsquo;m so glad you like it. Do you know one another? This is my
      father and my brothers, Lady Sybil.
    </p>
    <p>
      [The lovely form inclines towards them. ALICK and DAVID remain firm on
      their legs, but JAMES totters.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. A ladyship! Well done, Maggie.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK [sharply]. James! I remember you, my lady.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Sit down, father. This is the study.
    </p>
    <p>
      [JAMES wanders round it inquisitively until called to order.]
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. You must be tired after your long journey.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [drawing the portraits of himself and partners in one lightning
      sketch]. Tired, your ladyship? We sat on cushioned seats the whole way.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES [looking about him for the chair you sit on]. Every seat in this
      room is cushioned.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. You may say all my life is cushioned now, James, by this dear man
      of mine.
    </p>
    <p>
      [She gives JOHN&rsquo;S shoulder a loving pressure, which SYBIL feels is a
      telegraphic communication to herself in a cypher that she cannot read.
      ALICK and the BROTHERS bask in the evidence of MAGGIE&rsquo;s happiness.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [uncomfortably]. And is Elizabeth hearty, James?
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES [looking down his nose in the manner proper to young husbands when
      addressed about their wives]. She&rsquo;s very well, I thank you kindly.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. James is a married man now, Lady Sybil.
    </p>
    <p>
      [SYBIL murmurs her congratulations.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. I thank you kindly. [Courageously] Yes, I&rsquo;m married. [He looks at
      DAVID and ALICK to see if they are smiling; and they are.] It wasn&rsquo;t a
      case of being catched; it was entirely of my own free will. [He looks
      again; and the mean fellows are smiling still.] Is your ladyship married?
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. Alas! no.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. James! [Politely.] You will be yet, my lady.
    </p>
    <p>
      [SYBIL indicates that he is kind indeed.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Perhaps they would like you to show them their rooms, Maggie?
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Fine would we like to see all the house as well as the sleeping
      accommodation. But first&mdash;[He gives his father the look with which
      chairmen call on the next speaker.]
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. I take you, David. [He produces a paper parcel from a roomy
      pocket.] It wasn&rsquo;t likely, Mr. Shand, that we should forget the day.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. The day?
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. The second anniversary of your marriage. We came purposely for the
      day.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES [his fingers itching to take the parcel from his father]. It&rsquo;s a
      lace shawl, Maggie, from the three of us, a pure Tobermory; you would
      never dare wear it if you knew the cost.
    </p>
    <p>
      [The shawl in its beauty is revealed, and MAGGIE hails it with little
      cries of joy. She rushes at the donors and kisses each of them just as if
      she were a pretty woman. They are much pleased and give expression to
      their pleasure in a not very dissimilar manner.]
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. Havers.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Havers.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. Havers.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. It&rsquo;s a very fine shawl.
    </p>
    <p>
      [He should not have spoken, for he has set JAMES&rsquo;S volatile mind working.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. You may say so. What did you give her, Mr. Shand?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [suddenly deserted by God and man]. Me?
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. Yes, yes, let&rsquo;s see it.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Oh&mdash;I&mdash;
    </p>
    <p>
      [He is not deserted by MAGGIE, but she can think of no way out.]
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [prompted by the impediment, which is in hiding, quite close]. Did
      he ... forget?
    </p>
    <p>
      [There is more than a touch of malice in the question. It is a challenge,
      and the Wylies as a family are almost too quick to accept a challenge.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [lifting the gage of battle]. John forget? Never! It&rsquo;s a pendant,
      father.
    </p>
    <p>
      [The impediment bolts. JOHN rises.]
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. A pendant? One of those things on a chain?
    </p>
    <p>
      [He grins, remembering how once, about sixty years ago, he and a lady and
      a pendant&mdash;but we have no time for this.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Yes.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [who has felt the note of antagonism and is troubled]. You were slow
      in speaking of it, Mr. Shand.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [This is her fight.] He was shy, because he thought you might blame
      him for extravagance.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [relieved]. Oh, that&rsquo;s it.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES [licking his lips]. Let&rsquo;s see it.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [a daughter of the devil]. Where did you put it, John?
    </p>
    <p>
      [JOHN&rsquo;s mouth opens but has nothing to contribute.]
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [the impediment has stolen back again]. Perhaps it has been ...
      mislaid.
    </p>
    <p>
      [The BROTHERS echo the word incredulously.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Not it. I can&rsquo;t think where we laid it down, John. It&rsquo;s not on
      that table, is it, James? [The Wylies turn to look, and MAGGIE&rsquo;s hand goes
      out to LADY SYBIL: JOHN SHAND, witness. It is a very determined hand, and
      presently a pendant is placed in it.] Here it is! [ALICK and the BROTHERS
      cluster round it, weigh it and appraise it.]
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. Preserve me. Is that stone real, Mr. Shand?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [who has begun to look his grimmest]. Yes.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [who is now ready, if he wishes it, to take him on too]. John says
      it&rsquo;s a drop of his blood.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [wishing it]. And so it is.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Well said, Mr. Shand.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [scared]. And now, if you&rsquo;ll come with me, I think John has
      something he wants to talk over with Lady Sybil. [Recovering and taking
      him on.] Or would you prefer, John, to say it before us all?
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [gasping]. No!
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [flinging back his head]. Yes, I prefer to say it before you all.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [flinging back hers]. Then sit down again.
    </p>
    <p>
      [The WYLIES wonderingly obey.]
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. Mr. Shand, Mr. Shand!&mdash;
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Maggie knows, and it was only for her I was troubled. Do you think
      I&rsquo;m afraid of them? [With mighty relief] Now we can be open.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [lowering]. What is it? What&rsquo;s wrong, John Shand?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [facing him squarely]. It was to Lady Sybil I gave the pendant, and
      all my love with it. [Perhaps JAMES utters a cry, but the silence of ALICK
      and DAVID is more terrible.]
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [whose voice is smaller than we had thought]. What are you to do?
    </p>
    <p>
      [It is to MAGGIE she is speaking.]
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. She&rsquo;ll leave it for us to do.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. That&rsquo;s what I want.
    </p>
    <p>
      [The lords of creation look at the ladies.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [interpreting]. You and I are expected to retire, Lady Sybil, while
      the men decide our fate. [SYBIL is ready to obey the law, but MAGGIE
      remains seated.] Man&rsquo;s the oak, woman&rsquo;s the ivy. Which of us is it that&rsquo;s
      to cling to you, John?
    </p>
    <p>
      [With three stalwarts glaring at him, JOHN rather grandly takes SYBIL&rsquo;S
      hand. They are two against the world.]
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [a heroine]. I hesitated, but I am afraid no longer; whatever he
      asks of me I will do.
    </p>
    <p>
      [Evidently the first thing he asks of her is to await him in the
      dining-room.]
    </p>
    <p>
      It will mean surrendering everything for him. I am glad it means all that.
      [She passes into the dining-room looking as pretty as a kiss.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. So that settles it.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. I&rsquo;m thinking that doesn&rsquo;t settle it.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. No, by God! [But his love for MAGGIE steadies him. There is even a
      note of entreaty in his voice.] Have you nothing to say to her, man?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I have things to say to her, but not before you.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [sternly]. Go away, Maggie. Leave him to us.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES [who thinks it is about time that he said something]. Yes, leave him
      to us.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. No, David, I want to hear what is to become of me; I promise not
      to take any side.
    </p>
    <p>
      [And sitting by the fire she resumes her knitting. The four regard her as
      on an evening at The Pans a good many years ago.]
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [barking]. How long has this been going on?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. If you mean how long has that lady been the apple of my eye, I&rsquo;m not
      sure; but I never told her of it until today.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [thoughtfully and without dropping a stitch]. I think it wasn&rsquo;t
      till about six months ago, John, that she began to be very dear to you. At
      first you liked to bring in her name when talking to me, so that I could
      tell you of any little things I might have heard she was doing. But
      afterwards, as she became more and more to you, you avoided mentioning her
      name.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [surprised]. Did you notice that?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [in her old-fashioned way]. Yes.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I tried to be done with it for your sake. I&rsquo;ve often had a sore
      heart for you, Maggie.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. You&rsquo;re proving it!
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Yes, James, he had. I&rsquo;ve often seen him looking at me very
      sorrowfully of late because of what was in his mind; and many a kindly
      little thing he has done for me that he didn&rsquo;t use to do.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. You noticed that too!
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Yes.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [controlling himself]. Well, we won&rsquo;t go into that; the thing to be
      thankful for is that it&rsquo;s ended.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK [who is looking very old]. Yes, yes, that&rsquo;s the great thing.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. All useless, sir, it&rsquo;s not ended; it&rsquo;s to go on.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. There&rsquo;s a devil in you, John Shand.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [who is an unhappy man just now]. I dare say there is. But do you
      think he had a walk over, Mr. David?
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. Man, I could knock you down!
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. There&rsquo;s not one of you could knock John down.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [exasperated]. Quiet, Maggie. One would think you were taking his
      part.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Do you expect me to desert him at the very moment that he needs me
      most?
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. It&rsquo;s him that&rsquo;s deserting you.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Yes, Maggie, that&rsquo;s what it is.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. Where&rsquo;s your marriage vow? And your church attendances?
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES [with terrible irony]. And your prize for moral philosophy?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [recklessly]. All gone whistling down the wind.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. I suppose you understand that you&rsquo;ll have to resign your seat.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [his underlip much in evidence]. There are hundreds of seats, but
      there&rsquo;s only one John Shand.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [but we don&rsquo;t hear her]. That&rsquo;s how I like to hear him speak.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [the ablest person in the room]. Think, man, I&rsquo;m old by you, and for
      long I&rsquo;ve had a pride in you. It will be beginning the world again with
      more against you than there was eight years ago.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I have a better head to begin it with than I had eight years ago.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK [hoping this will bite]. She&rsquo;ll have her own money, David!
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. She&rsquo;s as poor as a mouse.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES [thinking possibly of his Elizabeth&rsquo;s mother]. We&rsquo;ll go to her
      friends, and tell them all. They&rsquo;ll stop it.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. She&rsquo;s of age.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. They&rsquo;ll take her far away.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I&rsquo;ll follow, and tear her from them.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. Your career&mdash;-
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [to his credit]. To hell with my career. Do you think I don&rsquo;t know
      I&rsquo;m on the rocks? What can you, or you, or you, understand of the passions
      of a man! I&rsquo;ve fought, and I&rsquo;ve given in. When a ship founders, as I
      suppose I&rsquo;m foundering, it&rsquo;s not a thing to yelp at. Peace, all of you.
      [He strides into the dining-room, where we see him at times pacing the
      floor.]
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID [to JAMES, who gives signs of a desire to take off his coat]. Let
      him be. We can&rsquo;t budge him. [With bitter wisdom] It&rsquo;s true what he says,
      true at any rate about me. What do I know of the passions of a man! I&rsquo;m up
      against something I don&rsquo;t understand.
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. It&rsquo;s something wicked.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. I dare say it is, but it&rsquo;s something big.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. It&rsquo;s that damned charm.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [still by the fire]. That&rsquo;s it. What was it that made you fancy
      Elizabeth, James?
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES [sheepishly]. I can scarcely say.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. It was her charm.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. HER charm!
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES [pugnaciously]. Yes, HER charm.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. She had charm for James.
    </p>
    <p>
      [This somehow breaks them up. MAGGIE goes from one to another with an odd
      little smile flickering on her face.]
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Put on your things, Maggie, and we&rsquo;ll leave his house.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [patting his kind head]. Not me, David.
    </p>
    <p>
      [This is a MAGGIE they have known but forgotten; all three brighten.]
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. You haven&rsquo;t given in!
    </p>
    <p>
      [The smile flickers and expires.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I want you all to go upstairs, and let me have my try now.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. Your try?
    </p>
    <p>
      ALICK. Maggie, you put new life into me.
    </p>
    <p>
      JAMES. And into me.
    </p>
    <p>
      [DAVID says nothing; the way he grips her shoulder says it for him.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I&rsquo;ll save him, David, if I can.
    </p>
    <p>
      DAVID. Does he deserve to be saved after the way he has treated you?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. You stupid David. What has that to do with it.
    </p>
    <p>
      [When they have gone, JOHN comes to the door of the dining-room. There is
      welling up in him a great pity for MAGGIE, but it has to subside a little
      when he sees that the knitting is still in her hand. No man likes to be so
      soon supplanted. SYBIL follows, and the two of them gaze at the active
      needles.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [perceiving that she has visitors]. Come in, John. Sit down, Lady
      Sybil, and make yourself comfortable. I&rsquo;m afraid we&rsquo;ve put you about.
    </p>
    <p>
      [She is, after all, only a few years older than they and scarcely looks
      her age; yet it must have been in some such way as this that the little
      old woman who lived in a shoe addressed her numerous progeny.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I&rsquo;m mortal sorry, Maggie.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [who would be more courageous if she could hold his hand]. And I
      also.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [soothingly]. I&rsquo;m sure you are. But as it can&rsquo;t be helped I see no
      reason why we three shouldn&rsquo;t talk the matter over in a practical way.
    </p>
    <p>
      [SYBIL looks doubtful, but JOHN hangs on desperately to the word
      practical.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. If you could understand, Maggie, what an inspiration she is to me
      and my work.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. Indeed, Mrs. Shand, I think of nothing else.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. That&rsquo;s fine. That&rsquo;s as it should be.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [talking too much]. Mrs. Shand, I think you are very kind to take it
      so reasonably.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. That&rsquo;s the Scotch way. When were you thinking of leaving me, John?
    </p>
    <p>
      [Perhaps this is the Scotch way also; but SYBIL is English, and from the
      manner in which she starts you would say that something has fallen on her
      toes.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [who has heard nothing fall]. I think, now that it has come to a
      breach, the sooner the better. [His tone becomes that of JAMES when asked
      after the health of his wife.] When it is convenient to you, Maggie.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [making a rapid calculation]. It couldn&rsquo;t well be before Wednesday.
      That&rsquo;s the day the laundry comes home.
    </p>
    <p>
      [SYBIL has to draw in her toes again.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. And it&rsquo;s the day the House rises. [Stifling a groan] It may be my
      last appearance in the House.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [her arms yearning for him]. No, no, please don&rsquo;t say that.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [surveying him sympathetically]. You love the House, don&rsquo;t you,
      John, next to her? It&rsquo;s a pity you can&rsquo;t wait till after your speech at
      Leeds. Mr. Venables won&rsquo;t let you speak at Leeds, I fear, if you leave me.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. What a chance it would have been. But let it go.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. The meeting is in less than a month. Could you not make it such a
      speech that they would be very loth to lose you?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [swelling]. That&rsquo;s what was in my mind.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [with noble confidence]. And he could have done it.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Then we&rsquo;ve come to something practical.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [exercising his imagination with powerful effect]. No, it wouldn&rsquo;t be
      fair to you if I was to stay on now.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Do you think I&rsquo;ll let myself be considered when your career is at
      stake. A month will soon pass for me; I&rsquo;ll have a lot of packing to do.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. It&rsquo;s noble of you, but I don&rsquo;t deserve it, and I can&rsquo;t take it from
      you.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Now&rsquo;s the time, Lady Sybil, for you to have one of your inspiring
      ideas.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [ever ready]. Yes, yes&mdash;but what?
    </p>
    <p>
      [It is odd that they should both turn to MAGGIE at this moment.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [who has already been saying it to herself]. What do you think of
      this: I can stay on here with my father and brothers; and you, John, can
      go away somewhere and devote yourself to your speech?
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. Yes.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. That might be. [Considerately] Away from both of you. Where could I
      go?
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [ever ready]. Where?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I know.
    </p>
    <p>
      [She has called up a number on the telephone before they have time to
      check her.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [on his dignity]. Don&rsquo;t be in such a hurry, Maggie.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Is this Lamb&rsquo;s Hotel? Put me on to the Comtesse de la Briere,
      please.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [with a sinking]. What do you want with Auntie?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Her cottage in the country would be the very place. She invited
      John and me.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Yes, but&mdash;
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [arguing]. And Mr. Venables is to be there. Think of the impression
      you could make on HIM, seeing him daily for three weeks.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. There&rsquo;s something in that.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Is it you, Comtesse? I&rsquo;m Maggie Shand.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. You are not to tell her that&mdash;?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. No. [To the COMTESSE] Oh, I&rsquo;m very well, never was better. Yes,
      yes; you see I can&rsquo;t, because my folk have never been in London before,
      and I must take them about and show them the sights. But John could come
      to you alone; why not?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [with proper pride]. If she&rsquo;s not keen to have me, I won&rsquo;t go.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. She&rsquo;s very keen. Comtesse, I could come for a day by and by to see
      how you are getting on. Yes&mdash;yes&mdash;certainly. [To JOHN] She says
      she&rsquo;ll be delighted.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [thoughtfully]. You&rsquo;re not doing this, Maggie, thinking that my being
      absent from Sybil for a few weeks can make any difference? Of course it&rsquo;s
      natural you should want us to keep apart, but&mdash;
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [grimly]. I&rsquo;m founding no hope on keeping you apart, John.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. It&rsquo;s what other wives would do.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I promised to be different.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [his position as a strong man assured]. Then tell her I accept. [He
      wanders back into the dining-room.]
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. I think&mdash;[she is not sure what she thinks]&mdash;I think you
      are very wonderful.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Was that John calling to you?
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. Was it? [She is glad to join him in the dining-room.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Comtesse, hold the line a minute. [She is alone, and she has
      nearly reached the end of her self-control. She shakes emotionally and
      utters painful little cries; there is something she wants to do, and she
      is loth to do it. But she does it.] Are you there, Comtesse? There&rsquo;s one
      other thing, dear Comtesse; I want you to invite Lady Sybil also; yes, for
      the whole time that John is there. No, I&rsquo;m not mad; as a great favour to
      me; yes, I have a very particular reason, but I won&rsquo;t tell you what it is;
      oh, call me Scotchy as much as you like, but consent; do, do, do. Thank
      you, thank you, good-bye.
    </p>
    <p>
      [She has control of herself now, and is determined not to let it slip from
      her again. When they reappear the stubborn one is writing a letter.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I thought I heard the telephone again.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [looking up from her labours]. It was the Comtesse; she says she&rsquo;s
      to invite Lady Sybil to the cottage at the same time.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. Me!
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. To invite Sybil? Then of course I won&rsquo;t go, Maggie.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [wondering seemingly at these niceties]. What does it matter? Is
      anything to be considered except the speech? [It has been admitted that
      she was a little devil.] And, with Sybil on the spot, John, to help you
      and inspire you, what a speech it will be!
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [carried away]. Maggie, you really are a very generous woman.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [convinced at last]. She is indeed.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. And you&rsquo;re queer too. How many women in the circumstances would sit
      down to write a letter?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. It&rsquo;s a letter to you, John.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. To me?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I&rsquo;ll give it to you when it&rsquo;s finished, but I ask you not to open
      it till your visit to the Comtesse ends.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. What is it about?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. It&rsquo;s practical.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [rather faintly]. Practical? [She has heard the word so frequently
      to-day that it is beginning to have a Scotch sound. She feels she ought to
      like MAGGIE, but that she would like her better if they were farther
      apart. She indicates that the doctors are troubled about her heart, and
      murmuring her adieux she goes. JOHN, who is accompanying her, pauses at
      the door.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [with a queer sort of admiration for his wife]. Maggie, I wish I was
      fond of you.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [heartily]. I wish you were, John.
    </p>
    <p>
      [He goes, and she resumes her letter. The stocking is lying at hand, and
      she pushes it to the floor. She is done for a time with knitting.]
    </p>
    <p>
      <br /><br />
    </p>
    <hr />
    <p>
      <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> </a>
    </p>
    <div style="height: 4em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>
    <h2>
      ACT IV
    </h2>
    <p>
      [Man&rsquo;s most pleasant invention is the lawn-mower. All the birds know this,
      and that is why, when it is at rest, there is always at least one of them
      sitting on the handle with his head cocked, wondering how the delicious
      whirring sound is made. When they find out, they will change their note.
      As it is, you must sometimes have thought that you heard the mower very
      early in the morning, and perhaps you peeped in neglige from your lattice
      window to see who was up so early. It was really the birds trying to get
      the note.
    </p>
    <p>
      On this broiling morning, however, we are at noon, and whoever looks will
      see that the whirring is done by Mr. Venables. He is in a linen suit with
      the coat discarded (the bird is sitting on it), and he comes and goes
      across the Comtesse&rsquo;s lawns, pleasantly mopping his face. We see him
      through a crooked bowed window generously open, roses intruding into it as
      if to prevent its ever being closed at night; there are other roses in
      such armfuls on the tables that one could not easily say where the room
      ends and the garden begins.
    </p>
    <p>
      In the Comtesse&rsquo;s pretty comic drawing-room (for she likes the comic touch
      when she is in England) sits John Shand with his hostess, on chairs at a
      great distance from each other. No linen garments for John, nor flannels,
      nor even knickerbockers; he envies the English way of dressing for trees
      and lawns, but is too Scotch to be able to imitate it; he wears tweeds,
      just as he would do in his native country where they would be in kilts.
      Like many another Scot, the first time he ever saw a kilt was on a
      Sassenach; indeed kilts were perhaps invented, like golf, to draw the
      English north. John is doing nothing, which again is not a Scotch
      accomplishment, and he looks rather miserable and dour. The Comtesse is
      already at her Patience cards, and occasionally she smiles on him as if
      not displeased with his long silence. At last she speaks:]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. I feel it rather a shame to detain you here on such a lovely
      day, Mr. Shand, entertaining an old woman.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I don&rsquo;t pretend to think I&rsquo;m entertaining you, Comtesse.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. But you ARE, you know.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I would be pleased to be told how?
    </p>
    <p>
      [She shrugs her impertinent shoulders, and presently there is another
      heavy sigh from JOHN.]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Again! Why do not you go out on the river?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Yes, I can do that. [He rises.]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. And take Sybil with you. [He sits again.] No?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I have been on the river with her twenty times.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Then take her for a long walk through the Fairloe woods.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. We were there twice last week.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. There is a romantically damp little arbour at the end of what
      the villagers call the Lovers&rsquo; Lane.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. One can&rsquo;t go there every day. I see nothing to laugh at.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Did I laugh? I must have been translating the situation into
      French.
    </p>
    <p>
      [Perhaps the music of the lawn-mower is not to JOHN&rsquo;s mood, for he betakes
      himself to another room. MR. VENABLES pauses in his labours to greet a
      lady who has appeared on the lawn, and who is MAGGIE. She is as neat as if
      she were one of the army of typists [who are quite the nicest kind of
      women], and carries a little bag. She comes in through the window, and
      puts her hands over the COMTESSE&rsquo;s eyes.]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. They are a strong pair of hands, at any rate.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. And not very white, and biggish for my size. Now guess.
    </p>
    <p>
      [The COMTESSE guesses, and takes both the hands in hers as if she valued
      them. She pulls off MAGGIE&rsquo;s hat as if to prevent her flying away.]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Dear abominable one, not to let me know you were coming.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. It is just a surprise visit, Comtesse. I walked up from the
      station. [For a moment MAGGIE seems to have borrowed SYBIL&rsquo;S impediment.]
      How is&mdash;everybody?
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. He is quite well. But, my child, he seems to me to be a most
      unhappy man.
    </p>
    <p>
      [This sad news does not seem to make a most unhappy woman of the child.
      The COMTESSE is puzzled, as she knows nothing of the situation save what
      she has discovered for herself.]
    </p>
    <p>
      Why should that please you, O heartless one?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I won&rsquo;t tell you.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. I could take you and shake you, Maggie. Here have I put my house
      at your disposal for so many days for some sly Scotch purpose, and you
      will not tell me what it is.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. No.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Very well, then, but I have what you call a nasty one for you.
      [The COMTESSE lures MR. VENABLES into the room by holding up what might be
      a foaming glass of lemon squash.] Alas, Charles, it is but a flower vase.
      I want you to tell Mrs. Shand what you think of her husband&rsquo;s speech.
    </p>
    <p>
      [MR. VENABLES gives his hostess a reproachful look.]
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. Eh&mdash;ah&mdash;Shand will prefer to do that himself. I
      promised the gardener&mdash;I must not disappoint him&mdash;excuse me&mdash;
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. You must tell her, Charles.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Please, Mr. Venables, I should like to know.
    </p>
    <p>
      [He sits down with a sigh and obeys.]
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. Your husband has been writing the speech here, and by his own
      wish he read it to me three days ago. The occasion is to be an important
      one; and, well, there are a dozen young men in the party at present, all
      capable of filling a certain small ministerial post. [He looks longingly
      at the mower, but it sends no message to his aid.] And as he is one of
      them I was anxious that he should show in this speech of what he is
      capable.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. And hasn&rsquo;t he?
    </p>
    <p>
      [Not for the first time MR. VENABLES wishes that he was not in politics.]
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. I am afraid he has.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. What is wrong with the speech, Charles?
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. Nothing&mdash;and he can still deliver it. It is a powerful,
      well-thought-out piece of work, such as only a very able man could
      produce. But it has no SPECIAL QUALITY of its own&mdash;none of the little
      touches that used to make an old stager like myself want to pat Shand on
      the shoulder. [The COMTESSE&rsquo;s mouth twitches, but MAGGIE declines to
      notice it.] He pounds on manfully enough, but, if I may say so, with a
      wooden leg. It is as good, I dare say, as the rest of them could have
      done; but they start with such inherited advantages, Mrs. Shand, that he
      had to do better.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Yes, I can understand that.
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. I am sorry, Mrs. Shand, for he interested me. His career has set
      me wondering whether if <i>I</i> had begun as a railway porter I might not
      still be calling out, &lsquo;By your leave.&rsquo; 
    </p>
    <p>
      [MAGGIE thinks it probable but not important]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Mr. Venables, now that I think of it, surely John wrote to me that
      you were dissatisfied with his first speech, and that he was writing
      another.
    </p>
    <p>
      [The COMTESSE&rsquo;s eyes open very wide indeed.]
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. I have heard nothing of that, Mrs. Shand. [He shakes his wise
      head.] And in any case, I am afraid&mdash;[He still hears the wooden leg.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. But you said yourself that his second thoughts were sometimes such
      an improvement on the first.
    </p>
    <p>
      [The COMTESSE comes to the help of the baggage.]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. I remember you saying that, Charles.
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. Yes, that has struck me. [Politely] Well, if he has anything to
      show me&mdash;In the meantime&mdash;
    </p>
    <p>
      [He regains the lawn, like one glad to escape attendance at JOHN&rsquo;S
      obsequies. The COMTESSE is brought back to speech by the sound of the
      mower&mdash;nothing wooden in it.]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. What are you up to now, Miss Pin? You know as well as I do that
      there is no such speech.
    </p>
    <p>
      [MAGGIE&rsquo;s mouth tightens.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I do not.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. It is a duel, is it, my friend?
    </p>
    <p>
      [The COMTESSE rings the bell and MAGGIE&rsquo;s guilty mind is agitated.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. What are you ringing for?
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. As the challenged one, Miss Pin, I have the choice of weapons. I
      am going to send for your husband to ask him if he has written such a
      speech. After which, I suppose, you will ask me to leave you while you and
      he write it together.
    </p>
    <p>
      [MAGGIE wrings her hands.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. You are wrong, Comtesse; but please don&rsquo;t do that.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. You but make me more curious, and my doctor says that I must be
      told everything. [The COMTESSE assumes the pose of her sex in melodrama.]
      Put your cards on the table, Maggie Shand, or&mdash;[She indicates that
      she always pinks her man. MAGGIE dolefully produces a roll of paper from
      her bag.] What precisely is that?
    </p>
    <p>
      [The reply is little more than a squeak.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. John&rsquo;s speech.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. You have written it yourself!
    </p>
    <p>
      [MAGGIE is naturally indignant.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. It&rsquo;s typed.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. You guessed that the speech he wrote unaided would not satisfy,
      and you prepared this to take its place!
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Not at all, Comtesse. It is the draft of his speech that he left
      at home. That&rsquo;s all.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. With a few trivial alterations by yourself, I swear. Can you
      deny it?
    </p>
    <p>
      [No wonder that MAGGIE is outraged. She replaces JOHN&rsquo;s speech in the bag
      with becoming hauteur.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Comtesse, these insinuations are unworthy of you. May I ask where
      is my husband?
    </p>
    <p>
      [The COMTESSE drops her a curtsey.]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. I believe your Haughtiness may find him in the Dutch garden. Oh,
      I see through you. You are not to show him your speech. But you are to get
      him to write another one, and somehow all your additions will be in it.
      Think not, creature, that you can deceive one so old in iniquity as the
      Comtesse de la Briere.
    </p>
    <p>
      [There can be but one reply from a good wife to such a charge, and at once
      the COMTESSE is left alone with her shame. Anon a footman appears. You
      know how they come and go.]
    </p>
    <p>
      FOOTMAN. You rang, my lady?
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Did I? Ah, yes, but why? [He is but lately from the ploughshare
      and cannot help her. In this quandary her eyes alight upon the bag. She is
      unfortunately too abandoned to feel her shame; she still thinks that she
      has the choice of weapons. She takes the speech from the bag and bestows
      it on her servitor.] Take this to Mr. Venables, please, and say it is from
      Mr. Shand. [THOMAS&mdash;but in the end we shall probably call him JOHN&mdash;departs
      with the dangerous papers; and when MAGGIE returns she finds that the
      COMTESSE is once more engaged in her interrupted game of Patience.] You
      did not find him?
    </p>
    <p>
      [All the bravery has dropped from MAGGIE&rsquo;s face.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I didn&rsquo;t see him, but I heard him. SHE is with him. I think they
      are coming here.
    </p>
    <p>
      [The COMTESSE is suddenly kind again.]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Sybil? Shall I get rid of her?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. No, I want her to be here, too. Now I shall know.
    </p>
    <p>
      [The COMTESSE twists the little thing round.]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Know what?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. As soon as I look into his face I shall know.
    </p>
    <p>
      [A delicious scent ushers in the fair SYBIL, who is as sweet as a milking
      stool. She greets MRS. SHAND with some alarm.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. How do you do, Lady Sybil? How pretty you look in that frock.
      [SYBIL rustles uncomfortably.] You are a feast to the eye.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. Please, I wish you would not.
    </p>
    <p>
      [Shall we describe SYBIL&rsquo;S frock, in which she looks like a great
      strawberry that knows it ought to be plucked; or would it be easier to
      watch the coming of JOHN? Let us watch JOHN.]
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. You, Maggie! You never wrote that you were coming.
    </p>
    <p>
      [No, let us watch MAGGIE. As soon as she looked into his face she was to
      know something of importance.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [not dissatisfied with what she sees]. No, John, it&rsquo;s a surprise
      visit. I just ran down to say good-bye.
    </p>
    <p>
      [At this his face falls, which does not seem to pain her.]
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [foreseeing another horrible Scotch scene]. To say good-bye?
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE [thrilling with expectation]. To whom, Maggie?
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [deserted by the impediment, which is probably playing with rough
      boys in the Lovers&rsquo; Lane]. Auntie, do leave us, won&rsquo;t you?
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Not I. It is becoming far too interesting.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I suppose there&rsquo;s no reason the Comtesse shouldn&rsquo;t be told, as she
      will know so soon at any rate?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. That&rsquo;s so. [SYBIL sees with discomfort that he is to be practical
      also.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. It&rsquo;s so simple. You see, Comtesse, John and Lady Sybil have fallen
      in love with one another, and they are to go off as soon as the meeting at
      Leeds has taken place.
    </p>
    <p>
      [The COMTESSE&rsquo;s breast is too suddenly introduced to Caledonia and its
      varied charms.]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Mon Dieu!
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I think that&rsquo;s putting it correctly, John.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. In a sense. But I&rsquo;m not to attend the meeting at Leeds. My speech
      doesn&rsquo;t find favour. [With a strange humility] There&rsquo;s something wrong
      with it.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. I never expected to hear you say that, Mr. Shand.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [wondering also]. I never expected it myself. I meant to make it the
      speech of my career. But somehow my hand seems to have lost its cunning.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. And you don&rsquo;t know how?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. It&rsquo;s inexplicable. My brain was never clearer.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. You might have helped him, Sybil.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [quite sulkily]. I did.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. But I thought she was such an inspiration to you, Mr. Shand.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [going bravely to SYBIL&rsquo;S side]. She slaved at it with me.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Strange. [Wickedly becoming practical also] So now there is
      nothing to detain you. Shall I send for a fly, Sybil?
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [with a cry of the heart]. Auntie, do leave us.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. I can understand your impatience to be gone, Mr. Shand.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [heavily]. I promised Maggie to wait till the 24th, and I&rsquo;m a man of
      my word.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. But I give you back your word, John. You can go now.
    </p>
    <p>
      [JOHN looks at SYBIL, and SYBIL looks at JOHN, and the impediment arrives
      in time to take a peep at both of them.]
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [groping for the practical, to which we must all come in the end].
      He must make satisfactory arrangements about you first. I insist on that.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [with no more imagination than a hen]. Thank you, Lady Sybil, but I
      have made all my arrangements.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [stung]. Maggie, that was my part.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. You see, my brothers feel they can&rsquo;t be away from their business
      any longer; and so, if it would be convenient to you, John, I could travel
      north with them by the night train on Wednesday.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. I&mdash;I&mdash;&mdash;The way you put things&mdash;-!
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. This is just the 21st.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. My things are all packed. I think you&rsquo;ll find the house in good
      order, Lady Sybil. I have had the vacuum cleaners in. I&rsquo;ll give you the
      keys of the linen and the silver plate; I have them in that bag. The
      carpet on the upper landing is a good deal frayed, but&mdash;-
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. Please, I don&rsquo;t want to hear any more.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. The ceiling of the dining-room would be the better of a new lick
      of paint&mdash;-
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [stamping her foot, small fours]. Can&rsquo;t you stop her?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [soothingly]. She&rsquo;s meaning well. Maggie, I know it&rsquo;s natural to you
      to value those things, because your outlook on life is bounded by them;
      but all this jars on me.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Does it?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Why should you be so ready to go?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I promised not to stand in your way.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [stoutly]. You needn&rsquo;t be in such a hurry. There are three days to
      run yet. [The French are so different from us that we shall probably never
      be able to understand why the COMTESSE laughed aloud here.] It&rsquo;s just a
      joke to the Comtesse.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. It seems to be no joke to you, Mr. Shand. Sybil, my pet, are you
      to let him off?
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [flashing]. Let him off? If he wishes it. Do you?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [manfully]. I want it to go on. [Something seems to have caught in
      his throat: perhaps it is the impediment trying a temporary home.] It&rsquo;s
      the one wish of my heart. If you come with me, Sybil, I&rsquo;ll do all in a
      man&rsquo;s power to make you never regret it.
    </p>
    <p>
      [Triumph of the Vere de Veres.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [bringing them back to earth with a dump]. And I can make my
      arrangements for Wednesday?
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [seeking the COMTESSE&rsquo;s protection]. No, you can&rsquo;t. Auntie, I am not
      going on with this. I&rsquo;m very sorry for you, John, but I see now&mdash;I
      couldn&rsquo;t face it&mdash;-
    </p>
    <p>
      [She can&rsquo;t face anything at this moment except the sofa pillows.]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE [noticing JOHN&rsquo;S big sigh of relief]. So THAT is all right, Mr.
      Shand!
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Don&rsquo;t you love her any more, John? Be practical.
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL [to the pillows]. At any rate I have tired of him. Oh, best to tell
      the horrid truth. I am ashamed of myself. I have been crying my eyes out
      over it&mdash;I thought I was such a different kind of woman. But I am
      weary of him. I think him&mdash;oh, so dull.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [his face lighting up]. Are you sure that is how you have come to
      think of me?
    </p>
    <p>
      SYBIL. I&rsquo;m sorry; [with all her soul] but yes&mdash;yes&mdash;yes.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. By God, it&rsquo;s more than I deserve.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Congratulations to you both.
    </p>
    <p>
      [SYBIL runs away; and in the fulness of time she married successfully in
      cloth of silver, which was afterwards turned into a bed-spread.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. You haven&rsquo;t read my letter yet, John, have you?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. No.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE [imploringly]. May I know to what darling letter you refer?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. It&rsquo;s a letter I wrote to him before he left London. I gave it to
      him closed, not to be opened until his time here was ended.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [as his hand strays to his pocket]. Am I to read it now?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Not before her. Please go away, Comtesse.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Every word you say makes me more determined to remain.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. It will hurt you, John. [Distressed] Don&rsquo;t read it; tear it up.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. You make me very curious, Maggie. And yet I don&rsquo;t see what can be in
      it.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. But you feel a little nervous? Give ME the dagger.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [quickly]. No. [But the COMTESSE has already got it.]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. May I? [She must have thought they said Yes, for she opens the
      letter. She shares its contents with them.] &lsquo;Dearest John, It is at my
      request that the Comtesse is having Lady Sybil at the cottage at the same
      time as yourself.&rsquo; 
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. What?
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Yes, she begged me to invite you together.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. But why?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I promised you not to behave as other wives would do.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. It&rsquo;s not understandable.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. &lsquo;You may ask why I do this, John, and my reason is, I think that
      after a few weeks of Lady Sybil, every day, and all day, you will become
      sick to death of her. I am also giving her the chance to help you and
      inspire you with your work, so that you may both learn what her help and
      her inspiration amount to. Of course, if your love is the great strong
      passion you think it, then those weeks will make you love her more than
      ever and I can only say good-bye. But if, as I suspect, you don&rsquo;t even now
      know what true love is, then by the next time we meet, dear John, you will
      have had enough of her.&mdash;Your affectionate wife, Maggie.&rsquo; Oh, why was
      not Sybil present at the reading of the will! And now, if you two will
      kindly excuse me, I think I must go and get that poor sufferer the eau de
      Cologne.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. It&rsquo;s almost enough to make a man lose faith in himself.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Oh, don&rsquo;t say that, Mr. Shand.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [defending him]. You mustn&rsquo;t hurt him. If you haven&rsquo;t loved deep
      and true, that&rsquo;s just because you have never met a woman yet, John,
      capable of inspiring it.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE [putting her hand on MAGGIE&rsquo;s shoulder]. Have you not, Mr. Shand?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I see what you mean. But Maggie wouldn&rsquo;t think better of me for any
      false pretences. She knows my feelings for her now are neither more nor
      less than what they have always been.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [who sees that he is looking at her as solemnly as a volume of
      sermons printed by request]. I think no one could be fond of me that can&rsquo;t
      laugh a little at me.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. How could that help?
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE [exasperated]. Mr. Shand, I give you up.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I admire his honesty.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Oh, I give you up also. Arcades ambo. Scotchies both.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [when she has gone]. But this letter, it&rsquo;s not like you. By Gosh,
      Maggie, you&rsquo;re no fool.
    </p>
    <p>
      [She beams at this, as any wife would.]
    </p>
    <p>
      But how could I have made such a mistake? It&rsquo;s not like a strong man.
      [Evidently he has an inspiration.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. What is it?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [the inspiration]. AM I a strong man?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. You? Of course you are. And self-made. Has anybody ever helped you
      in the smallest way?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [thinking it out again]. No, nobody.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Not even Lady Sybil?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I&rsquo;m beginning to doubt it. It&rsquo;s very curious, though, Maggie, that
      this speech should be disappointing.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. It&rsquo;s just that Mr. Venables hasn&rsquo;t the brains to see how good it
      is.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. That must be it. [But he is too good a man to rest satisfied with
      this.] No, Maggie, it&rsquo;s not. Somehow I seem to have lost my neat way of
      saying things.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [almost cooing]. It will come back to you.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [forlorn]. If you knew how I&rsquo;ve tried.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [cautiously]. Maybe if you were to try again; and I&rsquo;ll just come
      and sit beside you, and knit. I think the click of the needles sometimes
      put you in the mood.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Hardly that; and yet many a Shandism have I knocked off while you
      were sitting beside me knitting. I suppose it was the quietness.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Very likely.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [with another inspiration]. Maggie!
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [again]. What is it, John?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. What if it was you that put those queer ideas into my head!
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Me?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. Without your knowing it, I mean.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. But how?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. We used to talk bits over; and it may be that you dropped the seed,
      so to speak.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. John, could it be this, that I sometimes had the idea in a rough
      womanish sort of way and then you polished it up till it came out a
      Shandism?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [slowly slapping his knee]. I believe you&rsquo;ve hit it, Maggie: to think
      that you may have been helping me all the time&mdash;and neither of us
      knew it!
    </p>
    <p>
      [He has so nearly reached a smile that no one can say what might have
      happened within the next moment if the COMTESSE had not reappeared.]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. Mr. Venables wishes to see you, Mr. Shand.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [lost, stolen, or strayed a smile in the making]. Hum!
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. He is coming now.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [grumpy]. Indeed!
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE [sweetly]. It is about your speech.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. He has said all he need say on that subject, and more.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE [quaking a little]. I think it is about the second speech.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. What second speech?
    </p>
    <p>
      [MAGGIE runs to her bag and opens it.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [horrified]. Comtesse, you have given it to him!
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE [impudently]. Wasn&rsquo;t I meant to?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. What is it? What second speech?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Cruel, cruel. [Willing to go on her knees] You had left the first
      draft of your speech at home, John, and I brought it here with&mdash;with
      a few little things I&rsquo;ve added myself.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [a seven-footer]. What&rsquo;s that?
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [four foot ten at most]. Just trifles&mdash;things I was to suggest
      to you&mdash;while I was knitting&mdash;and then, if you liked any of them
      you could have polished them&mdash;and turned them into something good.
      John, John&mdash;and now she has shown it to Mr. Venables.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [thundering]. As my work, Comtesse?
    </p>
    <p>
      [But the COMTESSE is not of the women who are afraid of thunder.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. It is your work&mdash;nine-tenths of it.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN [in the black cap]. You presumed, Maggie Shand! Very well, then, here
      he comes, and now we&rsquo;ll see to what extent you&rsquo;ve helped me.
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. My dear fellow. My dear Shand, I congratulate you. Give me your
      hand.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. The speech?
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. You have improved it out of knowledge. It is the same speech,
      but those new touches make all the difference. [JOHN sits down heavily.]
      Mrs. Shand, be proud of him.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. I am. I am, John.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. You always said that his second thoughts were best, Charles.
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES [pleased to be reminded of it]. Didn&rsquo;t I, didn&rsquo;t I? Those
      delicious little touches! How good that is, Shand, about the flowing tide.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. The flowing tide?
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. In the first speech it was something like this&mdash;&lsquo;Gentlemen,
      the Opposition are calling to you to vote for them and the flowing tide,
      but I solemnly warn you to beware lest the flowing tide does not engulf
      you.&rsquo; The second way is much better.
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. What is the second way, Mr. Shand?
    </p>
    <p>
      [JOHN does not tell her.]
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. This is how he puts it now. [JOHN cannot help raising his head
      to listen.] &lsquo;Gentlemen, the Opposition are calling to you to vote for them
      and the flowing tide, but I ask you cheerfully to vote for us and DAM the
      flowing tide.&rsquo; 
    </p>
    <p>
      [VENABLES and his old friend the COMTESSE laugh heartily, but for
      different reasons.]
    </p>
    <p>
      COMTESSE. It IS better, Mr. Shand.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. <i>I</i> don&rsquo;t think so.
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. Yes, yes, it&rsquo;s so virile. Excuse me, Comtesse, I&rsquo;m off to read
      the whole thing again. [For the first time he notices that JOHN is
      strangely quiet.] I think this has rather bowled you over, Shand.
    </p>
    <p>
      [JOHN&rsquo;s head sinks lower.]
    </p>
    <p>
      Well, well, good news doesn&rsquo;t kill.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE [counsel for the defence]. Surely the important thing about the
      speech is its strength and knowledge and eloquence, the things that were
      in the first speech as well as in the second.
    </p>
    <p>
      VENABLES. That of course is largely true. The wit would not be enough
      without them, just as they were not enough without the wit. It is the
      combination that is irresistible. [JOHN&rsquo;s head rises a little.] Shand, you
      are our man, remember that, it is emphatically the best thing you have
      ever done. How this will go down at Leeds!
    </p>
    <p>
      [He returns gaily to his hammock; but lower sinks JOHN&rsquo;S head, and even
      the COMTESSE has the grace to take herself off. MAGGIE&rsquo;s arms flutter near
      her husband, not daring to alight.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. You heard what he said, John. It&rsquo;s the combination. Is it so
      terrible to you to find that my love for you had made me able to help you
      in the little things?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. The little things! It seems strange to me to hear you call me by my
      name, Maggie. It&rsquo;s as if I looked on you for the first time.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Look at me, John, for the first time. What do you see?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I see a woman who has brought her husband low.
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Only that?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I see the tragedy of a man who has found himself out. Eh, I can&rsquo;t
      live with you again, Maggie.
    </p>
    <p>
      [He shivers.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Why did you shiver, John?
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. It was at myself for saying that I couldn&rsquo;t live with you again,
      when I should have been wondering how for so long you have lived with me.
      And I suppose you have forgiven me all the time. [She nods.] And forgive
      me still? [She nods again.] Dear God!
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. John, am I to go? or are you to keep me on? [She is now a little
      bundle near his feet.] I&rsquo;m willing to stay because I&rsquo;m useful to you, if
      it can&rsquo;t be for a better reason. [His hand feels for her, and the bundle
      wriggles nearer.] It&rsquo;s nothing unusual I&rsquo;ve done, John. Every man who is
      high up loves to think that he has done it all himself; and the wife
      smiles, and lets it go at that. It&rsquo;s our only joke. Every woman knows
      that. [He stares at her in hopeless perplexity.] Oh, John, if only you
      could laugh at me.
    </p>
    <p>
      JOHN. I can&rsquo;t laugh, Maggie.
    </p>
    <p>
      [But as he continues to stare at her a strange disorder appears in his
      face. MAGGIE feels that it is to be now or never.]
    </p>
    <p>
      MAGGIE. Laugh, John, laugh. Watch me; see how easy it is.
    </p>
    <p>
      [A terrible struggle is taking place within him. He creaks. Something that
      may be mirth forces a passage, at first painfully, no more joy in it than
      in the discoloured water from a spring that has long been dry. Soon,
      however, he laughs loud and long. The spring water is becoming clear.
      MAGGIE claps her hands. He is saved.]
    </p>
    <div style="height: 6em;">
      <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
    </div>







<pre>





End of Project Gutenberg&rsquo;s What Every Woman Knows, by James M. Barrie

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHAT EVERY WOMAN KNOWS ***

***** This file should be named 5654-h.htm or 5654-h.zip *****
This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
        http://www.gutenberg.org/5/6/5/5654/


Text produced by David Moynihan, Charles Franks and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team

HTML file produced by David Widger


Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
will be renamed.

Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
redistribution.



*** START: FULL LICENSE ***

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK

To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase &ldquo;Project
Gutenberg&rdquo;), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at
  www.gutenberg.org/license.


Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
electronic works

1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.

1.B.  &ldquo;Project Gutenberg&rdquo; is a registered trademark.  It may only be
used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
works.  See paragraph 1.E below.

1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (&ldquo;the Foundation&rdquo;
 or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.

1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
States.

1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:

1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
phrase &ldquo;Project Gutenberg&rdquo; appears, or with which the phrase &ldquo;Project
Gutenberg&rdquo; is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
copied or distributed:

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
with the phrase &ldquo;Project Gutenberg&rdquo; associated with or appearing on the
work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
1.E.9.

1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.

1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.

1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
Gutenberg-tm License.

1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
&ldquo;Plain Vanilla ASCII&rdquo; or other format used in the official version
posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
request, of the work in its original &ldquo;Plain Vanilla ASCII&rdquo; or other
form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.

1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
that

- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
     address specified in Section 4, &ldquo;Information about donations to
     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.&rdquo;
 
- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
     License.  You must require such a user to return or
     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
     Project Gutenberg-tm works.

- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
     of receipt of the work.

- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.

1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.

1.F.

1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
&ldquo;Defects,&rdquo; such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
your equipment.

1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the &ldquo;Right
of Replacement or Refund&rdquo; described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGE.

1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
opportunities to fix the problem.

1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you &lsquo;AS-IS&rsquo;, WITH NO OTHER
WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.

1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.

1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.


Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm

Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
people in all walks of life.

Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm&rsquo;s
goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org


Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation

The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
Revenue Service.  The Foundation&rsquo;s EIN or federal tax identification
number is 64-6221541.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state&rsquo;s laws.

The Foundation&rsquo;s principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at 809
North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887.  Email
contact links and up to date contact information can be found at the
Foundation&rsquo;s web site and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact

For additional contact information:
     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
     Chief Executive and Director
     gbnewby@pglaf.org

Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation

Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
status with the IRS.

The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
particular state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate

While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
approach us with offers to donate.

International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.

Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
To donate, please visit:  www.gutenberg.org/donate


Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
works.

Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
with anyone.  For forty years, he produced and distributed Project
Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.

Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.

Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:

     www.gutenberg.org

This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.



</pre>

  </body>
</html>
generated by cgit v1.2.3 (git 2.25.1) at 2026-06-14 06:16:36 +0000