Please don't say my mother, my mother is dead.
QUINCY [Fatuously misunderstanding]
Oh, you have no call to be ashamed of your step-mother—she's a stunning creature; all the points of a tip-top Russian aristocrat, or Quincy Davenport's no judge of breed! Doesn't speak English like your father—but then the Baron is a wonder.
VERA [Takes up teapot]
Father once hoped to be British Ambassador—that's why I had an English governess. But you never told me you met him in Russia.
QUINCY
Surely! When I gave you all those love messages——
VERA [Pouring tea quickly]
You said you met him at Wiesbaden.
QUINCY