Act III - Page 2

Tell me since when has my dear Sybil become one of these
ladies? It is not like her.

[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.

[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.]

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's
work?

MAGGIE. I typewrite his speeches.

COMTESSE. But do you know what they are about?

MAGGIE. They are about various subjects.

COMTESSE. Oh!

[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 'Scotsman on the make,' of whom DAVID has
spoken reverently, is still to be read--in a somewhat better bound
volume--in JOHN SHAND'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 'Porter' at
railway stations without dropping his hands for the barrow. MAGGIE
introduces the COMTESSE, and he is still undaunted.]

JOHN. I remember you well--at Glasgow.

COMTESSE. It must be quite two years ago, Mr. Shand.

[JOHN has no objection to showing that he has had a classical
education.]

JOHN. Tempus fugit, Comtesse.

COMTESSE. I have not been much in this country since then, and I
return to find you a coming man.

[Fortunately his learning is tempered with modesty.]

JOHN. Oh, I don't know, I don't know.

COMTESSE. The Ladies' Champion.

[His modesty is tempered with a respect for truth.]

JOHN. Well, well.

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.]

JOHN. There'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?