MRS. B.-W. And did you ever know the public to take such interest in a social event? People haven"t even stopped to think about the panic in Wall Street.
DE W. R. I a.s.sure you, Mrs. Bagley-Willis, it begins a new epoch in our social history. [To LORD ALDERDYCE, who enters, left, with GERALD.] How do you do, Lord Alderdyce?
MRS. B.-W. Good evening, Lord Alderdyce. Good evening, Gerald.
LORD A. Good evening, Mrs. Bagley-Willis. Good evening, Mr. Riggs.
GERALD. Good evening, Wiggie! [DE W. R. and MRS. B.-W. move toward left.] I suppose that old lady"s taken to herself all the credit for this evening"s success!
LORD A. Well, really, you know, wasn"t it... ah... quite a feat to make society swallow this adventurer?
GERALD. How can anybody stay away? When a man spends several millions on a single entertainment people have to come out of pure curiosity.
LORD A. To be sure! I did, anyway!
GER. [Gazing about.] Think of buying all the old Vandergrift palaces at one swoop!
LORD A. Oh, really!
GER. This palace was one of the landmarks of the city; all its decorations had been taken from old palaces in Italy. And he tore everything off and gave it away to a museum, and he made it over in three months!
LORD A. Amazing. [Music and applause heard left.]
MRS. B.-W. Mazzanini must be going to sing again.
DE W. R. Let us go!
MRS. B.-W. Fancy opera stars to dance to! A waltz song at a thousand dollars a minute!
DE W. R. Ah, but SUCH a song!
[They go off, left; half a dozen guests enter, right, and cross in groups.]
RUTH. [Enters, right, with PLIMPTON; looking about.] An extraordinary get-up!
PLIMP. Appalling extravagance, Rutherford! Appalling!
RUTH. Practically everybody"s here.
PLIMP. Everybody I ever heard of.
RUTH. One doesn"t meet you at b.a.l.l.s very often, Plimpton.
PLIM. No. To tell the truth, I came from motives of prudence.
RUTH. Humph! To tell the truth, so did I!
PLIM. The man is mad, you know... and one can"t tell what might offend him!
RUTH. And with the market in such a state!
PLIM. It"s terrible! Terrible!... ah, Lord Alderdyce!
LORD A. Good evening, Mr. Plimpton. How d"ye do, Mr. Rutherford?
RUTH. As well as could be expected, Lord Alderdyce. It"s a trying time for men of affairs. [They pa.s.s on, and go of, left.]
GER. They must be under quite a strain just now.
LORD A. Don"t mention it. Don"t mention it! I"ve invested all my funds in this country, and I tremble to pick up the last edition of the paper!
MRS. IS. [Enters, right, costumed en grande dame, much excited.] Oh, Gerald, Lord Alderdyce, what do you think I"ve just heard?
LORD A. What?
MRS. IS. About Prince Hagen and Mrs. Bagley-Willis... how she came to take him up! Percy Pennington told me about it... he"s her own first cousin, you know, Lord Alderdyce... and he vows he saw the letter in her desk!
LORD A. Oh, tell us!
MRS. IS. Well, it was just after Prince Hagen made his appearance, when the papers were printing pages about him. And the news came that he"d bought these palaces; and the next day Mrs. Bagley-Willis got a letter marked personal. Percy quoted the words... Dear Madam: I wish to enter Society. I have no time to go through with the usual formalities. I am a n.o.bleman, with an extraordinary mind and unlimited money. I intend to entertain New York Society as it has never dreamed of being entertained before. I should be very pleased if you would co-operate with me in making my opening ball a success. If you are prepared to do this, I am prepared to pay you the sum of one million dollars cash as soon as I receive your acceptance. Needless to say, of course, this proposition is entirely confidential!
LORD. A. By jove!
MRS. IS. Think of it!
GER. But can it be true?
MRS. IS. What is more likely, my dear? You know that Mrs. Bagley-Willis has been spending millions every season to entertain at Newport; and their fortune will never stand that! Oh, I must give it to Van Tribber... he"ll see that the papers have it!
LORD A. But hadn"t you better make sure that it"s really...
MRS. IS. It doesn"t make the slightest difference! Everybody will know that it"s true!
GER. They are ready to believe anything about Prince Hagen.
MRS. IS. Certainly, after a glimpse of this palace. Did you ever see such frantic money-spending in your life?
LORD A. Never!
MRS. IS. Gold! Gold! I am positively blinded with the sight of gold. I"d seen every kind of decoration and furniture, I thought... but solid gold is new to me!
LORD A. Just look at this cup, for instance! [Points to coronation cup.]
And those fountains... I believe that even the basins are of gold.
MRS. IS. Perhaps we could stop the water and see.
LORD A. I must go... I have a dance. I am sorry not to see your daughter.