Geoffrey. I know, dear. I was afraid. It mightn’t have come off. And then you would have been so disappointed.
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 bombshell.)
Geoffrey. (He turns to her. He does not see their faces.) Yes. But I don’t anticipate 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—