But who is going to bring you the news? Surely you"re not going to wait for the papers?
LADY KELSEY.
Oh, no, d.i.c.k Lomas is coming. He"s one of the witnesses for Fred, and my nephew Bobby Boulger.
MRS. CROWLEY.
And what about Mr. Mackenzie? He told me he would be there.
CARBERY.
Is that the great traveller? I thought I saw in the paper that he"d already started for Africa.
LADY KELSEY.
Not yet. He"s going at the beginning of the month. Oh, he"s been so good to us during this time. All our friends have been good to us.
CARBERY.
I shouldn"t have thought there was much of the milk of human kindness to overflow in Alexander Mackenzie. By all accounts he dealt with the slave-traders in Africa with a good deal of vigour.
MRS. CROWLEY.
The slave-traders must be quaking in their shoes if they know he"s starting out again, for he"s made up his mind to exterminate them, and when Alec Mackenzie makes up his mind to do a thing, he appears to do it.
LADY KELSEY.
He has the reputation of a hard man, but no one could be more delightful than he has been to me.
MRS. CROWLEY.
I don"t think I like him, but he"s certainly a strong man, and in England just now every one"s so weak and floppy, it"s rather a relief to come across somebody who"s got a will of iron and nerves of steel.
[GEORGE ALLERTON _comes in_. _He is a very young man, good-looking, though at the moment pale and haggard, with a rather weak face._
GEORGE.
I thought Lucy was here. [_To_ CARBERY _and_ MRS. CROWLEY.] How d"you do? Have you seen Lucy?
MRS. CROWLEY.
I went to her room for a moment.
GEORGE.
What is she doing?
MRS. CROWLEY.
Reading.
GEORGE.
I wish I could take it as calmly as she does. An outsider would think there was nothing the matter at all. Oh, it"s too awful!
LADY KELSEY.
My dear, you must bear up. We must all hope for the best.
GEORGE.
But there is no best. Whatever happens, it means disgrace and dishonour.
How could he? How could he?
LADY KELSEY.
No one knows your father as I do, George. I"m sure he"s never been anything but thoughtless and foolish.
GEORGE.
Of course he"s not been actually criminal. That"s absurd. But it"s bad enough as it is.
MRS. CROWLEY.
You mustn"t take it too much to heart. In another half-hour at the utmost your father will be here with everything cleared up, and you"ll be able to go back to Oxford with a clear conscience.
GEORGE.
D"you think I can go to Oxford again when my father has been tried for forgery? No, no! No, no! I"d rather shoot myself.
LADY KELSEY.
My poor boy.... Where have you been all day?
GEORGE.
Heaven knows! I"ve walked through the streets till I"m dog-tired. Oh, the suspense is too awful. My feet carried me to the Old Bailey, and I would have given anything to go in and see how things were going, but I"d promised the Pater I wouldn"t.
LADY KELSEY.
How did he look this morning?
GEORGE.
He was most awfully worn and ill. I don"t believe he"ll ever get over it. I saw his counsel before the case began. They told me it was bound to come all right.
MRS. CROWLEY.
Is there anything in the evening papers?