DR. FREEMANTLE. No one better.
FANNY. Tell me. I’ve known him only as a lover. What sort of a man is he?
A pause. They are looking straight into each other’s eyes.
DR. FREEMANTLE. A man it pays to be perfectly frank with.
FANNY. It’s a very old family, isn’t it?
DR. FREEMANTLE. Old! Good Lord no! First Lord Bantock was only Vernon’s great-grandfather. That is the woman that did it all. [He is looking at the Hoppner.]
FANNY. How do you mean?
DR. FREEMANTLE. Got them their title. Made the name of Bantock of importance in the history of the Georges. Clever woman.
FANNY [leaning over a chair, she is staring into the eyes of the first Lady Bantock]. I wonder what she would have done if she had ever got herself into a really first-class muddle?
DR. FREEMANTLE. One thing’s certain. [Fanny turns to him.] She’d have got out of it.