GEOFFREY. (_Beginning to guess_.) Forgive my impatience; but whom
_have_ you selected?
ELIZABETH. (_When she likes she can be quite sweet_.) Your wife. (_He
expected it_.) We rather assumed (_she appeals to the others with a
gesture_), I think, that the president of the Man’s League for the
Extension of the Franchise to Women would regard it as a compliment.
GEOFFREY. (_His dislike of her is already in existence_.) Yes. Very
thoughtful.
ANNYS. You must choose some one else.
PHOEBE. But there _is_ no one else.
ANNYS. There’s mamma.
PHOEBE. Mamma’s too heavy.
ANNYS. Well, then, there’s Elizabeth—there’s you!
GEOFFREY. Yes. Why not you? You and I could have a jolly little fight.
LADY MOGTON. This is not a laughing matter. If I could think of any one
to take Annys’s place I should not insist. I cannot.
PHOEBE. You see, it mustn’t be a crank.
GEOFFREY. (_He is losing his temper_.) Yes, I suppose that does limit
you.
ELIZABETH. And then—thanks to you—Mrs. Chilvers has had such excellent
training in politics. It was that, I think, that decided us.
GEOFFREY. (_Convention forbids his strangling her_.) Will somebody
kindly introduce me to this lady?
ST. HERBERT. Ah, yes, of course. You don’t know each other, do you?
Mr. Geoffrey Chilvers—Mrs. Joseph Spender. Mrs. Spender—Mr. Chilvers,
M.P.
ELIZABETH. (_Sweetly_.) Delighted!
GEOFFREY. (_Not_.) Charmed.
LADY MOGTON. (_To_ ANNYS.) I am not indifferent to your difficulty.
But the history of woman, my dear Annys, is a history of sacrifice. We
give our sons—if necessary, our husbands.
MRS. MOUNTCALM-VILLIERS. (_Affected_.) How true!
ANNYS. But you are not asking me to give him. You are asking me to
fight him. I can’t.
LADY MOGTON. You mean you won’t.
ANNYS. You can put it that way if you like. I won’t.
(_A pause_.)
JANET. I thought Mrs. Chilvers had pledged her word.
ELIZABETH. Yes. But without her husband’s consent. So, of course, it
doesn’t count.
GEOFFREY. (_He turns on her_.) Why not you—if there must be a fight?
Or would it be against your principles?
ELIZABETH. Not in the least.
GEOFFREY. Ah!
ELIZABETH. I would offer myself as a substitute. Only it might seem
like coming between husband and wife.