mrs. farrant. [A little mockingly.] Now, Mamma, say that is as far as a woman's concerned.

lady davenport. My dear, you know I don't think so.

mrs. farrant. We may none of us think so. But there's our position . . bread and butter and a certain satisfaction until . . Oh, Mamma, I wish I were like you . . beyond all the passions of life.

lady davenport. [With great vitality.] I'm nothing of the sort. It's my egoism's dead . . that's an intimation of mortality.

mrs. farrant. I accept the snub. But I wonder what I'm to do with myself for the next thirty years.

frances trebell. Help Lord Horsham to govern the country.

julia farrant gives a little laugh and takes up the subject this time.

mrs. farrant. Mamma . . how many people, do you think, believe that Cyril's grande passion for me takes that form?

lady davenport. Everyone who knows Cyril and most people who know you.