FOULDES.
Look here, what are you going to do with this dressmaker?
LADY FREDERICK.
I don"t know. I always trust to the inspiration of the moment.
FOULDES.
She"ll make a devil of a fuss, won"t she?
LADY FREDERICK.
Oh, no; I shall be quite nice to her.
FOULDES.
I daresay. But won"t she be very disagreeable to you?
LADY FREDERICK.
You don"t know what a way I have with my creditors.
FOULDES.
I know it"s not a paying way.
LADY FREDERICK.
Isn"t it? I bet you a hundred louis that I offer her the money and she refuses it.
FOULDES.
I"ll take that.
LADY FREDERICK.
Here she is.
[MADAME CLAUDE _enters, ushered in by the_ SERVANT. _She is a stout, genteel person, very splendidly gowned, with a c.o.c.kney accent. Her face is set to sternness, decision to make a scene, and general sourness._
SERVANT.
Madame Claude.
[_Exit_ SERVANT. LADY FREDERICK _goes up to her enthusiastically and takes both her hands_.
LADY FREDERICK.
Best of women. This is a joyful surprise.
MADAME CLAUDE.
[_Drawing herself up._] I "eard quite by chance that your ladyship was at Monte.
LADY FREDERICK.
So you came to see me at once. That was nice of you. You"re the very person I wanted to see.
MADAME CLAUDE.
[_Significantly._] I"m glad of that, my lady, I must confess.
LADY FREDERICK.
You dear creature. That"s one advantage of Monte Carlo, one meets all one"s friends. Do you know Mr. Fouldes? This is Madame Claude, an artist, my dear Paradine, a real artist.
MADAME CLAUDE.
[_Grimly._] I"m pleased that your ladyship should think so.
FOULDES.
How d"you do.
LADY FREDERICK.
Now, this gown. Look, look, look. In this skirt there"s genius, _mon cher_. In the way it hangs my whole character is expressed. Observe the fullness of it, that indicates those admirable virtues which make me an ornament to Society, while the frill at the bottom just suggests those foibles--you can hardly call them faults--which add a certain grace and interest to my personality. And the flounce. Paradine, I beseech you to look at it carefully. I would sooner have designed this flounce than won the Battle of Waterloo.
MADAME CLAUDE.
Your ladyship is very kind.
LADY FREDERICK.
Not at all, not at all. You remember that rose chiffon. I wore it the other day, and the dear Archd.u.c.h.ess came up to me and said: "My dear, my dear." I thought she was going to have a fit. But when she recovered she kissed me on both cheeks and said: "Lady Frederick, you have a dressmaker worth her weight in gold." You heard her, Paradine, didn"t you?
FOULDES.
You forget that I only arrived last night.
LADY FREDERICK.
Of course. How stupid of me. She"ll be perfectly delighted to hear that you"re in Monte Carlo. But I shall have to break it to her gently.
MADAME CLAUDE.
[_Unmoved._] I"m sorry to intrude upon your ladyship.