COUNTESS (receiving letters and looking at them.)
Mr. Wedgewood, from Esturia and London; and—
WEDGEWOOD (introducing ALBERT.)
Mr. Albert Worrendorf.
COUNTESS (introducing FREDERICA.)
My daughter Frederica.
ALBERT (aside.)
The angel we met by accident this morning!
WEDGEWOOD (aside.)
Seraphically odd!
FREDERICA (to ALBERT.)
We have seen each other before, Mr. Worrendorf.
ALBERT.
To my great happiness, madam.
(ALBERT and FREDERICA converse apart.)
COUNTESS (to WEDGEWOOD.) It was very kind in my correspondent, Mr. Wedgewood, to introduce a gentleman of your celebrity to my chateau.
WEDGEWOOD. You do me honor, madam. We Englishmen are plain-spoken people. We are not unlike our earthenware—delf and common clay mixed together. If our outsides are sometimes rough, all within is smooth and polished as the best of work. It is the purest spirit, which, like the finest china, lets the light shine through it. (Aside.) Not a bad compliment to myself, and metaphorically odd!