Mrs CLARE GRAHAM. Scramble to the bank to sun yourselves till ready for
another dive? I must tell Charlie----
DORA. Don't. You will put wrong constructions on things. Of course we
would merely preserve the right to scramble out in self-defence----
Mrs CLARE GRAHAM (_laughing_). I thought so! How about amphibians? You
ought to re-christen the club!
Miss HUNCH (_speaking above the buzz of conversation_). Let us join
hands and make oath that, however pressed to marry, we will refuse.
(_The_ "CELIBATES" _join hands_.)
Mrs CLARE GRAHAM (_clutching_ DORA'S _dress and whispering_). Dora,
don't be a fool. You know Charlie is devoted to you----
Miss HUNCH (_severely_). Let me beg silence while the oath is taken.
CHORUS OF THE "CELIBATES" (_with clasped hands_). We solemnly swear
that, however pressed to marry, we will refuse.
Mrs CLARE GRAHAM (_pulling_ DORA _to her side_). Dora, I'm disgusted
with you. Only yesterday you gave my brother a book with an inscription.
DORA. Well?
Mrs CLARE GRAHAM. I read it--there was something about "Pure romance of
love, Idyllic and ideal as could be, All policy and prudence far above."
DORA. I'm not ashamed of it. Why shouldn't our love be idyllic and
ideal? Why should wedlock of soul mean padlock of individual?
Mrs CLARE GRAHAM (_angrily_). Why, indeed? But don't talk against policy
and prudence. Your theory seems the quintessence of both!