ANNYS [There are tears in her eyes. She still clings to him.] I am so glad. Oh, I am so glad!
GEOFFREY It is all your doing. You have been such a splendid help. [He breaks gently away from her. Turns to ST. HERBERT, with a lighter tone.] Haven"t you anything to say to a fellow? You"re not usually dumb.
ST. HERBERT It has all been so sudden--as the early Victorian heroine was fond of remarking!
GEOFFREY [Laughs.] It has been sudden. We had, none of us, any idea till yesterday that old Bullock was thinking of resigning.
ELIZABETH [She has risen and moved towards the fire.] Won"t it necessitate a bye-election?
[LADY MOGTON and ST. HERBERT have been thinking it out. On the others the word falls like a bombsh.e.l.l.]
GEOFFREY [He turns to her. He does not see their faces.] Yes.
But I don"t antic.i.p.ate a contest. The Conservatives are without a candidate, and I am on good terms with the Labour Party. Perhaps Mr. Hunnable--[He laughs, then, turning, catches sight of his wife"s face. From ANNYS he looks to the others.]
LADY MOGTON [She has risen.] You haven"t heard, then, of McCaw versus Potts?
GEOFFREY "McCaw versus Potts!" What the -
ST. HERBERT Was decided in the House of Lords late yesterday afternoon. Briefly stated, it confers upon women the right of becoming Parliamentary candidates.
GEOFFREY [He is staggered.] You mean -
LADY MOGTON Having regard to which, we have decided to bring forward a woman candidate to contest the next bye-election.
GEOFFREY Um! I see.
ANNYS But we never thought--we never antic.i.p.ated it would be Geoffrey"s.
LADY MOGTON I really cannot admit that that alters the case.
Geoffrey himself would never dream, I am sure, of asking us to sacrifice our cause to his convenience.
GEOFFREY No. Of course not. Certainly not.
LADY MOGTON It is perhaps unfortunate that the candidate selected -
ANNYS It is quite impossible. Such a dilemma was never dreamed of.
LADY MOGTON And if not? Is the solidarity of woman -
GEOFFREY [Beginning to guess.] Forgive my impatience; but whom HAVE you selected?
ELIZABETH [When she likes she can be quite sweet.] Your wife.
[He expected it.] We rather a.s.sumed [she appeals to the others with a gesture], I think, that the president of the Man"s League for the Extension of the Franchise to Women would regard it as a compliment.
GEOFFREY [His dislike of her is already in existence.] Yes. Very thoughtful.
ANNYS You must choose some one else.
PHOEBE But there IS no one else.
ANNYS There"s mamma.
PHOEBE Mamma"s too heavy.
ANNYS Well, then, there"s Elizabeth--there"s you!
GEOFFREY Yes. Why not you? You and I could have a jolly little fight.
LADY MOGTON This is not a laughing matter. If I could think of any one to take Annys"s place I should not insist. I cannot.
PHOEBE You see, it mustn"t be a crank.
GEOFFREY [He is losing his temper.] Yes, I suppose that does limit you.
ELIZABETH And then--thanks to you--Mrs. Chilvers has had such excellent training in politics. It was that, I think, that decided us.
GEOFFREY [Convention forbids his strangling her.] Will somebody kindly introduce me to this lady?
ST. HERBERT Ah, yes, of course. You don"t know each other, do you? Mr. Geoffrey Chilvers--Mrs. Joseph Spender. Mrs. Spender-- Mr. Chilvers, M.P.
ELIZABETH [Sweetly.] Delighted!
GEOFFREY [Not.] Charmed.
LADY MOGTON [To ANNYS.] I am not indifferent to your difficulty.
But the history of woman, my dear Annys, is a history of sacrifice.
We give our sons--if necessary, our husbands.
MRS. MOUNTCALM-VILLIERS [Affected.] How true!
ANNYS But you are not asking me to give him. You are asking me to fight him. I can"t.
LADY MOGTON You mean you won"t.
ANNYS You can put it that way if you like. I won"t.
[A pause.]
JANET I thought Mrs. Chilvers had pledged her word.
ELIZABETH Yes. But without her husband"s consent. So, of course, it doesn"t count.
GEOFFREY [He turns on her.] Why not you--if there must be a fight? Or would it be against your principles?
ELIZABETH Not in the least.
GEOFFREY Ah!
ELIZABETH I would offer myself as a subst.i.tute. Only it might seem like coming between husband and wife.